A panel consisting of six men and one woman cleared Sgt. 1st Class Alfred Ray Palma on Aug. 8 of charges that he had sex with a trainee. A 20-year-old woman had accused the former Fort Jackson drill sergeant of consensual sodomy, adultery, and inappropriate association with a trainee. Army officials are now considering whether […]
In its 14th year of civil war, Sri Lanka is having trouble finding recruits for its military. The shortage has led recruiters to look more favorably upon young women as potential soldiers. Military officials claim that women make up half the fighters in any Tamil rebel army, but fewer females contribute to Sri Lanka’s fighting […]
Diya Singh from Jaripur, India, has defied tradition by marrying a man outside the Hindu warrior caste to which she belongs. Last week, Singh married a family aide, disobeying the custom that requires marriage within the caste. For allowing the marriage to take place, Singh’s father, Bhawani Singh, was excommunicated from his caste. The Hindu […]
A tight game led to Brazil’s win over the United States 101-95 in the gold medal game of the America zone qualifier for the women’s basketball World Championships. U.S. Coach Nell Fortner attributed his team’s loss to Brazilian forward Maria Paula de Silva, who scored 38 points in the game: “We simply could not stop […]
Fifty female custodians have sued Congress and the Capitol architect for pay discrimination. The highest the women make is $10.08 an hour, while the men get $11.10. After formal mediation was unsuccessful, the women filed a class-action suit with the help of their union: the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. The employees […]
The Center for Disease Control announced on Thursday, August 7 that the rate of hysterectomies performed in the United States remained constant between 1988 and 1993. Experts had expected an increase in the rate since the number of women over 40 grew during those years. The lower-than-expected rate may be due to an increased number […]
According to Drs. Jane Goodall, Jennifer Williams and Anne Pusey, who have been studying chimpanzee behavior since 1960, recent findings have determined that female chimpanzees are much less dependent on male chimpanzees as a source of power than previously believed. Female chimpanzees usually control their reproductive success. Female chimpanzees, although they have frequent sex with […]
Current and former female employees of the Marin Municipal Water District in San Francisco won $635,000 from their employer in a sexual harassment case. After the two women who filed the suit get a portion of the money, the rest will go to about 75 other women. The women charged their managers with discriminating and […]
For the first time in surfing history, a female pro surfer was allowed to compete with the men. Three-time world champion Lisa Anderson competed this week at the U.S. Open of Surfing, held in California, in both the men’s and women’s divisions. Although Anderson failed to qualify for the men’s final, she believes that competing […]
The disgraced former Oregon Senator Bob Packwood has returned to work in Washington as a lobbyist on tax reform, the tobacco industry, and the balanced budget amendment. Packwood resigned his seat in the Senate less than two years ago amid allegations of sexual misconduct. “In American politics today, you can achieve rehabilitation very quickly,” said […]
Although the number of women police officers in major cities has increased, smaller towns lag far behind. Women officers comprise about 15% of the nation’s largest departments, up from three percent 20 years ago. Advocacy groups and lawsuits have pressured the larger cities to make this change but have not challenged small cities. Thus, suburban […]
Lincoln County prosecutors dropped Medicaid fraud charges against a Nebraska woman who had a state-funded abortion last fall because the charges were “no longer appropriate.” Nebraska Medicaid pays for abortions in cases of rape or incest, but requires that victims report the incident to police. The woman told authorities that she had been raped in […]
Lactation consultants report that women are still reluctant to continue breast-feeding their infants after they return to work. Although technology such as portable breast milk machines has made expressing milk easier than ever, many women are too embarrassed to bring up the subject with their employers, and many employers are reluctant to make adequat breastfeeding […]
The California Supreme Court struck down the state’s parental consent law on Tuesday, August 5. Lawyers argued that the law, which required minors to obtain permission to get an abortion from either a parent or a judge, violated minors’ privacy rights. The court upheld the law last year but, with the departure of two judges […]
The 105th Congress passed several restrictions on abortion this year. On June 5, the House adopted an amendment to the State Department Authorization bill which bans funding for overseas organizations that use their own money to promote or perform abortions. The U.S. is already prohibited from making direct contributions to overseas abortions. Rep. Christopher H. […]
A Richmond federal appeals court ruled on August 5 that seven white male police officers could sue their supervisor for making derogatory comments about women and blacks and for creating a hostile work environment. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision overruled an earlier court decision throwing out the lawsuit because the men were […]
Female employees’ allegations of “inappropriate office behavior” led to Rear Admiral Robert S. Cole’s removal from the command post at Norfolk-based Atlantic Fleet shore facilities. Women working in Cole’s office alleged that Cole kissed them on the cheek or held them, creating an uncomfortable office environment. There are also allegations that Cole had an “excessively […]
Girls in Fairfax County are protesting that the county provides more and better facilities for its baseball teams than for its softball teams. Softball coaches complained at a County Board of Supervisors meeting that the recreation department provides 109 baseball fields but only 10 softball fields. Boys comprise the majority of the county’s 31,000 youth […]
A bill legalizing divorce may soon be debated in the Chile legislature. Chilean feminists have long argued that the century-old ban on divorce prevents battered women from leaving violent spouses. The nation, under the influence of the Roman Catholic Church and extreme conservatism of the former military government, has outlawed divorce since the 1880’s. Physician […]
Lilith Fair Musicians Joan Osbourne and Sarah McLachlan were successful in their efforts to convince officials at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion to revoke their policy barring those advocating “controversial issues” from setting up booths at the venue. After Osbourne and McLachlan threatened a future boycott of the pavilion unless officials permitted Planned Parenthood set up […]
