The Marine Corps has charged two drill instructors with raping female students at the Ft. Leonard Wood military training base in Missouri. The charges are part of a continuing investigation against seven Marine instructors, who were brought up on sexual misconduct charges, including sexual harassment and inappropriate sexual relations with students, last April. The rape […]
As the Bush Commission on Social Security met behind closed doors at a Washington D.C. hotel Wednesday, in another room in the same hotel, a coalition of organizations of seniors, women, minorities, labor, and people with disabilities held a press conference to express their opposition to privatizing Social Security. Addressing the impact of privatization on […]
As the controversy swarms around the Taliban’s refusal to release 24 humanitarian aid workers from custody, new reports of human rights abuses are emerging from one of the country’s poorest and most remote regions. According to refugee accounts, Taliban militants have set fire to businesses and villages in Yakawlang, Bamiyin, and the surrounding areas as […]
Anti-choice extremist groups in New York City are protesting a proposed law to establish a 50-foot buffer zone around abortion clinics in New York City. The law would make it illegal for anyone to “knowingly approach” another person without consent to pass a leaflet or handbill, display a sign, or engage in oral protest, education, […]
Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC), the ultraconservative politician famous for his 30-year assault on women’s rights, announced his retirement today, effective at the end of his 2003 term. Throughout his tenure, Helms orchestrated several major rollbacks against women’s rights, including the 1973 ban on U.S funds to international organizations offering abortions. His most recent attacks have […]
In a growing cross-border trade, young women and girls living in poverty in the former Soviet bloc, Asia, and sub-Saharan African are being lured into an underground network of sex slavery by false promises of legitimate jobs or marriage. The International Organization of Migration estimates that 300,000 immigrant women and girls are currently working in […]
FMF would like to welcome on board the 2000-2001 Campus Team! A fantastic group of activists with great organizing experience and expertise in reproductive choice and many other important feminist issues, the members of the team include: Amber Wobschall from GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE; Carey Campbell from DUKE UNIVERSITY; Aimee Boone from the UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA; […]
SPELMAN COLLEGE FMLA activist Maranda Ward joined youth leaders and advocates from around the globe at the United Nations Special Session on Children during her summer internship with Advocates for Youth. Advocates for Youth is a non-profit organization that works to create programs and policies that help young people make informed decisions about their sexual […]
In a narrow, 5-4 ruling, the Alabama Supreme Court upheld a trial judge’s ruling denying a 17-year-old woman’s request for a judicial bypass, which would have allowed her to obtain an abortion. The trial judge claimed that the testimony of the young woman and her godmother seemed “rehearsed”, and thus not believable. In upholding the […]
Edna Wilks and friends were swimming on boogie boards in Little Lake Conway Saturday, when Wilks was nearly drowned in an alligator attack. Fortunately, as others scrambled for safety, Wilk’s best friend, 14-year-old Amanda Valance, stayed nearby, waiting for an opportunity to save her longtime pal. As the reptile clutched Wilk’s arm, breaking several bones […]
The best defense against MTV is abstinence,” read posters in subways, buses, and phone booths in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. Part of the music television network’s spring publicity campaign, the ads seemed to be poking fun at safe-sex education. AIDS activists responded by firing off angry e-mails, rallying outside MTV’s New York […]
The Taliban refused to grant western diplomats access to the eight international humanitarian workers from Shelter Now International (SNI), including two Americans, who, along with sixteen Afghan workers, were arrested on charges of promoting Christianity. In violation of international norms, diplomats from the United States, Germany, and Australia were told that the detained workers would […]
As separatist violence increases in the war-torn region of Kashmir, fundamentalist militants have seized the opportunity to terrorize and persecute women living in the surrounding areas. A relatively unknown militia, known as the Lashkar-e-Jabar, have announced that women in Srinagar must wear a burqa, which covers a woman from head to toe with only a […]
Scientists continue to criticize Bush’s decision to limit federally-funded stem cell research to a small number of existing cell colonies. Calling the policy “scientifically nave,” biomedical experts are now questioning whether the 60 supposed cell colonies even exist at all. On Friday, the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, one of the largest scientific […]
According to a recent interview with the L.A. Times, plus-size model Maile Nanri has become a “minor celebrity” among Asian-American women for challenging ethnic stereotypes that come with both physical and psychological burdens. Nanri told the Times that “Every single Asian girl I know–and I know a lot–hates that ridiculous stereotype of the petite, quiet […]
After 26 years of delays, the Brazilian Congress approved legislation last week to guarantee women full equality to men in the eyes of the law. Brazilian feminists applauded the measure, which they say, will eliminate some of the most blatant discriminatory practices against women. Under the new law, men will no longer be given unrestricted […]
A federal judge will allow the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to seek damages on behalf of 90 female employees in a class-action lawsuit against Dial Corporation. Male workers at Dial Corporation are accused of repeatedly groping female workers and subjecting them to suggestive remarks. The EEOC says that this case is similar to […]
Massachusetts Governor, Jane Swift, announced Wednesday that her administration would extend some domestic partner benefits to gay and lesbian state employees. Highlighting the fact that benefits had already been extended to the state’s social workers, Swift said other state employees would become eligible over the next two years, as their contracts are renegotiated. Gay and […]
Conservatives in the House of Representatives, namely Congressman Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Congressman Henry Hyde (R-IL) and Congressman Tom DeLay(R-TX),have promised to block U.S. payment of $582 million in back dues to the United Nations unless the Bush Administration announces its support of legislation aimed at undermining the International Criminal Court (ICC). Last May, Delay introduced […]
The United Nations (U.N.) predicts a $75 million cash deficit because some 86 countries, including the United States, have reneged on promises to pay their U.N. dues, which in total amounts to $728 million. According to the U.N., it will need to use money designated for its peacekeeping budget in order to meet staff payroll […]
