News

The Peruvian National Police has begun recruiting women for traffic patrol positions in an effort to fight corruption on the streets. The program, lauded by Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, is based on research that found that on personality tests, women were found to be stricter and more disciplined. As a result of the program, 90 […]

Emerson College communications professor Robert Hilliard will offer a course this Fall called Hate.com, which will examine how radical, right-wing groups recruit new members via the Internet. Hate groups range from neo-Nazi alliances and anti-lesbian and gay groups to anti-abortion extremists. A federal jury awarded $170 million last year to a group of abortion providers, […]

The editor of the Romanian edition of Playboy magazine was recently reprimanded for publishing an article that actually advocated violence against women. The article, “How to Beat Your Wife Without Leaving Traces,” not only listed a step-by-step procedure for abusing women but went on to imply that good beatings could make for better sex. Christie […]

Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s military ruler, declared today that 2000 is to be the Year of Human Rights in Pakistan. Musharraf made this declaration during the beginning of a two-day convention of local and international human rights activists. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported that in 1999, women were among those who suffered the […]

Women’s rights leaders and labor leaders joined on Wednesday with Teamster workers, community members and political leaders to demand that Sunbeam stop its assault on women workers in Cleveland. Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, and Karen Nussbaum, director of the AFL-CIO’s Working Women’s Department stood with Donice Wamack, Teamster Local 473 shop […]

Women’s groups in California are joining together in a statewide network aimed at increasing opportunities for working women and female business owners. The California State Economic Network, part of a national initiative generated at the 1998 Women’s Economic Summit in Washington, DC, is designed to link women business leaders, supporters and public officials to advance […]

Antinuclear activists and NGO members from around the world are gathering at the United Nations this April to press for the eradication of all nuclear weapons. Every five years the UN hosts one of these meetings, called the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, or RevCon for short. The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which was signed by more […]

Anti-abortion extremists in Melbourne, Florida challenged the injunction in Aware Woman v. Madsen and lost, yet again. When the Aware Woman clinic recently relocated, the defendants went to court to vacate the injunction. Counsel for the plaintiffs explained to the Court that while the portion of the injunction that pertained to the clinic’s physical location […]

With a 19-11 vote, Vermont State Senators passed a civil union bill granting lesbians and gay men the most comprehensive system of domestic partner benefits in the nation, qualifying them for the some 300 rights and benefits available to married couples in the state. The landmark legislation must clear one final hurdle in the Vermont […]

More than 3,000 international organizations joined forces in Beirut this week in an effort to end violence against women and promote redistribution of the world’s resources. The Egyptian coordinator, Farida Naccach, invited other Arab countries to promote more job opportunities. “That will help reduce the impact of women’s dependency on others to sustain themselves and […]

Police are cracking down on a massive trade in women and some children in China that extends from remote villages to major cities like Beijing. According to government records, 6,802 women and 1,662 children were reported abducted or missing in China and police rescued some 7,660 women and 1,814 children in 1999. The majority of […]

State Senators in Vermont gave preliminary approval yesterday to a bill that would legally recognize relationships between lesbians and gay men. A final vote on the civil unions bill is expected today. If the bill passes, it would grant lesbians and gay men the most comprehensive system of domestic partner benefits in the nation, qualifying […]

Women & Philanthropy announced Monday their selection of Katherine Acey for their Leadership for Equity and Diversity award. The LEAD award, developed five years ago, honors those who promote equality for women and girls. Acey serves as the executive director for the Astraea National Lesbian Action Foundation and was selected for “her leadership and vision […]

Televangelist Jerry Falwell announced Friday that he is launching a voter registration drive to register 10 million voters through churches in an effort to raise enthusiasm among the religious right. The effort, called “People of Faith 2000,” will embark on a seven-month drive to register new voters through pastors who are to solicit voter support […]

The National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) and Golf Digest Woman is sponsoring “Take Your Daughter to the Course Week” April 24 – 30 to encourage young women to get involved in the game of golf. According to Anne Lyndrup, administrative director of the NGCOA, “There’s an image that golf is a man’s game to […]

Yesterday, Maryland lawmakers approved Governor Parris N. Glendening’s legislation requiring that new handguns be sold with built-in trigger locks. President Clinton and Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend were present at the ceremony, and Clinton spoke on the importance of a similar federal law, now stalled in Congress. “‘Every single day Congress waits, we lose 12 […]

In an outrageous decision, the Texas Supreme Court refused a minor’s request for a judicial bypass of the state’s recently enacted parental notification law, arguing that she “did not show she was mature enough and sufficiently well informed to make that decision on her own,” the Associated Press resported. The law took effect on January […]

The American Association of University Women’s new report, Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age, indicates that computer technology is failing to engage women and girls. “Girls are disenchanted with computing,” it suggests. The report is a culmination of 2 years of research by the AAUW Education Foundation Commission on Technology, Gender, and Teacher […]

Since 1991–the year Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori devoted to “family planning”–Peru has instituted several programs to curb teen pregnancy and maternal mortality. “Peruvian women must be in control of their own destiny,” Fujimori claimed. Yet for Marina Machaca, who charged that she was raped by a doctor at a public health facility in 1996, it […]