D.C. Police Chief Larry D. Soulsby has promised to fire any police officer who has pleaded guilty to or been convicted of domestic abuse. Soulsby, along with hundreds of police chiefs across the nation, is preparing to enforce the federal Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban. This law went into effect on September 30, 1996, and […]
Harvard University has created a chair for Gender Studies within its Graduate School of Education. “It is an important statement that the issue of gender is now permanently a part of the university, an enduring and vital part of Harvard and its research program, ” said Harvard psychologist and education professor Carol Gilligan, who will […]
An international survey of 1,332 employees and managers in Australia, the United States, Canada and New Zealand found that women managers were thought to work harder than men, to better encourage innovation and change, and to give superior positive feedback to their employees. Women managers were judged better at soliciting new ideas and instituting procedural […]
By a vote of 220-201, the House defeated a bill that would have required federally funded clinics to notify parents in writing five days before providing birth control to minors. While conservatives argued that government aid to clinics encouraged teen sex, opponents of the bill said it would frighten away teens and increase the rates […]
Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, found that survivors of rape and other interpersonal violence were more likely than others to develop health problems and to increase their use of health services. The study, published in a series of three articles in the journal Behavioral Medicine, followed survivors for 3 years after […]
In a phone survey of 1,000 women released yesterday, the American Heart Association (AHA) said only 8% view heart disease and stroke as their biggest health threat, despite the fact women are twice as likely to die from heart disease than from all types of cancer combined. Dr. Martha Hill, president of the AHA, said […]
Former Citadel Cadet Jeanie Mentavlos on Monday filed a lawsuit alleging civil rights violations by The Citadel, the Citadel’s governing board, the officer who oversaw the barracks where she was assigned, and five male cadets. Mentavlos stated, “I’m seeking justice. The major goal here is to make sure that it doesn’t happen to anybody else.” […]
On Monday, September 8, James Anthony Mitchell was convicted for a Feb. 18 anti-abortion arson attack on the Commonwealth Women’s Clinic in Falls Church, VA. Mitchell plead guilty to the crime and received a mandatory 10-year sentence. The clinic had just been firebombed in 1994.
Sgt. 1st Class Robert F. Parrish of the 1st Engineer Brigade, accused of having sex with a female trainee and failing to obey two general regulations, avoided a court-martial and was granted an “other than honorable discharge,” per his request. The court-martial was scheduled to begin today in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Parrish is the […]
Last Thursday, Anita DeFrantz became the International Olympic Committee’s first woman vice president and Gianna Angelopoulos of Athens on Friday became the first woman bid committee president to win hosting rights for an Olympic Games. The achievements of these women are especially impressive given the Games’ history of sexism in the Olympics. International Olympic Committee […]
Former sales representative Lorrie Beno has charged Magna International Inc. with sex discrimination. Beno contends that, while employed at the auto parts manufacturing company, she was routinely grabbed and verbally harassed by male employees, and that her male colleagues regularly entertained auto executives at Detroit-area strip clubs in efforts to gain sales. The suit, filed […]
A U.S. federal appeals court upheld the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in a ruling issued Friday. The ruling consolidated two separate appeals cases involving the Army’s Lt. Andrew Holmes and the Navy’s Lt. Richard Watson, both of whom were discharged from the military after disclosing their sexual orientation. Counsel for Holmes and Watson […]
Paula Corbin Jones is interviewing new counsel in her 3-year-old sexual harassment dispute with U.S. President Clinton after refusing a $700,000 settlement proposed by her lawyers. Jones counsel, Joe Cammarata and Gil Davis, asked for permission to withdraw from the case if Jones refused to settle. Jones refused to grant this permission, and Cammarata and […]
Venus Williams, a 17-year-old tennis star from Florida, on Sunday became the first African American women to play in the U.S. Open Women’s Singles Final in 39 years. Williams follows Althea Gibson, who in 1957 became the first African American woman to play in the prestigious tournament final. Gibson won the U.S. Open two years […]
A new holocaust museum in Manhattan may not open its doors on September 15, as was expected. Sixteen Orthodox Jewish rabbis have sued the museum, claiming that an exhibit honoring gay and lesbian Holocaust victims is offensive to them and should not be supported with public funds. Rabbi Yehuda Levin, lead plaintiff and vocal opponent […]
U.S. Vice President Al Gore promised working women “labor rights, civil rights and human rights” in a speech delivered to an AFL-CIO conference this Saturday. “We can’t be satisfied until the notion of equal pay for equal work is not just a theory but a reality in the lives of working women,” Gore said. The […]
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said that September 4, 1997 was “a sad day for women.” On that day, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $12.3 million foreign aid bill including the Smith amendment, a measure that eliminates U.S. financial aid to international family planning organizations that practice or advocate abortion. Pelosi, who sponsored a […]
Civil and women’s rights activists requesting an emergency stay on the enforcement of Proposition 209 were refused Thursday, when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the request without comment. The Court has yet to decide whether it will hear an appeal of Proposition 209’s constitutionality, and opponents of the law are confident that the decision, expected […]
The Arab News daily reported Thursday that a man threw his newborn child to the ground, killing her, when he realized the baby was female. The man, who had six daughters and no sons, claimed he did not intend to kill the baby, but was simply venting his frustration. The newspaper did not state whether […]
U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf has dismissed Operation Rescue’s lawsuit against democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Lawyers for the anti-choice organization alleged that Kennedy made false and defamatory statements about Operation Rescue in a 1993 television interview. In the interview, Kennedy was explaining why women need guaranteed access to abortion clinics. “When we have […]
