we have brains

grrrly news 8/16

August 16, 2003 08:14 PM posted by lisa : track it (0)

Over 50 People Killed in Afghanistan; UN Envoy Urges the ISAF Expansion
Afghanistan this week has experienced its most violent 24-hour period in nearly a year. A bomb exploded on a bus in the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan killing 15 people including six children. Two Afghan aid workers working for the Afghan Red Crescent were killed and another three injured in southeastern Afghanistan, and more than 40 others were killed in factional fighting in eastern and southern Afghanistan on Wednesday. According to the Associated Press, a rocket landed 400 yards away from the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Asadabad on Sunday.

Judge Refuses to Dismiss Contraceptive Coverage Suit
A federal district judge has refused to drop a lawsuit filed against DaimlerChrysler for discriminating against women by not covering prescription contraceptives in its health plan. One month after four women sued DaimlerChrysler, the company began offering the drug in its benefit package. District Judge Richard Webber refused to dismiss the case, and DaimlerChrysler now may have to pay women back for the past discrimination, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Afghan Women Call For An Expansion of NATO's Peacekeeping Role
Almost two hundred Afghan women gathered in Kabul on Saturday to urge the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to expand the role of peacekeeping troops (ISAF)beyond Kabul. NATO took formal control of Afghanistan's
multinational peacekeeping force today. The Foreign Ministry spokesman also asked for ISAF to be deployed to other centers around the country, according to Reuters.

Boston: Sex Abuse Victims Ponder $55M Settlement
In an attempt at reconciliation, the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Boston on Saturday offered $55 million to settle more than 500 lawsuits alleging priest sex abuse. Many hailed the proposal as a significant first step, attributing the church's recent cooperative tone to the installment of Archbishop Sean Patrick O'Malley last month. Jeffrey Newman, an attorney for over 200 victims of abuse told the Agence France Presse, "For the first time in a year and a half, we are being treated as equals and human beings and being asked to discuss the resolution of what has been a terrible, horrendous torment for a large number of people."

Rudolph to Pay $115M for AL Clinic Bombing
Jefferson County Circuit Judge Helen Shores Lee on Wednesday awarded Emily Lyons, the nurse who was seriously injured in the 1998 Birmingham abortion clinic bombing, and her husband Jeff, $115 million in damages. The civil suit, filed in 2000 while bomb suspect Eric Robert Rudolph was a fugitive, returned to active status at the county's docket when Rudolph was captured in May

Wal-Mart Attempts to Boost Image
Embroiled in litigation alleging gender discrimination and workplace abuses, Wal-Mart has turned to public relations consultants to revamp its embattled reputation, the New York Times reported. The world’s largest retailer, dubbed the "Merchant of Shame" by the National Organization of Women (NOW), is the most sued retailer in the country—facing charges ranging from pay discrimination to violation of child labor laws to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, NOW reports. As part of the renewed efforts at damage control, consultants at Fleishma-Hillard are conducting "reputation research," gathering data from polls, focus groups and phone interviews, and holding routine updates for Wal-Mart board members

Report: Govt. Fails to Investigate Women Killed in Juarez
Amnesty International issued a report asserting that Mexican police have failed to take the necessary actions to investigate the abductions and brutal murders of women and girls in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico.

Report Links US Servicemen to Sex Slavery in South Korea
A recent report by the Department of Defense concluded that US soldiers visiting brothels in South Korea may have facilitated sex trafficking in the region, the Associated Press reported. The investigation, called by 13 members of Congress in April 2002, pointed to military misperceptions that hard evidence was needed to report suspicious activities. Consequently, "commanders sometimes did not take the necessary steps to place establishments off-limits" to US soldiers and the situation was exacerbated friendly relations between military police and bar owners.

Bill Introduced to Ensure Rape Victims Offered EC
Legislators in Congress have introduced a bill that would require hospitals that receive federal funds to provide access to emergency contraception for sexual assault victims. The Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies (CARE) Act was introduced in the House (H.R. 2527) on June 19 by Representatives Jim Greenwood (R-PA) and Steve Rothman (D-NJ) and introduced in the Senate (S. 1564 ) on August 1 by Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ). Rep. Greenwood summed up the importance of this bill in a statement to the Republican Pro-Choice Coalition, "The CARE Act is a compassionate piece of legislation that will assist thousands of women who are victims of assault each year, and its passage will help reduce unwanted pregnancies and abortions."

Jordanian Women Lose Right to Divorce
Jordan's newly elected parliament recently rejected two temporary laws that gave women additional rights. Chamber of Deputies member Mahmoud Kharabsheh explained the temporary bills were "contradictory to our traditions and Islamic teachings," reported the Associated Press.

Australian Widow Charges Courts with Gender Bias
An Australian woman is challenging a 140-year-old law that allows judges to reduce a widow's compensation claim upon the death of her husband if she appears likely to remarry.

'Adults Only' Film in Egypt Probes Psyches, Not Sex
Egypt's hit movie this summer has been shocking audiences with its explicit subject matter. But it's not about sex, it's about the real-life difficulties of four modern couples and it focuses on women, some of whom just happen to be wearing veils

Sex-Assault Survivors Deserve Names, Not Stigma
The journalistic convention of "unnaming" sex-assault victims is well-intentioned, but harmful. By deleting the victims' names from their own stories, the media pushes rape survivors into the shadows and adds to their social stigma

AIDS Complicates Breastfeeding Advice in Africa
Mother's milk or formula? Health groups are divided over which to recommend to HIV-positive mothers in sub-Saharan Africa after a study challenged the conventional wisdom that it was best for such women to rely exclusively on formula.

