Thousands of women and girls in Sierra Leone have been the victims of a systematic assault by rebels who had sought to overthrow the West African nation’s government. Human rights workers compare the atrocities to the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, where women were similarly targeted, captured, and subjected to gang rape and sexual servitude, but note […]
A conflict between founder Rev. Paul Marx and new leader Rev. Richard Welch has cost Human Life International (“HLI) clout, and has revealed a deep conflict in the Orthodox Catholic anti-choice movement, and has not broken into public view with a major story in The Washington Post. The Kaiser Daily Health Report called the HLI […]
100-year-old Ruth Ellis exudes a feisty spirit and what the Boston Globe calls a “matter-of-fact pride.” An “icon” in the lesbian and gay community, Ellis has been dubbed the “oldest ‘out’ African-American” known. Since the age of 12, Ellis grew up without a mother, under the eyes of a father who supported her education and […]
Feminist Expo 2000 was a huge success! Over 7,000 feminist activists and scholars from around the world came to Baltimore to share their work, their ideas, and their visions for a feminist future. There was an incredibly strong student presence, with over 2,000 students arriving from college campuses around the country! Students both attended and […]
Congratulations to the 3 Largest Expo Campus Delegations Congratulations to three largest student delegations at Expo – the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Yale University, and University of Pittsburg respectively. We hope that all of you who joined us for the Expo will take your energy and new ideas back to your campuses and continue […]
Brandeis to host Letter-Writing Campaign to Support Victims of Marital Rape The Brandeis University Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance will hold a coffeehouse next Friday to kick off a letter writing campaign against Article 93 in Costa Rica. Under Article 93, if a man rapes a woman, he cannot be convicted of the crime if he […]
NARAL’s New Searchable Database of Reproductive Rights Legislation The NARAL Foundation has introduced a new searchable database of every reproductive rights related bill introduced in every state legislature in the U.S. Activists can search for bills by keyword or topic, and then read a summary of the legislation and its legislative history. Links are also […]
Penn State Students Organize a Successful Rock-4-Choice Benefit Concert! The Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance at Penn State University recently produced a Rock For Choice concert on their campus! The all day event was a great success with over 300 people attending and a positive response from the campus community! If you are interested in hosting […]
A bipartisan group from both the House and the Senate is introducing legislation that would repeal the global gag rule that restricts international family planning groups seeking aid from discussing the full range of women’s reproductive health care. The gag rule is a result of the “Mexico City” policy, which forbids United States aid to […]
Asma Jahangir, a Pakistani attorney, noted in her annual report to the U.N. Human Rights Commission that women are being killed by or on orders from family members because they are perceived to have shamed them. These so-called “honor killings” are occurring in more and more countries according to Jahangir, who reported cases in India, […]
A survey conducted by the Chronicle of Higher Education found that colleges are making small gains in the number of female athletes and budgets for women’s sports. In 1998-99, female athletes saw their budgets rise for scholarships, coaches’ salaries, and budgets for operating and recruiting expenses. Only 36 institutions that participated in the survey met […]
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled today that a lesbian who helped raise her former partner’s twins has rights equivalent to a parent’s and is therefore entitled to visitation now that the couple is no longer together. The plaintiff, identified as V.C. lost her bid for joint custody and visitation in 1996 but won an […]
Vice President, and democratic presidential candidate, Al Gore announced on Tuesday his opposition to unfair treatment of women in the Social Security system. Gore announced that he would eliminate the “motherhood penalty” by providing women or men who stay at home to care for their children up to five years in credit in retirement earnings, […]
While expecting a third presidential veto on the bill, the Republican-controlled House passed legislation banning “partial birth” abortions with the two-thirds majority necessary to override a presidential veto. “‘Partial-birth abortion’ bans are deceptive, unconstitutional, and extreme measures intended to eliminate a woman’s right to choose abortion,” according to the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy […]
Although Gloria Steinem was scheduled to speak at Trinity College of Vermont as part of its “Peace and Justice” lecture series, she never got the chance to address the school’s approximately 900 students. That’s because the Catholic women’s college withdrew its invitation for fear that Steinem, cofounder of Ms. magazine, would discuss the church’s positions […]
In the August/September 1999 issue of Ms., we reported that Sheik Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah, the emir of Kuwait, had moved to give women the right to vote and run for political office, pending the approval of the Kuwaiti National Assembly. But women have yet to see the fruits of the leader’s promise. In November, the […]
Miss March wears only a string of pearls and a strategically placed flour sifter. Miss October makes apple cider in the buff, and the December carolers (above) keep warm only with Santa hats. These calendar nudes are a far cry from the usual perky-breasted pinup. The pictures have not been airbrushed, and the models range […]
While the U.S. pays lip service to Afghan women, it is quick to slap sanctions on the Taliban for hiding Osama bin Laden, who is accused of masterminding the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Sanctions harm Afghan women and ordinary citizens far more than they hurt the Taliban, which has ruled […]
Last spring, a group of outraged feminists in France formed an organization called Chiennes de Garde, or “Watchdogs.” Its mission is to combat sexist remarks hurled at women who are in the public eye. A long history of sexism has given men license to insult women in French politics with such terms as “stupid cow,” […]
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in a report released today that women, children, and members of minority ethnic and religious groups in Pakistan live in grim circumstance. The report also stated that more than 1,000 women were killed last year alone in the name of honor, and the killings were justified by reasons […]
