In surgery, as in most professions, women still face sex discrimination and are largely confined to the lower-paying, less-prestigious surgical specialties. However, there prospects are improving. Today, women run 6 of Boston’s 9 hospital-based breast centers, and at least 25 woman breast surgeons live and work in the Boston area. Fifteen years ago, Dr. Kathleen […]
Years ago, pregnancies in women ages 35 and over were considered “high risk” and discouraged by doctors. Changes in women’s work and improved contraception have led women to postpone childbearing until later in life. While older women do face more pregnancy-induced health problems than younger women and are more likely to suffer miscarriages, their chances […]
Last Friday, federal agents announced new information regarding the January 29, 1998 fatal bombing of the New Women, All Women Health Care clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. U.S. Attorney Doug Jones reported that the U.S. Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had determined that the bomb used in the blast was detonated by remote control. Officials […]
President Clinton has announced a new equal pay initiative that would provide the Labor Department and the Equal Opportunity Commission with a total of $14 million to identify wage discrimination, educate employers and workers about women’s right to equal pay, and to recruit more women for higher-paid work. Women earned only 58 cents for every […]
Mirra Komarovsky, a prominent sociologist who dedicated much of her career to the study of gender, family and education, died on Saturday at age 93. Komarovsky taught sociology at Barnard College for 32 years, and served as chair of the sociology department from 1948 to 1968. Eight years after retiring from teaching, Komarovsky returned to […]
The Presbytery of the Hudson River, a group of ministers and lay members from 96 churches in seven New York counties, voted to allow the blessing of same-sex unions by a margin of 107 to 35. Presbyterian ministers in the area are now sanctioned to perform “holy unions” for gay and lesbian couples. These ceremonies […]
A new report conducted by researchers at McGill University and the University of Montreal, Canada, suggests that women’s risk of depression following a heart attack is about 50%, twice that of men’s 25% risk for depression. Researchers explained that, since depression leaves heart attack sufferers more susceptible to future attacks, “the need to provide effective […]
Researchers at Harvard University and Darmouth College suggest that registered nurses’ wages and job opportunities have declined under managed care. In a report published in Health Affairs, researchers wrote, “In particular, it appears that managed care has reduced demand for RNs, first in hospitals and more recently in home health, and as a result has […]
A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Oncology contended that genetic screening for mutations linked to some forms of breast and ovarian cancer in Jewish women is almost as effect as regular checkups for the diseases. “The results of this study suggest that genetic screening compares favorable to routine mammography for breast cancer […]
The Arkansas House passed a bill that would ban all abortions past the 16th week of pregnancy in a near-unanimous vote yesterday. Doctors accused of violating the ban could face felony charges punishable with up to 6 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines. The law includes an exception for saving the life, […]
Former news anchor Janet Peckinpaugh was awarded $8.3 million in a lawsuit that alleged discrimination based on sex and age. The jury rejected the plaintiff’s claim of age discrimination, but agreed with her claim of sex discrimination and violation of contract. Peckinpaugh was replaced by a younger woman and demoted to a position that paid […]
A study of 1,359 Japanese breast cancer patients and 24,000 healthy women found that excessive weight gain is strongly associated with increased breast cancer risk in post-menopausal women. Researchers from the Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute in Nagoya found little or no connection between body mass index (ratio of weight to height) and risk for […]
Researchers at Indiana’s Purdue University and Montreal’s McGill University report that more and more large North American corporations are offering their employees shortened and flexible work hours without jeopardizing those employees’ chances of future promotion and success. Many women and men struggle to balance their work responsibilities, family obligations, outside interests, and commuting time, resulting […]
Tomorrow will mark the one-year anniversary of the New Woman All Women Health Care clinic bombing — a blast that claimed the life of security guard Robert Sanderson and seriously wounded clinic nurse Emily Lyons. Lyon’s legs and torso still contain shrapnel from the bombs, despite 13 operations. She also lost an eye to the […]
A British employment tribunal ordered 47-year-old Peter Burlow to pay his 24-year-old secretary Emma Smith 38,915 pounds in damages for sexual harassment — one of the largest payments ever ordered in a sexual harassment case. Smith alleged that Burlow, who is managing director of Software (Europe) in Lincoln, asked her if he could look up […]
Program on Women’s Education for Retirement (POWER) is an educational program that was created to teach low and middle-income women how to better plan for retirement. Since women live longer than men, earn less than men, are more likely to marry spouses older than themselves, and are more likely to quit working or work fewer […]
After learning about the United States history of slavery, Barbara Vogel’s fifth-grade class was horrified to learn that the practice of slavery is not confined to the past. Students read a news article written by Associated Press writer Karin Davis and learned that slavery is a modern-day reality in Sudan. Militias fighting in an ongoing […]
The U.N. has established a Gender Coordinating Unit for Afghanistan which will establish gender policy for the area together with other agencies. A human rights adviser has also been appointed, and a gender advisor will begin work there next month. Diplomats fear that the Taliban will enter into a confrontation with the U.N. if the […]
An eight-member jury will begin deliberations today on a 1995 suit filed by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a women’s clinic, and five doctors against creators of the “Nuremberg Files” Web site. The plaintiffs have charged the creators of the Web site with violating the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinics Act, which made blockading […]
Priscilla Nankurrai has made it her mission to save young girls from being forced into early marriages against their will. She aids them by offering them the refuge of her boarding school in Kajiado, Kenya. Girls find their way to the school in many different ways. Nankurrai has a network of informers who let her […]
