The Denver-based non-profit organization Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute (APAWLI) will host a leadership summit this Saturday, May 8 in Houston, Texas. Phoebe Eng, author of Warrior Lessons, will deliver the keynote speech for the summit, which is designed to improve Asian Pacific American women’s confidence and leadership skills. Also planned are self-discovery and […]
Last week, an unknown assailant or assailants sent letters claiming to contain the deadly bacterium anthrax to abortion clinics and women’s health centers across the nation. A postal inspector reported that at least 14 letters were postmarked in Lexington, Kentucky. Like similar threats sent to clinics last October, initial test indicate that this recent round […]
Many prominent anti-Taliban Afghan nationals who fled their homes to live in Pakistan have been harassed, threatened, beaten, and even murdered. Murder victims include the wife and children of political activist Abdul Haq and the brother-in-law of Afghanistan’s last communist president, Najibullah, who himself was hanged by the Taliban’s army. Also murdered were the wife […]
The Supreme Court refused, without comment, to hear a challenge to a Virginia state law that requires minors to notify their parents at least 24 hours before obtaining an abortion. Opponents of the law had charged that the law violates a young women’s constitution right to an abortion and attempted to block the law from […]
Smith College officials announced Saturday that the women’s college will begin offering a major program in computer, electrical and environmental engineering. Engineering remains an extremely male-dominated field, with women comprising only 10% of all professional engineers and about 17% of engineering college students. “Clearly, it’s a matter of national import that our country not only […]
A study published in the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing contends that women who engage in vigorous exercise after childbirth find it easier to shed excess pounds, stave off depression, and maintain healthy, active social lives. Lead study author and professor of nursing Carolyn Sampselle of the University of Michigan hopes that her […]
At least four abortion clinics received suspicious letters yesterday, several of which claimed to contain the potentially deadly bacterium anthrax. The FBI is analyzing the contents of letters. The sender or senders of the letters targeted the cities of Washington, DC; Manchester, NH; Milwaukee, WI; Cincinnati, OH; Burlington, VT; and Rapid City, SD. Several of […]
A French court has sentenced Hawa Greou of Malia, Africa to eight years for mutilating the genitals of about 50 girls. The case constituted the first trial to be prompted by a victim’s complaint as well as France’s largest ever genital mutilation case since so-called “female circumcision” was outlawed in 1984. Twenty-six parents of the […]
The Children’s Theatre of North Carolina’s Charlotte and Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools have forbidden a public performance of a prize-winning play because it contained lesbian characters that were deemed “inappropriate” for middle and high-school audiences. Samantha Gellar’s “Life Versus the Paperback Romance,” was one of five plays chosen as winners of the Charlotte Young Playwrights Festival. The […]
Researchers are hopeful that doctors will soon be able to diagnose STD infections in teenage girls with a simple urine test, avoiding the immediate need for more complication pelvic exams. Lead study author Dr. Mary-Ann Shafer of the University of California – San Francisco noted, “We know from earlier research that as many as one-third […]
Psychologist Richard Sloan and colleagues at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center suggest that much of the research claiming proof of “faith-healings” is flimsy and unfounded. Study authors expressed concern that such research might encourage patients to attribute illnesses to a lack of faith and ignore potential medical treatment. Published in the Lancet medical journal, Sloan argues that, […]
San Francisco’s public school administrators were forced to end their racial desegregation practices within the school district after the parents of Chinese-American students sued the district, charging that the desegregation policies blocked their children from enrollment in the city’s top schools. Under the desegregation policies, the number of children representing a single ethnic or racial […]
Louisiana’s five abortion clinics and other abortion providers filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Mike Foster and other Louisiana state health officials, charging that an executive order allowing inspections of abortion clinics without warrant or consent is a thinly-veiled attempt to close clinics and violates a women’s constitutional right to abortion. The order also applies […]
New York lawyer Joann Trezza recently filed suit against her employer, The Hartford Inc. insurance agency, charging that her superiors repeatedly passed her over for promotions because she is married and has children. Trezza charges that those promotions consistently were granted to either single women or men with kids, and that her supervisors claimed that […]
A study of 43 couples suggests that heterosexual parents could learn a great deal from their lesbian counterparts. Cambridge University researcher Dr. Gill Dunne found that lesbian parents did a better job of sharing household chores and bread-earning responsibilities than did heterosexual couples, leaving both parents more time to spend with their children. Lesbian parents […]
The Methodist Church of Britain made history Wednesday when a newly-published prayer book was unveiled at Wesley’s Chapel in the City of London. The prayer book referred to God as both he and she, mother and father. Although the Church of England has also adopted some inclusive language, no large British church has gone so […]
European justice and interior ministers are gathering information about member European Union (EU) countries’ laws banning the sexual exploitation and violent abuse of women in an effort to develop new guidelines for action that would apply to the entire region. These guidelines would not amount to a single set of laws. EU Justice and Home […]
DC Web Women, formerly known as DC Webgrrls, has separated from its association with Webgrrls International and adopted a non-profit structure to better meet the needs of its membership, which has grown from 21 to almost 1,500 member since the group first met. The group will continue with its mission of empowering women to pursue […]
Researchers report that doctors might preserve the axillary (armpit) lymph nodes of some breast cancer patients through use of radioactive probe. Doctors would use the probe to identify the “sentinel,” or first lymph node that could potentially have become infected by a breast tumor. After identifying this node, doctors would test it to determine if […]
A Dartmouth Medical School study reports that hospitals in many U.S. regions provide only substandard care, resulting in unnecessary deaths and long-term health complications. Published by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association, the report argued that many hospitals failed to prescribe highly effective treatments for heart patients, including the prescription of […]
