The Food and Drug Administration determined that women should have access to a new breast cancer pill called Xeloda while the manufacturer, Hoffman-La Roche, attempts to prove its capabilities. FDA advisers claimed that the drug should be available to women for whom alternative methods of treatment do not prove effective. Xeloda, known as capecitabine, is […]
The World Health Organization is supporting a program designed to test whether women can safely have as little as four prenatal check-ups during a pregnancy. The program is testing 20,000 pregnant women in Argentina, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. Many poor women cannot afford the accepted 8 to 12 recommended check-ups. Doctor Guillermo Carroli, head […]
Members of a Jerusalem women’s group called Women of the Wall have been trying to get arrested for violating “Regulation 13” during monthly meetings at the Western Wall where they read scriptures aloud. According to “Regulation 13,” a law that prohibits any acts at the Wall that offend worshipers, women are not permitted to read […]
Members of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) are concerned about the increasing list of countries that will not ratify the treaty. Out of 161 countries who are ratifying, 44 have said that they will not include certain provisions of the treaty because of religious, political, cultural or constitutional […]
Hillary Rodham Clinton called for equal opportunities for women and praised the nation of Ghana for prohibiting female genital mutilation (FGM) in a speech at a Ghanaian day-care center today. Rodham Clinton said that women need greater access to education and the law. “…We empower women to make the right choices for themselves. … too […]
Internationally acclaimed artist Beatrice Wood, known professionally as Beato and the “Mama of Da Da,” died earlier this month. Wood was known for her ceramic sculptures, drawings and lithographs. Wood wrote more than 6 books and a play and studied painting at the French Academie Julien, acting with a member of the Theatre Francais and […]
Many women who search for mentors in their profession have found only men in top-level positions and that these men are often unwilling to offer advice. Debra Meyerson, a researcher at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at Stanford University, said that mentoring “is important for everybody, but it’s probably even more important […]
According to a U.N. report, each year 20 million women around the world risk their lives obtaining unsafe abortions. Approximately 80,000 women die from unsafe abortions annually. Dr. Jerker Liljestrand of the World Health Organization said that of the 20 million unsafe abortions performed, 95 percent are carried out in developing countries, by untrained practitioners […]
The Maryland House of Delegates voted to increase the number of poor teenage women who qualify for state-funded abortions yesterday. The new law will offer health and insurance benefits to 60,000 more children and pregnant women whose earnings are moderate, but not low enough to qualify for Medicaid. Although federal law prohibits the use of […]
Britain’s Secretary of State for Social Security Harriet Harman announced plans for new programs that will put an end to the idea of a male “breadwinner.” Harman said, “Key factors taken for granted in post-war society cannot be taken for granted in the 1990s,” said Harman. “Today, in most quarters at any rate, we have […]
Catalyst, a non-profit organization that works to advance women in business, announced a new study aimed at understanding why women constitute only a little more than a quarter of all MBA students nationwide. Researchers will investigate the strengths and weaknesses of MBA programs for women and will examine the support that female MBA students receive. […]
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton announced plans for the The Women’s Museum, a national museum scheduled to open in Dallas’ Fair Park in October 2000. The museum will highlight the achievements of women. Rodham Clinton said that the museum is important, since American schools tend to skim over the history of women’s achievements. The First […]
The National Museum of American History unveiled a permanent exhibit dedicated to Ella Fitzgerald, the country’s noted “First Lady of Song.” Museum Director Spencer Crew said “More than anything else, what the exhibit serves to convey is a glimpse of a highly individual performance style and personal warmth that was Ella Fitzgerald’s ability to sing […]
White House administration officials urged Congress to pass legislation without an anti-abortion provision to pay almost $1 billion in outstanding United Nations dues and grant $18 billion for the International Monetary Fund. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin all urged House Republicans to drop the anti-abortion […]
Ann Sayre, the author who helped gain recognition for British crystallographer Rosalind Franklin, died on Friday from scleroderma, a rare rheumatoid disorder. She was 74. Sayre’s book, Rosalind Franklin and DNA, was published in 1975 and was hailed by feminists for helping to expose Dr. Franklin’s pivotal role in the discovery of DNA and the […]
A National Labor Committee (NLC) report reveals an increase in the use of sweatshop laborers, mainly young Chinese women, by U.S. companies for designer-label clothes. NLC director Charles Kernaghan said, “We found forced overtime, 60-96 hour work weeks, 10-15 hour shifts, six and seven days a week for below-subsistence wages of 13-28 cents an hour, […]
Nicaraguan Minister of Labor Wilfredo Navarro signed a 10-point Code of Ethics that will regulate conditions and labor relations for women maquila workers in the country’s free-trade zone. The women work for maquiladora companies, which help foreign coorperations set up production operations in developing countries so that they can take advanatage of the lower labor […]
Sri Lankan nuns were admitted into the Buddhist clergy for the first time in 1,500 years. Women’s rights activist Sunila Abesekera said that the nun’s order was a victory but that significant Buddhist leaders still refuse to accept women as part of the clergy. Abesekera said, “It is important for people to invite these nuns […]
Three women have been assaulted in a week at the University of Maryland in College Park. Police report that a freshman was beaten and raped, a graduate student was pushed to the ground and kicked repeatedly and a man attempted to assault another graduate student, ordering her to get in her car. The most recent […]
A study released in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology reports that women who exercised before they were pregnant may continue to do so during the pregnancies without negative effects. Kristin R. Kardel and Dr. Trygve Kase of the University of Oslo in Norway reported, “Our results indicate that healthy and well-conditioned women may […]
