Six women filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Livermore National Laboratory’s 3,000+ women employees, charging sex discrimination in hiring and promotion there. Livermore National Laboratory is operated together by the U.S. Department of Energy and the University of California and produces research on global security, global ecology, and biological science. The six women filing […]
President Clinton has proposed a $1,000 tax credit for families caring for elderly or disabled relatives and a $46 million dollar program to identify, investigate, and prosecute deadbeat parents. The $1,000 tax credit is designed to help families who are struggling to pay for expensive services such as adult day care and respite care, and […]
Elizabeth Dole will announce today that she will resign from her position as head of the American Red Cross and may seek the presidency in 2000. Dole is the only U.S. woman to hold two Cabinet offices, as transportation secretary for former president Ronald Reagan and labor secretary for his successor, George Bush. She also […]
A new study commissioned by the Screen Actors Guild charges that American prime-time and daytime television dramas significantly under-represent women, Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, senior citizens, the poor, and the disabled. “Casting the American Scene” was the title of the report, conducted by Temple University telecommunications professor George Gerbner. In it, Gerbner noted that women […]
The eastern Chinese province of Shandong has banned all unnecessary use of ultrasound testing as of January 1, 1999 in an effort to reduce the increasing gender imbalance caused by sex-selective abortion there. Shandong’s male-to-female population was measured at 115.9 to 100 in 1990, after many families selectively aborted female fetuses because its male supremacist […]
The Taliban has again refused a State Department request to extradite suspected anti-U.S. terrorist Osama bin Laden. On Monday, the State Department reiterated its request that the Taliban turn over bin Laden for prosecution. In its statement, the State Department also warned that the Taliban may be planning attacks on U.S. citizens. The Taliban has […]
In an awards ceremony for human rights activists last week, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton blasted the Taliban for its abuse of human rights, and particularly women’s rights. “Perhaps the most egregious and systematic trampling of fundamental human rights of any person is taking place in Afghanistan today against women under the iron rule of […]
United Airlines has, for two years, sought to overturn a law which requires companies in the city of San Francisco to extend full benefits to the partners of gay and lesbian employees. The lawsuit, led the national airline industry group Air-Transport Association, claims that airline should only have follow federal government mandates, and be exempt […]
On Monday, Egyptian Interior Minister Habib el-Adly commanded police to discontinue a practice in which poor and uneducated women seeking passports had to pass “virtue tests” conducted by vice squads before getting authorization to leave the country. el-Adly stated “It is embarrassing that such a procedure even existed,” and said that obtaining a passport was […]
A survey of 1,031 people issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) found that many men and women still underestimate women’s vulnerability to heart disease and overestimate their risk for breast cancer. Heart disease is the number one killer of women, causing more than 500,000 deaths each year, yet women continue to […]
A new study of twins conducted by researchers and Virginia Commonwealth University suggests that bulimia nervosa, an eating disorder common among college-age women, is inherited in approximately 80% of cases. The researchers noted that environment may also play a role. Patients with bulimia nervosa go through cycles of binge eating and then purging through self-induced […]
The California chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) charged UCLA and USC with violating Title IX, a law requiring public schools to provide male and female students with equal resources and opportunities to engage in sports, and filed complaints with the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. CA NOW studied UCLA’s […]
The board of the American Psychiatric Association condemned therapies meant to convert gays to heterosexuals, arguing that it could cause “depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior.” APA Joint Committee on Public Affairs head Nada Stotland stated, “All the evidence would indicate this is the way people are born. We treat disease, not the way people are.” […]
Turkey’s Health Ministry has approved a $12 million door-to-door sex education program to stem rapid population growth and high infant mortality rates there. Volunteers for the program will visit women in their homes and teach them about contraception and general reproductive health. Turkey’s population is growing at four times the rate of France’s population, and […]
Former Silicon Valley executive Catherine Muther, private investors, corporations, and the City of San Francisco will join forces to create the “Women’s Technology Cluster,” an incubator of sorts for women starting technology companies. The Cluster, contained in a 22,000-square-foot warehouse, will provide inexpensive work space for 20-25 new computing, multimedia, software, networking and communications companies. […]
In response to growing Western influences and a rapidly changing economy, many Polish women are delaying marriage, having fewer children, spending more of their energies at work, and generally asserting their independence. Krystayna Kofta, writer for the leading women’s magazine, Twoi Style (Your Style), said of Poland’s women, “They want to break free. I can […]
Twenty-six-year-old Lieutenant Claire Donegan became the British Royal Navy’s first female pilot when she “received her wings” in a ceremony Friday. During her training course, Donegan won two trophies, one of which honored her as “best all-around pilot.” Donegan may soon have several women colleagues, as there are four women currently training to be Royal […]
A large decline in the number of abortion providers, along with a rise in effective contraceptive use, has been deemed the cause for the United States’ abortion rate being the lowest in two decades, according to a study published by the Alan Guttmacher Institute. The drop in providers is due to an increase in violence […]
Switzerland elected its first female and first Jewish president by parliament on Wednesday. Interior Minister Ruth Dreifuss will preside over the seven-member cabinet in 1999. “We have taken up the torch of generations before us,” Dreifuss proclaimed. “For dozens and dozens of years we’ve been fighting for equality between men and women. Today we have […]
President Clinton announced the creation of the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights this week. The award will be presented this December, marking the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and each December henceforth. The award honors the memory of Eleanor Roosevelt, who was the first Chair of the United Nations Commission […]
