First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton harshly criticized the Taliban’s abuse of women in girls in a speech she gave yesterday at a Capitol Hill luncheon sponsored by Physicians for Human Rights to honor Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). Clinton praised Feinstein’s efforts to raise awareness of Afghan women’s plight and said, “When women are savagely beaten […]
A fundamentalist Islamic militia group known as the Laksher-e-Toiba or “Contingents of the Pious” has threatened to mutilate and murder women who wear close-fitting clothing in the Indian state of Kashmir. In a diktat (decree) issued as part of a news release, members of the Lasksher-e-Toiba gave Kashmir women one week to comply. It further […]
Jazz composer and trombone play Melba Liston died last Friday at age 73. Liston is famed as the first woman musician in the “big bands.” Liston’s long and accomplished career included collaborations with musical giants including Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, and Quincy Jones. Liston toured several continents with several performance groups and recorded several albums […]
A recent National Center for Health Statistics Study indicates that the rate at U.S. women gave birth in 1997 was the lowest ever since the government began recording this information in 1909. The birth rate among girls ages 15 to 19 dropped sixteen percent from 1991 to 1997, when only 14.5 of every 1,000 women […]
Afghan women pleaded for help and attention to their suffering in a protest led by the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) at U.N. offices in Pakistan. In a one-page letter, RAWA criticized the U.N.’s efforts to form a joint government between the Taliban and Northern Alliance. Explaining that the Taliban’s northern opposition […]
Taliban health minister Mulla Mohammad Abbas Akhund has signed a protocol that will allow women to work with the Swiss-based foreign aid organization, Terre Des Hommes (TDH). The agreement will let up to fifty Afghan women work with the TDH in reducing child mortality rates and improving infant health care. “Women will be back working […]
Kathleen V. Williamsen has charged Elmont Memorial School with denying her tenure because she got pregnant. A group of more than 200 students and teachers protested on behalf of Williamsen and others, charging that pregnancy discrimination is rampant at the school. Williamsen claims that she received excellent performance reviews until she told her principal, Diane […]
The Rev. Jimmy Creech of Raleigh, N.C., has once again challenged the Methodist Church’s ban on same-sex unions by uniting Jim Raymer and Larry Ellis in a ceremony this Saturday. Creech was dismissed from the First United Methodist Church in Omaha, Nebraska last year after performing a commitment ceremony for two women and was narrowly […]
Under federal rules that took effect yesterday, doctors and medical technicians who perform mammograms must provide patients with written test results. Patients whose test results are ambiguous or show signs of cancer must be sent a writen notice within 5 business days. Doctors are also required to send written notice to patients whose test results […]
A group of women faculty members at the University of Washington have filed a class-action sex discrimination law suit against the school, charging systematic discrimination against women with regard to pay and advancement opportunities. If the plaintiffs are judged to represent women faculty as a class, they will represent more than 1,000 women at the […]
The National Abortion Federation has sued Atlanta’s MARTA transit agency for violating the group’s First Amendment rights by refusing to post two pro-choice advertisements. Both ads were intended or display in bus and train stations throughout the month of April and included the number of a NAF-sponsored hotline. The first ad indicated that many women […]
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has appointed Zeinab Mahmoud Abdel-Kerim to serve as the country’s first woman ambassador. The location of Abdel-Kerim’s post was not immediately disclosed. The Sudanese Women’s Union applauded Bashir’s appointment, saying it “opens all the doors to women” and “reaffirms their role in the renaissance of the land.” Abdel-Kerim has many […]
Dame Christian Howard has died at age 82 after a lifelong struggle to win women’s right serve as priests in the Church of England. Thanks to the tireless work of Howard and others, the Church finally granted women the rights to be ordained as priests in 1992. A member of the Church of England’s General […]
Early this month, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak proposed the repeal of an Egyptian law that allowed one or more rapists to go unpunished if one of the rapists agreed to marry his victim. Egypt’s parliament has now approved Mubarak’s proposal and removed Article 291 from the county’s penal code. Article 291 has been in effect […]
The United Nations Human Rights Commission adopted a resolution condemning “widespread” human rights violations in Afghanistan Friday. The resolution was adopted by consensus and particularly stressed the abuse of women and girls by the fundamentalist Taliban regime. The commission urged warring Afghan factions to end all human rights violations “without delay” and to repeal all […]
Operation Rescue’s week-long “Operation Save America” protests in Western New York ended yesterday. This year’s protests were relatively peaceful, with no arrests, in sharp contrast to the group’s 1992 “Spring of Life” protest, in which 628 arrests were made. Journalists estimated that only about 200-250 of the 60,000 invitees actually participated in this year’s protests, […]
Hyundai Semiconductor America Inc., a subdivision of Korean car company Hyundai, lost a $9.5 million sex and racial discrimination lawsuit Friday. The suit was filed by Jeff Abraham, owner of Technical Resources Inc., a human resources firm that was soliciting prospective employees for Hyundai. Abraham alleged that a manager of Hyundai’s human resources staff, James […]
Women were elected to a record number of posts in Japan’s local elections, held Sunday. Hiroko Uehara was elected as Tokyo’s first woman district mayor. Uehara will have jurisdiction over Kunitachi, a western sector of the city. While the first female district mayor, Uehara is the fourth woman to become a city major in the […]
Nicole Brenner-Kadish and Ruti Brenner-Kadish have acted as mothers to their 3/12-year-old son since birth, and are suing the Israeli government for refusing to recognize them both as mothers. The two mothers are dual U.S.-Israeli citizens and were living in California at the time of their son Matan’s birth. When they tried to register Matan […]
One-third of kids whose parents fail to pay child support are living in poverty, according to a Census Bureau report. Association for Children for Enforcement of Support President Geraldine Jensen commented on the findings, saying “Nonpayment of child support is a crime that causes poverty in America.” Jensen also stated her belief that welfare reforms […]
