On August 15-17, leaders from UNICEF and from the Ministry of Education met with young African women in Uganda to launch the Girls’ Education Movement. Approximately 150 young African women joined the discussion on preventing sexual abuse and gender discrimination in African schools. 60 percent of the 42 million children in sub-Saharan Africa who are […]
Despite the economic boom of the late 1990’s, low-income single mothers saw no change in their standard of living according to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington. The 1999 poverty rate of 19.4% for families headed by single women was virtually unchanged from that of 1995 despite “welfare reform” […]
The Sioux Empire Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Sioux City, S.D. filed suit in federal court Monday, after the South Dakota Department of Transportation rejected the group’s request for an Adopt-a-Highway sign. The coalition had filed a request to participate in the state’s highway clean-up program, which included an official roadside sign advertising the sponsoring […]
The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) has demanded that the New York City Board of Education take immediate steps to remedy discrimination against girls in vocational and technical high school programs. The NWLC says that male and female students are being illegally segregated, and that girls are receiving inferior educational opportunities, in violation of federal, […]
Despite new signs that HIV infection rates may be rising in the U.S. and continue to rise worldwide, religious leaders are denouncing efforts to stop the spread of the disease through condom education and distribution. The Catholic Church has condemned the use of condoms because, according to the Vatican, prophylactics act as contraceptives and promote […]
Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift returned from maternity leave this week. Although the governor’s decision to conduct much of her work from home during the weeks after she gave birth to twins was controversial, polls show that 67% of MA voters view Swift favorably. During her leave, Swift nominated candidates for judicial appointments, conducted meetings by […]
The Taliban has denied U.S., Australian and German diplomats’ requests to see jailed foreign aid workers from Shelter Now International. The 8 foreign aid workers along with 16 Afghan workers were jailed last week by the Taliban for “preaching Christianity.” The Taliban has said all 24 workers should be tried in the Taliban’s extremist “Shariat” […]
A new survey by Rome’s Ipsa Institute shows that Italian women are doing a disproportionate percentage of the housework, while working longer hours than any other European women. According to the study, Italian women are averaging 90 minutes of housework a day, while Italian men are averaging only 15 minutes of housework a day. In […]
Women staff members at an Australian University have won the right to a year’s paid maternity leave. Upon completing two years of work at the university, women staff members will be eligible to receive their full salary for 12 weeks and then 60 per cent for the remaining 40 weeks of the year. The agreement […]
An Arizona U.S. District Court Judge upheld an Arizona State law requiring parental consent for minors seeking an abortion, ending a preliminary injunction and making AZ the 33rd state to implement a parental consent law. Planned Parenthood of Central and Northern AZ opposed the law and won a preliminary injunction last year, on the grounds […]
A unanimous three-judge panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a preliminary challenge by anti-abortion protestors to a Massachusetts law that protects patients’ access to abortion clinics. The Court determined that the anti-abortion protesters failed to show that they would succeed on the merits of their claim that the law violated their First […]
Mary Jo Davis, a former employee of a state-funded hospital in Washington State claims her constitutional rights were violated by her former employer, Pullman Memorial Hospital in Spokane, and the head of the department, Dr. Charles Guess, where she worked. In a statement released by her yesterday, Davis said that, because she was a lesbian, […]
Three young women sit at a table sipping coffee in a bright, airy room with windows that expose a glorious spring day in the Macedonian capital of Skopje. Andreea,* 16, has the high cheekbones, liquid brown eyes, and short bangs reminiscent of her fellow Romanian, Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci. But for Andreea and the two […]
The same guys running the bars using trafficked women are the same ones running drugs and guns, Wyss adds. “I’ve told Macedonian officials that drugs and guns don’t talk. But women can.” Though the new center helps women testify, traffickers are still going free. It’s a situation that Wyss and Stojkovski are trying to change. […]
Yesterday in a New York Times op-ed, President Bush reaffirmed his decision not to allow federal funding for research on new stem cell lines, saying that regardless of how valuable this research proves, he will not allow federal funding for this purpose. In response, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) intend to […]
A 20-year-old Nigerian woman has been sentenced to a public flogging of 100 lashes with a cane, after admitting to an extramarital affair. The ruling came from Nigeria’s northern state of Zamfara, which was one of twelve states to introduce Islamic law last year. Nigeria’s Islamic authorities have been criticized in recent months for harsh […]
Last night President Bush authorized research on stem cell lines already extracted from embryos, but prohibited federal funding for research on new lines. While Bush claims that 60 stem cell lines are already available for research, many scientists dispute this claim, including the chairman of cellular and molecular biology at Harvard University, Douglas Melton. A […]
This week U.S. District Judge Raner Collins, of Arizona, upheld the state’s parental consent law. Planned Parenthood had filed suit against the 1999 law, which outlawed minors from having abortions without the permission of a parent or judge. Approximately 19 states require that minors have the permission of at least one parent in order to […]
It’s 2 p.m. in Quebec City, and the tear gas is floating down from the old city, on a cliff over the St. Lawrence. Eight women, all well into middle age and beyond, walk up the street linked arm in arm, wearing huge straw hats with ridiculous sprays of plastic flowers and lace shawls. They […]
President Bush’s decision unnecessarily restricts embryonic stem cell research. As Christopher Reeves has stated, these restrictions will inevitably slow medical progress and impede research for finding treatments and cures for serious illnesses. Rather than being careful and cautious, Bush’s decision is irresponsible. Americans should not be fooled: this is no compromise. Bush is allowing political […]
