Japan’s lower house of Parliament passed a law which will make it a criminal offense for an adult to have sex with a minor. The measure also outlawed the production, distribution, sale, and possession of child pornography. Currently, Japanese law bans the solicitation of sex for money with children aged 13 or younger. Persons found […]
International cancer experts presented findings from 5 different studies of a controversial treatment for advanced breast cancer at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting yesterday in Atlanta. Preliminary findings from the five studies were released last month, when officials agreed that the findings were sufficiently provocative to warrant their early release. The studies […]
Elizabeth, N.J., will soon lose its last secular hospital. Pending approval from New Jersey’s The Elizabeth General Medical Center and St. Elizabeth Hospital will merge this summer to become Trinitas Hospital, a Catholic facility in which abortions, tubal ligations, vasectomies and contraceptive counseling will not be provided. The Catholic Health Association of the United States […]
Kuwaiti women on Sunday won the right to vote and to run for Parliament. The new decree, issued Sunday by Kuwait’s Cabinet, unfortunately will not apply to this July’s elections. Assuming that the decree will not be opposed and reversed by the incoming Cabinet, women will begin voting in general elections starting in the year […]
A choir of 18 girls sang at the U.K.’s Winchester Cathedral Sunday, ending a 900-year-old tradition in which only men sang there. The new choir will perform in the cathedral once a week. The cathedral has not allowed girls to perform in its boys’ choir, and set up a separate girls’ choir only begrudgingly, after […]
The soccer players who will represent the United States in this summer’s Women’s World Cup have been named. Six of the 20 team members have been veterans of the team since 1991, and 13 won gold medals at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Although the average age of team members is only […]
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz announced Wednesday that the Saudi Arabian government has no intention of revoking its ban on women drivers. Prince Nayef’s half brother, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz, had spurred rumors that the ban might be revoked during a speech that he delivered last month. Prince Abdullah had […]
The Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel has amended the Defense Department Reauthorization Act to improve the reproductive health services available to military personnel and spouses stationed overseas. The first amendment, introduced to the Subcommittee by Steven Kuykendall (R-CA), would grant federally-funded abortions to women whose pregnancies are the result or incest or rape, or […]
In a blatant disregard for women’s reproductive health, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has prohibited its pharmacists from distribution the PREVEN(TM) Emergency Contraceptive Kit. While the retailer has instructed its pharmacists to refer customers to other sources of the drug, this referral may be “too little, too late” for many women, given that the PREVEN(TM) regimen must […]
After twenty-year-old Rinku Rani Das rejected his proposal of marriage and instead married another man, Dhrubolal Shil became enraged and wanted revenge. He enlisted three of his friends to help him throw acid in the faces of Das and her new husband, badly burning both. Although Shil and two of his accomplices are still at […]
Researchers at the Children’s Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland contend that lesbian and gay teens are more than three times more likely than their heterosexual classmates to attempt suicide. The recent study, published in the analyzed data collected by the Centers for Disease […]
Family planning organizations argue that the Vatican’s recent proclamation condemning the distribution of emergency contraception to Kosovan rape victims was reprehensible and demand a review of the Vatican’s status at the U.N. International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and other family planning organizations caring for Kosovan refugee women who have been raped by Serbian troops called […]
New Jersey-based Gynetics, Inc., has granted Canada’s Roberts Pharmaceutical Corporation exclusive rights to market their PREVEN(TM) emergency contraceptive kit in Canada for the next 6 years. The PREVEN kit is an FDA-approved product that prevents 75% of pregnancies when used within 72 hours of sex. The kits include instructions, a pregnancy test, and two pills […]
U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday spoke of women and children’s critical role in peacemaking as part of the “Vital Voices: Women in Democracy” conference, held in Northern Ireland. Clinton urged the audience not to let recent terrorist activities against pacifists to deter them from their quest for peace between Protestants and Catholics, saying […]
More and more South Korean women are obtaining paid jobs outside of the home due to financial difficulties brought by widespread economic turmoil in the region. Traditional values that formerly limited women’s sphere to their roles as wives and mothers are crumbling, at least partially due to economic need. Before the Asian financial crisis began […]
Rukshana Naz was seven months pregnant and living in the U.K. when her mother and two brothers allegedly strangled her, stuffed her body into a sack, and then dumped her in a field. Officials first learned of the crime after one of Naz’s brothers confessed the murder to his girlfriend, who then reported the crime […]
The Missouri House approved a ban on certain surgical abortion procedures Tuesday by a vote of 127 to 29. The bill defines the performance of certain surgical abortion procedures as infanticide, which is a felony offense. The measure includes an exception for doctors who perform the procedure to save a pregnant woman’s life, but not […]
The mother of slain gay college student Matthew Shepard appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday in attempt to convince members to support the Hates Crimes Prevention Act, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. The proposed bill would strengthen existing hate crimes legislation so that the federal government could prosecute individuals who commit […]
On Saturday, Nancy Mace became the first woman to graduate from The Citadel, a formerly all-male military college. The Citadel reluctantly accepted Shannon Faulker as its first female student in 1995 after Faulker won a 3-year legal battle against the school. Faulker’s lawyers argued that the school was legally obligated to admit women because it […]
Maiti Nepal is a non-governmental organization that works to protect Nepali from sex traffickers and aids women who have been forced into sex work. Between 5,000 and 7,000 Nepali women are lured to India each year with promises of legitimate work, and are later forced to prostitute themselves at brothels. Maiti Nepal offers job and […]
