Mitsubishi Motor, the company charged with pervasive sexual harassment at its Normal, Ill. plant, has approached the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission to discuss the agency’s lawsuit. In the first official contact made with the EEOC by a Mitsubishi representative, a lawyer for Mitsubishi and a former head of the EEOC attempted to discuss the case […]
According to a telephone survey conducted by San Francisco State University for ValueStar of Alameda, almost one half of the Bay area residents using online service are women. Women make up 47 percent of online users in the Bay area compared to 30-35 percent nationally. ValueStar explained that more women working at home in the […]
Members of the Republican Party are engaged in a debate over the plank in the GOP platform calling for a constitutional amendment to ban abortion. Rep. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and seven other pro-choice Republicans met last week to discuss strategies for challenging the plank three months in advance of the party’s national convention in San […]
Friday evening (5-3), a phsycian who performs abortions at the Family Planning Institute in Las Vegas, Nevada was shot. Dr. Paul Debello remains in serious condition. Investigations are underway to ascertain whether the shooting is related to anti-abortion violence.
In his Saturday (5-4) radio address, President Clinton announced four executive orders aimed at teen mothers on welfare. Plans include requiring teen mothers on welfare to live at home with adults and stay in or return to school. Clinton would also give states the authorization to reduce welfare benefits for mothers who do not complete […]
A number of Hungarian women working in the kitchens that serve U.S. peace troops in Bosnia have complained of sexual harassment and exploitation by American men. Most of the perpetrators are civilians employed by a subsidiary of Brown and Root, the Houston-based company which employs 200 Hungarians as kitchen staff, construction workers and drivers. The […]
The Monday issue of the Shanghai paper, Liberation Daily, criticized Chinese advertising. Among other complaints of materialism and worship of foreign things, the paper said ads use sex too much to sell products, employing provocative words and images while exploiting women’s bodies. The paper also said ads promote male chauvinism, quoting one cosmetics ad promising […]
Close to 10 percent of all new mothers experience a form of clinical depression that can last for several months after giving birth. A new study published by the British medical journal The Lancet finds that wearing an estrogen patch can lead to faster and more extensive recovery of postpartum depression. Authority on the subject […]
On Wednesday (5-1), the House National Security Committee voted to support a ban on abortions at overseas military hospitals. The Committee also voted for a ban on gays and lesbians in the military and the involuntary discharge of service members with AIDS.
A battered women’s shelter called the Nangang Family Violence Protection Center has opened in Shanghai, China. Funded by a private entrepreneur, the shelter offers 20 beds and an untrained staff. Hundreds of women have called the shelter since early this year, and dozens have stayed over. Although no statistics are kept on wife abuse complaints […]
On May 2, all 12 members of the Board of Immigration Appeals heard the case of Fauziya Kasinga, the 19-year-old woman from Togo seeking asylum in the U.S. to escape Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in her native country. In the 90-minute hearing, immigration service general counsel David A. Martin — who suggested he did not […]
Rates of sexual harassment in traditionally male blue-collar industries are nearly twice that of service-sector industries. A USA Today analysis of 15,691 claims filed in 1995 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found large numbers of complaints were filed by women in the fields of mining, construction, transportation, and manufacturing. Overall claims filed with the […]
Next month, women will be able to compete for 3 of France’s 63 air force academy places. The U.S. and a handful of other countries currently allow women to fly combat missions. Twenty French women already pilot transport planes and an AWACS surveillance jet.
After meeting with Mitsubishi officials and concluding they are in denial about the seriousness of sexual harassment claims brought against the company, Representative Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.) is coordinating a congressional response to the case. Six congresswomen joined Schroeder Wednesday (5-1) in calling for the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission to seek a court order to prevent […]
The Senate approved an immigration bill amendment to make it a crime to perform female genital mutilation — on girls under the age of 18, carrying penalties of up to five years in prison and fines. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev) and passed by a voice vote, was added to a bill […]
The state of Texas has asked the Supreme Court to allow race as a consideration in affirmative action programs designed to diversify the student body of the University of Texas. The petition, Texas v. Hopwood was authored by Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe and seeks a reversal of a federal appeals court ruling that called […]
A Kenyan organization called the Women’s Rights Awareness Program (Wrap) has released a survey which reveals high awareness of widespread violence against women but little willingness to take action against the problem. More than 70 percent of the women and men surveyed said they knew wife beating occurred in their neighborhood, yet nearly 60 percent […]
On Wednesday (5-1), Washington Post printed a feature article on the pervasive nature of sexual harassment in Japanese companies. In Japan, the women men deal with on a regular basis are either office ladies” who are to do whatever their male bosses ask of them, or workers at hostess bars who are expected to treat […]
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Tuesday (4-30) on the proposed California initiative that will end affirmative action and gut sex discrimination if passed by California voters in November. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) publicly denounced for the first time the self-titled California Civil Rights Initiative”calling its language extraordinarily misleading.” Feinstein cited Clause C of […]
A law signed Tuesday (4-30) by Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson will require women seeking an abortion to consult with a doctor twice at least 24 hours before obtaining an abortion. Victims of rape who have filed a police report are not subject to the law, nor are victims of incest who have filed a police […]
