More and more women in Japan are choosing to remain single, rather than be financially dependent on a man, according to an Inter Press Service article. This finding was true even among women who wanted children. In 1994, the Japanese Health and Welfare Ministry reported approximately 37,500 single mothers in Japan. Women’s groups in Japan […]
Three northern Virginia gang members, aged 17 to 25, have been sentenced to 10 and 20 year prison terms for beating and raping a 15-year-old girl last October. The three assailants attacked and raped the girl for dating a member of a rival gang. Alexandria Circuit Court sentencing Judge Donald M. Haddock said, “It’s unbelievable […]
Bella S. Abzug, a longtime feminist leader and former member of Congress died today of complications following heart surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Harold Holzer, her spokesperson, said she had been in the hospital for 3 1/2 weeks. Abzug is known for her ardent campaigns for women’s and civil rights, her anti-war sentiments during […]
U.N. officials warned Afghanistan’s Taliban militia group that it will pull out of the country entirely unless the U.N. is “allowed to do its job.” This includes permitting women to work outside the home, opening schools to girls, and allowing women to obtain sufficient health care. U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said that if the U.N. […]
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced a bill that would require employers to allow breastfeeding on the job. The New Mothers’ Breastfeeding Promotion and Protection Act would also allow for unpaid breaks up to one hour a day for women to use a breast pump during their child’s first year, and would offer tax credits for […]
More than forty U.K. lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups have pledged to join an Equality Standing Forum to fight for human rights. The groups are worried that the fight for human rights for lesbians and gay men is “being stalled” by British and European courts and by the Labour Government’s failure to repeal discriminatory […]
The U.S. Supreme Court voted to let stand the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that an Ohio ban on D&X abortions was unconstitutional. Justices voted 6-3, refusing to hear arguments in support of the law that would have banned women from obtaining late-term abortions. “The campaign to pressure Congress and state legislatures to ban […]
The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints appointed women to top leadership positions for the first time. Delegates of the church elected Linda Booth and Gail Mengel to the Council of 12 Apostles, which is second to the First Presidency, the highest body of the church. Delegate Marjorie Troeh said, “This is […]
A British industrial tribunal ruled against the British Boxing after it refused to issue a boxer’s license to Women’s World Welterweight Champion Jane Couch, claiming that pre-menstrual tension would make her unstable. Couch accused the board of sex discrimination, and may sue for having missed a 163,000 pound ($273,000) fight last year. Although women’s boxing […]
Women’s groups across the country are demanding that the Arkansas murders of four girls and a woman and the attempted murder of 10 girls and a boy be investigated as a hate crime against women and girls. “I’m gravely concerned that everyone seems to have missed it. Every day, batterers of adult partners threaten to […]
Taliban militia forces in Afghanistan bombed the northern city of Pul-e-Kumri this weekend. The explosions killed three women and two children and wounded many more. The anti-Taliban alliance which controls Pul-e-Kumri and about 15% of Afghanistan had launched a counter-offensive to regain some of the 85% of the country that the Taliban militia now controls. […]
Foreign workers on a U.S. island territory are suffering from women’s rights and human rights abuses, according to a report by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Undercover agents interviewed more than 400 workers in the U.S. territory, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), made up of islands between Hawaii and the Philippines. […]
Ralph Waldo Emerson may have derived material for his popular writings directly from his aunt without acknowledging her influence, according to a new book, Mary Moody Emerson and the Origins of Transcendentalism. Author Phyllis Cole, a Penn State University professor, said “I am saying that she was not only a general influence, she told him […]
Actress Emma Thompson is launching a battle against Hollywood’s demand that actresses be extraordinarily thin. Thompson said in a recent interview that constant dieting is “a disease among actresses,” and she thinks “it’s very dangerous.” Thompson said, “You know, we fought for a long time for our independence. We have replaced it now with this […]
Tension is forming between formerly-allied right-wing Christian fundamentalists and the Republican Party. Christian conservatives are threatening to drop their support of the Republican Party because of Party politicians’ less than ardent stance on abortion, school prayer and homosexuality. James Dobson, head of the fundamentalist Focus on the Family group, has said that he is going […]
The Israeli Supreme Court ordered the release of a woman who was jailed for refusing to accept a divorce with no settlement. The 62-year-old woman had left her physically abusive husband and arrived at the Petah Tikva Rabbincal Court for the divorce hearing. The woman was not allowed to consult a lawyer, and her husband, […]
The Russian Frunze Naval Academy, established in 1715 by Peter the Great, admitted its first female student last fall. Lyudmila Yolshina, 17, is the only woman out of 1,500 students and is the first woman to be admitted to a naval academy in Russia. Last February, the school’s commander announced that he would allow women […]
Last Sunday marked the first ever American Women’s College Hockey Alliance championship. Approximately 1,500 people showed up to see New Hampshire win the crown. Although Boston’s FleetCenter held 16,000 less than capacity, Brandy Fisher, a starter for New Hampshire, said “It’s really progressed. My freshman year we didn’t have half the support we have now.” […]
Montgomery County, Maryland police arrested a sixth teenager in connection with the gang rape of a fifteen-year-old girl. All six suspects, ages 15 to 19, will be tried as adults for first degree rape. The victim was first approached by two of the assailants at a bus stop. The girl agreed to go with them […]
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed to grant $14.5 million for projects that would aid women’s leadership training, help children who have been abducted by rebels, and improve crop and economic security in Uganda. Clinton spoke of the U.S. government’s hope to help end the violence in Uganda, where 800,000 people were killed in ethnic […]
