Alleging that female inmates in state prisons have been sexually assaulted and subjected to unlawful invasions of privacy, the Justice Department sued Arizona and Michigan on March 10. The lawsuits, which seek a court order requiring the states to protect female inmates from rape, sexual assault and other improper sexual conduct, come after investigations of […]
Procept, Inc., a pharmaceutical company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has announced the development of a antiviral drug that has the potential to provide women with a more effective means of protection against HIV and other STDs than current available methods. PRO 2000 is a topical microbicide that forms a chemical barrier against the entry of HIV […]
Early on Friday, March 7, a firebomb of flammable liquid was thrown through the window of the North Hollywood, California Family Planning an Associates Medical Group clinic. No injuries were incurred, but damage to the facility was estimated at $1,000. The fire started by the bomb extinguished itself before firefighters arrived. No arrests had been […]
In Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul University reopened on March 9 after being closed by the Islamic militia Taliban’s takeover of the city in September. Women are still forbidden to attend, due to the Taliban’s ban on women working or getting an education. Before the Taliban takeover, women had comprised 60% of the University’s teachers and had […]
In the face of renewed opposition to the rare D&X abortion procedure, President Clinton is standing by his decision last spring to veto legislation that would have banned the procedure with no exception to save a woman’s health. At a moving ceremony in which women who’d had the procedure told how it save their lives […]
A war crimes trial, conducted by the United Nations’ tribunal in Yugoslavia, opened on March 10 in the Hague, becoming the first collective war crimes trial since World War II atrocities were examined by Nuremberg and Tokyo courts. In the trial against three Muslims and a Croat, prosecutor Eric Ostberg said that Serb prisoners were […]
International Women’s Day is an occasion to review how far women have come in their struggle for equality, peace, and development. It is also an opportunity to unite, network, and mobilize for meaningful change.” – United Nations Department of Public Information The first International Women’s Day was March 8, 1911, but the day became one […]
A study by the Mayo Clinic has found that nearly one in four women who get breast implants may suffer from complications that require additional surgery. Women who got implants after breast cancer surgery were most at risk for complications with 34% requiring additional surgery within five years. Thirty percent of preventative mastectomy patients required […]
The results of the Citadel’s disciplinary hearings for 11 male cadets accused of hazing will be announced on Monday, March 10, the South Carolina military college said. Three male cadets allegedly used violence and abusive treatment against Jeanie Mentavlos and Kim Messer and failed to report hazing. Eight other male cadets faces less severe charges. […]
Before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Domestic Violence Action advocates urged rejection of bills that would gut the domestic violence offender gun ban law. Proposed legislation in Congress would amend the law, which currently prohibits those indicted for domestic violence to own or carry guns, to exclude police officers and military personnel and […]
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has accused Mitsubishi Motors Manufacturing with interfering with the government’s sex discrimination lawsuit against the company. In a brief filed with the U.S. District Court in Peoria, Ill., the government’s lawyers allege that the company improperly asked women workers whether they planned to join the class-action lawsuit, whether they […]
Bettina Hollings will become New Zealand’s first female to head a major network when she assumes the reign of General Manager of CanWest Global Communications Corp.’s second network. Hollings will continue to serve as the Associate Director of Programming for TV3, the Corp.’s existing channel. Gerry Noble, Vice-President of Operation for CanWest, commented on the […]
Dutch filmmaker Marleen Gorris, who won the foreign language Oscar in 1996 for directing Antonia’s Line, has will direct her first major studio picture. 20th Century Fox has contracted with her to direct Come West With Me, a movie based on the play Abundance by Beth Henley. The nineteenth-century drama deals with the story of […]
A study conducted by the McCormack Institute and the Center for Survey Research has found that two-thirds of welfare recipients have been victims of domestic violence. Approximately one fifth of welfare recipients have been victims of domestic violence within the past twelve months. Seven hundred thirty-four women participated in the first scientific study of its […]
The president and president’s deputy of CNA Life insurance company resigned after the sexual harassment allegations of two female employees came to light. The female employees complained of sexual harassment committed by president, Jack Kettler, to the company’s deputy president, Robert Teske. Teske failed to act in the matter, and Roger Morris, a spokesperson for […]
On March 4th, The Population Council announced that plans to use a company called Advances for Choice to market mifepristone (formerly known as RU 486). The step came after The Population Council settled legal issues with a business partner and created a new company to introduce the drug into the United States. The company said […]
According to a poll conducted by Quinnipiac College in Hamden, Connecticut, ex-vice-presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro would easily defeat incumbent Senator Alfonse D’Amato in the 1998 New York Senate race. The poll interviewed 1,071 registered New Yorkers from February 24th to March 2nd. Ferraro came out ahead of all other possible Democratic contenders and ahead of […]
After delaying Alexis Herman’s Secretary of Labor confirmation hearings for weeks, Senator James Jeffords has finally scheduled the hearings. Commenting that he found her responses concerning questions about her private finances and conduct as a White House aide to be “adequate”, the Chair of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Comittee scheduled the hearings for […]
ABC has given the t.v. sitcom Ellen the go ahead to have its lead character come out as a lesbian on an April 30th show. Ellen will reveal to Oprah Winfrey, playing her therapist, that she is attracted to a lesbian. Ellen will be the first show to have a gay or lesbian lead character. […]
While many of the women nominated for Oscar’s this year participated in films created by small, independent studios, mainstream Hollywood has also included a variety of women in films and women-oriented films during the past year. In 1994, the “Year of the Woman” in Oscars ironically exposed Hollywood’s tendency to shut women out of executive […]