North Korean Women Join the Army
While inspecting an army unit recently, North Korea's leader admired how the soldiers had "spruced up" their post, showing the revolutionary ardor "required by the party's slogan: Let us train, study and live like the anti-Japanese guerrillas."
Then, according to the state news agency, Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leader, "underscored the need to pay great attention to the service and living of the servicewomen."

Car makers see women in driver's seat
HOLD the car door open for the lady? Forget about it: the new woman wants you to move over and let her do the driving.
In recent ads for Mahindra Bolero, Mahindra Scorpio and Hyundai Santro, women are seen taking the wheel — a trend that is expected to continue, as they play a bigger role in the decision-making process, and get behind the wheel themselves.

Dem Women Group Eye Presidential Account
A new women's group raising money for the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee wants to take an unusual step to boost its fund raising: asking donors to give to a "savings account" for the nominee-to-be months before that person is picked

Things looking up for Chinese women
Women in China are healthier, more educated and more involved in politics and business than ever.

But poverty remains the biggest obstacle to advancement, a Beijing women's group said on Thursday.

Seeking Holistic Approach to Women's Right
The reports these days about violation of women's right by human rights, bodies are hardly comforting. Nigeria is awash with incidents of domestic violence against women, discriminative practices in work places, traditional practices that violate their rights, particularly in relation to widows and the female child. This is in spite of the provisions on the legal and civil rights of women under the Nigerian legal system and other international human rights instruments.

Kenyan Women Protest Over Alleged Rape by British Soldiers
Women allegedly raped by British soldiers on training excursions in Kenya yesterday turned to street protests to impose the stamp of international attention on their case.
The world watched as local and international photo-journalists pushed and elbowed each other to record the historic protest by 80 of the 650 women who have sued the British Government for compensation

Women more likely to be poor
WOMEN are most at risk of old age poverty but more than half do not put money into pensions as they haven't enough money.
That is the view of Age Concern following recent ICM research. Even if they were given an extra £100 a month, just one in ten would put it into a pension. Instead, one in four would pay off debts or spend the cash on children.

Women on the Edge
In the early part of the 21st century, American women find themselves at a powerful, transitional place in the history of gender and sexual identity.

The third wave of feminism is already here, as the brave offspring of the women’s liberation struggle of the ’60s and ’70s. In each permutation, feminism has more broadly represented American women’s concerns, with the third wave speaking out most strongly about the inextricable intersections of racism, classism, homophobia, and sexism.

Women on Top
Take the Rediff Biz Quiz and find out how much you know about women entrepreneurs in India.

Boys' home now allows girls
The Virginia Home for Boys is now a haven for girls.
Pat O'Shea, a spokeswoman for the 33-acre facility in western Henrico County, said repeated requests from area social service agencies led the home to change its policy to include female residents in late July.

Rescued from brothel, she saves 300 girls
In the programmed parleys at the symbolic court of south Asian women on trafficking and HIV in Dhaka, two participants made vital connections.
Responding as juror to testimonies of trafficking survivors, Winnie Mandela linked woman’s status to political freedom. She called trading in women, the third largest illegal trade after drugs and arms trafficking, ‘‘modern slavery that can’t go with the concept of democracy.’’
The less-noticed connect had already been made years back by a Nepalese girl while in her teens. She became the link between developmental activism and direct action. And this victim of trafficking produced results without a fuss.

Goal! Now It's Soccer for Afghan Girls
Once or twice a week, a dozen girls in black school uniform, black shoes and white headscarves or "chadars" gather in a dusty Kabul school ground surrounded by a high wall for a kick around.
"I like soccer because it is the best sport. It is the king of all sports," puffs Humaira, 17, during a break in the game.

Girls keep outstripping boys in exams
Girls are continuing to outperform boys at A-level, figures show.
In fact, at the top end the gender gap is widening, with the growth in the number of girls gaining grades A to C being greater than the rate among boys.

Critics Discuss Slaying of Lesbian Teen
The night she was killed three months ago, 15-year-old Sakia Gunn and her lesbian friends had been hanging out in New York City's Greenwich Village, a place they knew they could find acceptance.
While waiting there for a bus, the teenagers were approached by a man who tried to pick up some of the girls, and when they told him they were lesbians, he grabbed Sakia, witnesses said. The high school sophomore broke loose, but he lunged and stabbed her in the chest, the witnesses said. A suspect, Richard McCullough, 29, has pleaded innocent to murder.

The Feminist Version of Rape
There is a movement in this country to push women towards a victim status, towards an attitude that implies that a woman is simply a passive person, someone whom men can and will always take advantage of, both in public and private life. This movement is fomented and spearheaded by the liberal feminists, who believe that men are monsters and women are powerless victims against them (a clear contradiction to true feminism).

Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, and "Lesbians" Who Sleep With Men
I read a script review the other day for a movie in which Ben Affleck's character seduces a lesbian, who leaves him to go back to women in the end. Sounds familiar, right? Chasing Amy circa 1996?
We should be so lucky. This film, called Gigli (pronounced "Jeally") is set to be released in August 2003 and stars Ben Affleck as a hit man who teams up with Jennifer Lopez to kidnap a mentally challenged young man, and then falls in love with her.

« anti-male? | whb homepage | Sisterhood and initiations »

your comments : post a new comment