Madeleine Albright became the first female Secretary of State on January 22 after the Senate voted 99 to 0 to confirm her to the cabinet. She immediately choose two highly experienced officials for the top jobs at the State Department. Thomas Pickering, a senior professional diplomat in the Foreign Service will serve as the secretary […]
On January 22, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point begun a court martial against a male cadet accused of raping a female cadet during a party. The female cadet alleges that James P. Engelbrecht forced himself on her even though she told him repeatedly to stop and to get off of her. This is […]
This week, the Supreme Court was expected to announce whether or not it would hear Board of Education of Piscatony v. Taxman, a case which could sharply restrict affirmative action programs. Instead, the Court asked the Justice Department whether it believes federal law allows an employer to prefer an African American worker over a white […]
On January 22, the Italian cabinet voted to allow women to serve as soldiers in the country’s armed forces. It also voted to allow men drafted for military service to perform community service instead. The draft law now goes to parliament for passage.
At 7:45 a.m. on January 22, the twenty-fourth anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, a device exploded one block from a Planned Parenthood clinic in Washington, D.C., one mile from the White House. Just days after two bombs exploded near a clinic in Atlanta, Georgia and another bomb exploded in a […]
The Army announced January 21 that it has charged a fourth instructor at Maryland’s Aberdeen Proving Ground with sexual misconduct. Maintenance Instructor U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Theron Brown has been charged with adultery and sodomy involving two female trainees and a female civilian and with violating rules against socializing with students. Brown will face […]
Phillips quit after the slapping incident at the bar, and her lawyers are seeking class-action status on behalf of some 1,000 “Hooters Girls.” The lawsuit states, “Hooters put its female employees at risk of sexual harassment through its uniforms it required them to wear and the marketing of its restaurants.” Phillips said she was aware […]
Yosemite Superintendent B.J. Griffin has been nominated to head the National Park Service by Congressman George Radanovich (R-CA) whose district includes Yosemite. Griffin is the first woman superintendent of the 104-year-old national park and has been described by Radanovich as “one of the most effective people ever to serve the public interest at Yosemite.” Radanovich […]
Alex Kelly, the alleged rapist of two high school girls in the late 80s, will face a $1 million bond instead of the $2 million sought by the prosecution. In 1987, Kelly fled to Switzerland just before going on trial for the rapes and remained a fugitive in Europe for eight years. Kelly is scheduled […]
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously voted to confirm Madeleine Albright as the first female Secretary of State of the United States on January 20th. The full Senate should vote on her confirmation by January 22nd. The committee’s ranking Democrat, Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del) said that he expected her confirmation to “sail through the senate.”
In response to Ward Connerly’s founding of a national group to wipe out equal opportunity programs for women and people of color, Martin Luther King’s eldest son has founded and will head Americans United for Affirmative Action. The new Atlanta-based group will work to preserve affirmative action. King commented on January 18th near the memorial […]
Estee Lauder employee Barbara Gretzen filed a $1 million sexual harassment against a top male executive of the company on January 14 in Manhattan Supreme Court. Gretzen’s suit alleges that she had to take a job in another division at a lower salary in order to avoid unwanted sexual advances by Aramis men’s division president […]
Hundreds of women from 44 nations around the world attended the Women’s Global Summit in Miami January 9-12. The conference, organized by Irene Natividad, focused on economic empowerment for women. The summit addressed the issue of how to define and market indigenous natural human resources and skills. Participants learned that women’s unpaid work is estimated […]
The Reproductive Services Clinic was bombed on January 1, 1997 and again on January 19th. The abortion clinic, which offers a variety of family planning services, sustained minor damage and was closed for an afternoon after a bomb went off at the back of the clinic. No one was injured, and police do not yet […]
President Clinton, in a statement issued after an abortion clinic was bombed twice on January 16th, said, “The double bombing at a women’s health clinic in Atlanta this morning was a vile and malevolent crime. Make no mistake: anyone who brings violence against a woman trying to exercise her constitutional rights is committing an act […]
Taliban militants in Kabul, Afghanistan beat a woman with a belt on the street as a crowd watched, witnesses said on January 16. A fighter from the militia said the woman was being punished for violating a strict Islamic dress code by leaving her ankles uncovered. Other women have been beaten publicly since September 27 […]
In the wrongful death trial against O.J. Simpson, prosecutors presented the defendant with a letter written by his slain ex-wife in which Nicole Brown Simpson said O.J. “beat the holy hell out of me” during a 1986 argument. Nicole’s letter also made reference to “the New Year’s Eve beat-up” which led to Simpson pleading no […]
A paper published in this week’s Journal of Biological Chemistry reveals the discovery of a new gene that may play a role in breast cancer. Molecular biologists Hava Avrahman and Sheila Licht say the new gene, CHK, is “off” in normal breast tissue and in benign abnormalities but turns on when breast tissues becomes cancerous. […]
Women alumnae are increasingly giving high donations to their schools, and reaping the benefits. Women are beginning to take a more active role in policy making committees and on University councils. Women who join the UCLA Women and Philanthropy Group give $25,000 over a period of five years and serve on a committee to help […]
At 9:30 a.m. on January 16, a professional building in the northern Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs containing the office of the Atlanta Northside Family Planning Services sustained two explosions. No one was injured in the first blast which police think may have been a bomb, but the explosion broke windows and rocked nearby buildings. […]
