The Social Security Administration (SSA) has introduced “Social Security for Women” (www.ssa.gov/women), a web site specifically geared to offer women an easy and convenient way to research their benefits. The site provides information on retirement, survivors and disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income. Links are provided for working women, beneficiaries, brides, widows, new mother, divorcees […]
The U.S. Justice Department recently reported a 15 percent overall drop in violent crime from 1999 to 2000, which found the number of rapes dropped from 141,070 in 1999 to 92,440 the following year. The statistics were gathered by the National Crime Victimization Survey, and have been championed by Attorney General John D. Ashcroft as […]
ANTI-ABORTION EXTREMIST AND HEAVILY ARMED FUGITIVE POSTS THREATENING MESSAGES ON WEB SITE; NOW THREATENS TO TARGET ALL ABORTION CLINIC STAFF Fugitive Clayton Waagner, convicted felon and anti-abortion extremist who escaped from jail on February 22, has posted to an extremist Web site that he is broadening his targets of violence. He is considered heavily armed […]
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied a review of a lower court’s decision striking down Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations that require broadcasters to ensure that their recruitment “ensures broad outreach while affording broadcasters flexibility in designing Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) programs.” Option B, the segment of the rule that allows […]
In what could be the largest sex discrimination case ever filed against a private U.S. employer, six women filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart Inc., asserting that the nation’s largest employer of women systematically discriminated against women in pay, promotion and training, and of retaliating against women who complained about the alleged inequality throughout their Wal-Mart […]
The Louisiana Senate approved a bill Friday that requires a second doctor to be present in any abortion performed after 20 weeks gestation, so if the fetus is “born alive,” regardless of its stage of development, there will be a medical provider prepared to “utilize the available method or technique of abortion most likely to […]
For the first time in several years, thousands of low-income women, infants and children who are at nutritional risk may be turned away from the Special Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). WIC is regarded as one of the most effective federal programs. It reduces low birth weights, child anemia, and significantly improves […]
Though many women turn to black cohash, wild yam and soy products to alleviate symptoms of menopause, the North American Menopause Society reports that there is little scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of these “natural” remedies. As many as 30 percent of women nationwide rely on acupuncture or natural products to relieve symptoms of […]
A new PBS documentary examines the rapid growth of “Scouting for All,” an organization founded by a then 12-year-old boy that welcomes gay and straight members alike, in the context of the recent Supreme Court decision to allow the Boy Scouts of America to ban homosexuals and the nationwide controversy the decision generated. “Scout’s Honor” […]
With Bush II in office, it’s more crucial than ever that progressives join in and work for change. If you want to get involved, here’s our fifth installment on organizations doing important activist work. IFCO/Pastors for Peace (Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization) This group brings progressive racial and ethnic community organizers together with funders. It […]
After a year of strained negotiations and rejections, the Taliban finally agrees to allow the World Food Program (WFP) to employ Afghan women in its survey of the food needs of the most vulnerable households in the country. The survey will allow the Program to assess the need in the region and adjust aid and […]
Officials at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame recently named 10 coaches, former players and contributors to its third class of inductees. Honorees included Illinois coach Theresa Grentz and coach and general manager Van Chancellor of the WNBA’s Houston Comets. Both are among the most well-known names in the ranks of modern coaching. Three members […]
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld a San Francisco benefits law, which requires companies with city contracts or leases to provide the same benefits to unmarried employees and their partners as they do to married couples. According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the decision will have “far-reaching effects” and is […]
After a vote by the National Convention of Catholic Bishops last Friday, sterilization will now be officially prohibited at all Catholic and affiliated hospitals. In the United States 620 Ñ- 11 percent of all hospitals nationwide — will be affected by this decision. In their declaration, the bishops compare sterilization to abortion and euthanasia, calling […]
Allegations of sexual abuse by a 16-year-old girl imprisoned in Alabama’s only youth lockup facility for girls have generated a $171 million federal lawsuit against the Department of Youth Services, which administers juvenile corrections in Alabama. The lawsuit, brought by Alana Williams, her mother and eight others, claims that girls were raped, beaten, and pressured […]
By a vote of 420-0, the U.S. House of Representatives, with the concurrence of the Senate, passed a Resolution “Condemning the recent order by the Taliban regime of Afghanistan to require Hindus in Afghanistan to wear symbols identifying them as Hindu.” Referencing the requirement in Nazi Germany that Jews wear the yellow Star of David, […]
Women on Waves arrived yesterday in Dublin, Ireland, where abortion is illegal, to provide abortion and reproductive health services to women on a specially equipped ship. The Feminist Majority Foundation’s (FMF) National Clinic Access Project staff is currently providing technical expertise in contemporary threat management and is assisting in the development and implementation of security […]
According to a Deloitte and Touche survey on Women in Technology Leadership, the vast majority of women in IT still perceive gender discrimination in the workplace. The survey of 1,000 women and 500 men found that 84% of women and 57% of men feel there are too few women leaders in IT. Despite the lack […]
The U.S. Census Bureau released its first figures documenting a dramatic increase in same-sex partner households in Delaware and Vermont. Delaware reported only 212 same-sex partner households in 1990, and Vermont reported 370. The 2000 Census figures indicate that Delaware has now reported 1,868 such households, and Vermont has increased its numbers to 1,933. The […]
In the first federal case of its kind, the U.S. District Court in Western Washington has ordered Bartell Drug Company to provide prescription coverage for contraceptives for its female employees. The court declared that excluding contraceptives from the company’s health coverage constitutes sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The […]
