U.N. Security Council on June 19 held a briefing on the situation in Afghanistan. Officials urged for the inclusion of Afghan government in peace negotiations, human rights protection, and a credible and timely presidential election. Tadamichi Yamamoto, U.N. Special Representative to Afghanistan, said that there is reason for “cautious” optimism. During his briefing, Yamamoto, who […]
AWCCI takes win in World Chambers Congress and Competition
The Afghanistan Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AWCCI), a group dedicated to highlighting Afghan women entrepreneurs, recently participated in the World Chambers Congress and Competition for the 11th anniversary of the competition held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This competition, held every two years, focuses on entrepreneurship and achievements by businesses in the sector. […]
Rhode Island Codifies Rights Granted under Roe v. Wade
Rhode Island governor Gina Raimondo signed the Reproductive Privacy Act (RPA) into law, a monumental moment for the protection of abortion rights in the state. The bill codifies the privacy rights that were established in Roe v. Wade, meaning that if Roe were to be overturned on the federal level, citizens of Rhode Island would […]
Alabama Legislature passes Equal Pay Act
Last week, the Alabama legislature passed HB225, prohibiting employers from having discrepancies in pay among employees that do equal work. The law will go into place in August 2019, to ensure equal pay excluding seniority and merit, to all working citizens of Alabama. The democratic representative, Rep. Adline Clake, was inspired to write the bill […]
First Female President to Lead the U.S. Naval War College Announced
Last week, Rear Admiral Shoshana Chatfield was appointed as the first female president of the U.S. Naval War College, 135 years after the opening of the Navy institution. Rear Admiral Chatfield, 53, is currently serving as Commander, Joint Region Marianas, Guam and previously served as a Provincial Reconstruction Team Commander in Farah province, Afghanistan, the […]
Health and Human Services Defends Attack on Title X
On Wednesday, June 19, 2019, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce met to discuss the Department of Health and Human Services new Title X regulation, dubbed as the ‘gag-rule’, that would ‘gag’ health care providers who are Title X funded from telling their patients how and where they can […]
Uncategorized
NASA Announces First Woman on the Moon in 2024
NASA announced this week that they are sending the first woman to the moon in 2024 as part of the Artemis mission. The Artemis mission aims to create the first sustainable human presence on the moon by 2028. Although the first astronauts landed on the moon 45 years ago, no female astronaut has actually been […]
Boston Public Schools to Provide Free Menstrual Products to Students
Yesterday, Boston Public Schools announced that they will invest $100,000 to begin a test pilot program that will provide free menstrual products to students in the 6th to 12th grades. The menstrual supplies will be available in the offices of school nurses and selected teachers as a part of the school district’s initiative to ensure […]
Uncategorized
Supreme Court Upholds Virginia Redistricting
On Monday, June 17th, the Supreme Court decided to uphold district re-drawings in spite of republican’s challenge to reverse racially gerrymandered districts. Written by Justice Ginsburg, majority 5-4 decision states Virginia preferred to “stop than fight on,” illuminating that they are ready for an election with these already redrawn districts. These districts were originally drawn […]
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Emphasizes the Inclusion of Women in Peace and Security Talks
Last Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing to discuss the importance of women in building a long lasting peace in post-conflict societies, emphasizing women’s role in peace efforts and calling for the inclusion of women in its efforts of conflict resolution overseas. The committee created a goal to ensure that Afghan women […]
Swiss Women Protest Gender Inequality
On Friday, thousands of women took to the streets of Switzerland to protest gender disparities both at home and in the workplace. The protestors marched through some of Switzerland’s largest and most populous cities including Geneva, Zurich, and Bern, as well as smaller towns throughout the country. A large group of demonstrators amassed outside of […]
New York City Announces $250,000 of Funding towards Abortion Services
On Friday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced a budget deal for the next fiscal year that would allocate $250,000 to fund reproductive care for those seeking abortions. The money will go to the New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF), an organization that works to make abortion […]
More Women are becoming Sharia Judges in India
Women are now being trained as “qazis,” or Islamic judges who rule over marriage, divorce, and other relationship issues in India, allowing Indian brides to find justice within the Muslim community. The female qazis, unlike male qazis, listen to both individuals that are involved in the relationship and provide women information regarding their legal rights. […]
D.C. Appeals Court Blocks Policy that Prevents Undocumented Minors from Seeking Abortions
Today, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a Trump administration policy barring undocumented minors held in federal custody from obtaining an abortion. In their opinion, the Circuit Court judges wrote that “a person has a constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy” and “the government accepts the applicability of that settled framework to unaccompanied alien […]
Elizabeth Lederer Resigns from Columbia Law Following Release of “When They See Us”
On Wednesday evening Elizabeth Lederer, a Columbia law professor known for her involvement as a prosecutor in the Central Park Five case, resigned from her position on Columbia’s faculty, citing the resurgence of publicity surrounding the case due to the Netflix limited series “When They See Us,” which portrayed Lederer as an aggressive prosecutor who […]
US Embassies fly Pride Flag Despite Denial from Trump Administration
Monday, Mike Pence came out in support of the Trump administration’s decision to repudiate U.S. embassies’ for flying the pride flag, making nationalist claims that only one flag can fly, after U.S Embassies in Vienna, India, and South Korea all flew the pride in celebration of the LGBTQ community, despite previous denial from Trump Administration, […]
Vatican Issues New Attacks on the Trans Community
This Monday, the Vatican released an attack on the LGBTQ+ community after they issued an official document from the Congregation for Catholic Education that rejected the idea of gender fluidity and gender identity, furthering the harmful and scientifically inaccurate understandings of gender. The document is intended to be used as guide for sex education for […]
More than Four Million Flee Venezuela Amidst Economic and Political Crisis
Venezuela’s downward spiral into chaos and the collapsing economy coupled with high levels of violent crime forces more than four million people to leave the country as accused illegitimate president, Nicolas Maduro, moves to crush political opposition. The crisis means that Venezuela is now “one of the single largest population groups displaced from their country”, […]
Injunction Granted; Last Clinic in Missouri Remains Open for Now
Monday, a Missouri circuit court judge granted Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region a preliminary injunction, allowing the clinic to continue providing abortion services; this injunction will keep Missouri’s last clinic that provides abortion services to remain open for the time being. The judge ordered Missouri’s Department of Health and […]
New Hashtag Re-Ignites the Conversation Around #MeToo in China
The new hashtag of #NoPerfectVictim on China’s popular Twitter-like social media website Weibo sparked conversation this week on rape culture and victim blaming in China. The hashtag emerged from conversation around a resurfaced video – which originally went viral in 2018 — depicting Richard Liu (a CEO and conglomerate) and Jingyao Liu walking consensually into […]