On December 6th, women across Canada gathered to mark the eleven-year anniversary of a mass shooting that killed fourteen female engineering students. The person behind the gun on December 6, 1989 at École Polytechnique in Montreal that marked Canada’s worst mass shooting in history, was Marc Lepine, who authorities charge targeted the engineering students solely […]
Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy who won the 1990 free elections in Burma (Myanmar), was honored by U.S President Bill Clinton with the highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom. Due to more than six years of house imprisonment by the Myanmar military, Suu Kyi was unable to […]
In Celebration of Human Rights Day, President Clinton presented Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Awards to two women and three men in recognition of their leadership and achievements in the struggle for human rights around the world. Recipients included Tillie Black Bear, a Native American woman who founded the first domestic violence shelter on an Indian […]
The Food and Drug Administration has approved Mirena, an IUD (intrauterine device) used as a contraceptive device by two million women worldwide. The device is implanted in the uterus and delivers small amounts of hormones, providing five years of birth control. The FDA’s studies have shown that Mirena is 99 percent effective in preventing conception […]
A study published in the December 7, 2000, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine found that women who undergo tubal ligation are no more likely to develop menstrual problems than women who do not have the surgery. Since the 1950s, some doctors have argued that sterilization through tubal ligation would result in an […]
A Chicago Methodist minister, suspended last year for presiding over a commitment ceremony between two men, said church law would allow for same-sex unions, provided they take place outside of the church. On Tuesday, gay couples at the United Methodist Church in Chicago acted on this law, exchanging vows outside, then celebrating their unions inside […]
The American Medical Association’s (AMA) House of Delegates passed a measure in support of the the availability of over-the-counter emergency contraceptives. The resolution acknowledges the fact that many women do not have access to physicians who can prescribe emergency contraception (such as Preven and Plan B) within the 72 hours required for the method to […]
Health care workers will provide abortion and other essential reproductive services to women in countries where abortion is illegal and access to reproductive health care is scant by taking their clinic 12 miles offshore aboard a specially-equipped ship. The project was spearheaded by gynecologist Rebecca Gomperts and her Women on Waves Foundation, which raised hundreds […]
Police in Cobb County Georgia have arrested 20 suspects in the rape of a 13-year-old mentally disabled girl that occurred on October 13-14. Police report that the girl was repeatedly raped for several hours over the course of two days at two apartments in Forest Creek Crossing in South Cobb. Blood samples from the girl […]
The case against Seminole County Election Supervisor Sandra Goard was strengthened this week as depositions brought witnesses in to bolster the defense’s case. Goard, a Republican, is charged with illegally allowing Republican Party officials to complete 4,700 incomplete Republican absentee ballots, while refusing a similar request to the Democratic Party. One of the key witnesses […]
RepublicanPac.com, a Virginia-based right-wing group whose self-proclaimed purpose is to “support and defend the platform of [Ronald] Reagan Republicanism – pro-life/pro-family [i.e. anti-gay], strong defense, small government” is running ads on major cable news networks for their sexist “Hey Al, Take It Like A Man” bumper stickers. The non-profit, partisan group operates an ultra-conservative website […]
The European Parliament requested all member states in the European Union to withhold non-humanitarian economic support from the Taliban and urge Pakistan to immediately stop its military support to the regime. The Parliament cites the inhumane “ideology of the Taliban” as the reason for widespread human rights abuses in Afghanistan. The Feminist Majority Foundation’s Campaign […]
Republicans in the United States House of Representatives and Senate, led by Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jesse Helms, have announced their plans to not ratify the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court, making it a “top legislative priority” for next year. (For a treaty to become law in the U.S., it must be approved […]
Estimates indicate that at least 50,000 women are brought into the United States for sexual exploitation alone and internationally, over 700,000 women and girls are forced into sexual slavery. Lured by promises of a better life, job opportunities and escape from economically depressed areas, women from South Asia and Eastern Europe respond to advertisements promising […]
Pulitzer Prize winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks died of cancer on December 3 at her home in Chicago, Illinois. Brooks, the first black woman to win the Pulitzer, published hundreds of poems, most of them portraying black women and addressing racism in America. Her critically acclaimed work tackled racism, poverty, and sexism, as she created characters […]
A state-mandated machine recount in Washington State’s senate race affirmed pro-choice Maria Cantwell’s (D) win over anti-choice incumbent Senator Slade Gorton (R). Cantwell gained 276 votes in the recount, defeating Gorton by 2,229 votes, or just 0.1 percent. The outcome is subject to final certification by Washington’s Secretary of State, who is expected to uphold […]
Sandra Baldwin was elected 22nd president of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) this weekend, making her the first woman ever to hold the position. Baldwin defeated Paul George 108-96 in the election. Her career in sports began in the 1960s when she timed her son in competitive swimming. Baldwin’s colleagues characterize her as very […]
On November 30, a New York City Council Committee passed a new law that would allow victims of rape, domestic violence, and other crimes motivated by gender bias to sue the perpetrators in civil cases. NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is expected to sign the bill this week, making the city the first in the nation […]
On November 29, the Michigan Senate passed a bill restricting women seeking abortions, requiring that, when obtaining information to meet the state’s informed consent requirements via the internet, they must use the state’s website. More specifically, the new law, which is expected to be approved by both the Michigan House of Representatives and Governor John […]
In a decision anticipated to affect many state and local outreach and recruitment programs aimed at increasing participation of women and minorities in public employment, education and contracting, the California Supreme Court struck down a program by the City of San Jose that required companies awarded contracts by the City to show they made an […]
