National Organization for Women chapters across the country picketed Mitsubishi auto dealerships this weekend to protest the company’s handling of charges of pervasive sexual harassment at its Normal, Ill. plant. Carrying signs that read, “Solutions, not retaliation” and “Mitsubishi, women are watching,” the protesters expressed their outrage over Mitsubishi’s denial of the claims made by […]
As a board member of the “No on CCRI” Campaign and the executive director of the Lawyers Committee on Human Rights in San Francisco, Eva Paterson met with President Clinton last week to discuss his opposition to an anti-affirmative action measure on the November ballot in California. Clinton said he believed the “California Civil Rights […]
Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto has indicated he may not honor his predecessor’s promise to apologize to the 100,000 or more women forced into brothels run by the Imperial Army in World War II. After refusing to assist the women who were kidnapped and forced to have sex with 20 or more soldiers a day, the […]
During his Saturday radio address (5-11), President Clinton asked Congress to pass legislation that would require insurance companies to pay for 48-hour hospital stays for women and their newborn babies. Currently, many insurance companies refuse to pay for stays beyond 24 hours, and some recommend releasing women only eight hours after delivery. Mothers who giving […]
The Canadian House of Commons overwhelmingly passed legislation Thursday (5-9) to ban discrimination against gays and lesbians. In an amendment to the 19-year-old Human Rights Act, isexual orientationi will be added to a list of characteristics that may not be used to discriminate in the hiring or promoting of workers in federal civil service or […]
According to research released Thursday (5-9), women are half as likely to receive employer-provided pensions, and men typically collect more than twice the amount of benefits that women receive. At a National Press Club luncheon for the Women’s Research and Education Institute, Labor Secretary Robert Reich called the situation the “glass ceiling of retirement security” […]
A pilot program in Montgomery County, Maryland plans to supply women at risk of being abused by male partners cellular phones to call 911. The county sheriff’s office began distributing twenty-five phones donated by Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile Thursday (5-9) to women who deputies considered to be in imminent danger. The women, victims of prior […]
A New York male police officer accused of sexually assaulting and trying to rape a female officer appeared in court Thursday (5-9) on procedural hearings. Prosecutors say that Desmond Robinson tried to force a female officer to have sex in his car after a date. Two passers-by called 911 upon witnessing the struggle, but the […]
If Virginia honors student Jennie Smith wants to participate in her high school graduation, she may have to wear a dress if school officials refuse her request to wear dress pants. A recent memo to graduating seniors included the graduation dress requirement of “NO SLACKS!” for young women. Smith’s mother, Karen wrote a letter to […]
Republicans introduced bills to the House and Senate Wednesday (5-8) to define marriage as “only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.” The measure would allow states to refuse to recognize the legality of same-sex marriages performed in other states, but it would not ban gay marriage in any […]
On Tuesday, May 7, National Organization for Women president Patricia Ireland and Rev. Jesse Jackson announced a national campaign against Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing Corporation. NOW plans to picket dealerships, and Jackson urged a boycott of Mitsubishi autos. Condemning Mitsubishi for allowing persistent sexual harassment at its Normal, Ill. plant, Ireland called the company’s response to […]
The Appropriations Committee of the California State Assembly approved a bill Wednesday (5-8) to ban a rare form of abortion used to save the life, health or future fertility of a woman. President Clinton vetoed a similar federal measure last month. The California bill would fine doctors up to $10,000 for performing the procedure unless […]
A May 6 Los Angeles Times story exposed several cases of underqualified students being admitted to the University of California system because of the clout or donor history of their parents or friends. While UC officials maintain a quid pro quo system does not exist, several cases suggest there is a more subtle preference system […]
Responding to Sen. Orrin Hatch’s (R-Utah) demand that a federal judge retire before her son can be appointed to the same judicial circuit, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) complained to Hatch last week that his new policy on nepotism was unfair because many men have been allowed to serve with close male relatives. “To devise a […]
Alaskan Gov. Tony Knowles Monday (5-6) refused to veto a bill outlawing same-sex marriage in the state, adding Alaska to the list of states banning gay and lesbian marriages. Like lawmakers in Utah and South Dakota where same-sex marriages are also banned, Alaska lawmakers fear having to provide spousal benefits for residents who might go […]
On Tuesday (5-7), a federal judge dismissed a sex discrimination lawsuit brought by a woman charging that the two male Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University students who raped her received preferential disciplinary treatment in order to benefit the school’s all-male football team. The judge said that the complaint, even if true, does not mean […]
According to statistics released Tuesday (5-7) by the National Cancer Institute, U.S. breast cancer death rates dropped again in 1993 to 25.9 percent from 27.5 percent in 1989. In the prevention of breast cancer, early findings from a British study indicate that women with an increased risk of breast cancer might benefit from the anti-estrogen […]
The House passed a bill Tuesday night (5-6) that would require states to inform the public when dangerous sex offenders are released from prison and move to their neighborhoods. The federal version of New Jersey’s “Megan’s Law” would let states decide how much danger the offenders pose and how much public warning is appropriate. The […]
The first war crimes trial since Nuremberg began Tuesday in The Hague, Netherlands. The prosecution accused Bosnia Serb bar owner Dusan Tadic of murdering more than 30 Muslims and Croats, torturing more than a dozen women, participating in gang rapes, and torturing and assaulting other Muslims and Croats. In addition to crimes against humanity, Tadic […]
In the last few years, fraternities, which have a national membership of 400,000 male students on 800 U.S. college campuses, have had to use one third of their budgets to pay liability costs for claims involving rape, robbery, and serious injury. An informal campus survey conducted by a graduate student at the University of Georgia, […]
