grrrly news 3/5/05
Current Events
The Birth of Women's History Month
The evolution of March as Women's History Month is a story with many points of origin, non-linear narratives, competing calendars and claims and a denouement of some irony.
US Withdraws Amendment to Global Women's Rights Agreement
In a victory for women, the United States today withdrew a controversial amendment to a United Nations declaration reaffirming the UN Platform for Action on women's rights. The amendment would have specified that in reaffirming the Platform for Action, no “new international human rights were created,” including the “right to abortion.”
U.N. Takes Measure of Women's Equality
This week, government delegates and women's organizations from around the world are gathering at the United Nations to evaluate progress towards reaching the goals for gender equality set in Beijing ten years ago.
Schumer Could Derail Contentious Bankruptcy Law
Women's activists say that a new bankruptcy law--now at a critical juncture in the Senate--robs many women of a crucial protection from job loss and medical calamity and makes it harder to collect child-support payments.
Pregnancy Employment Bias Suits Surge
Female employees charged pharmaceuticals giant Novartis with maternal bias as part of a $100-million gender-discrimination lawsuit last week. The case joins a surge in litigation brought by pregnant women charging job discrimination
Getting married gives couples some important financial protection - and now MPs have finally backed plans for civil partnerships, same-sex couples can win the same rights
Justices Reject 'Roe' Abortion Case
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a challenge to its landmark 1973 ruling legalizing abortion by the woman once known as Jane Roe, who was at the center of the historic case.
U.S. Pushes U.N. on Abortion Declaration
Ten years after a landmark U.N. conference adopted a platform aimed at global equality for women, the United States is demanding that a declaration issued by a follow-up meeting make clear the women are not guaranteed a right to abortion
Schwarzenegger Remarks on Women Anger Many
Could Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have another "woman problem" on his hands? Schwarzenegger made headlines in recent months by deriding political opponents as "girlie men" and ridiculing a group of nurses at a women's conference. Now, an effort to paint the state's teachers as little more than a balky special interest group has angered many critics, who have begun to question why constituencies dominated by women have been subjected to such tough talk.
Are Babies the New Hot Accessory?
Motherhood has a new gloss on it courtesy of advertisers and mainstream media, but many question whether the underlying conditions of mothering in America have undergone any substantial change.
New Poll Finds Bush Priorities Are Out of Step With Americans
Americans say President Bush does not share the priorities of most of the country on either domestic or foreign issues, are increasingly resistant to his proposal to revamp Social Security and say they are uneasy with Mr. Bush's ability to make the right decisions about the retirement program, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll
Women Around the World
Freed Italy hostage arrives home
Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena has arrived in Rome a day after being rescued from her Iraqi kidnappers - and wounded by US gunfire in Baghdad.
(see alsoItaly Rallies Around Reporter Kidnapped in Iraq
he abduction of Giuliana Sgrena, a foreign correspondent at the Italian daily Il Manifesto and specialist on issues for Arab women, has shaken the public opinion in Italy and around the world.)
Muslim woman quits after threats
A Muslim woman in Belgium who received national attention after her employer was targeted with death threats has left her job.
School uniforms may need review
Schools which have uniform policies may have to re-assess the way they are enforced, following a court ruling.
Sweden to allow IVF for lesbians
Swedish legislators are due to amend a law which would legalise fertilisation treatment for lesbian couples.
Arab women increase MP presence
The number of women members of parliament in the Arab world has almost doubled in the last five years, according to a new report.
Pakistan's justice system in spotlight
Three years ago, it was the brutality of the event that left human rights campaigners in Pakistan, and indeed the rest of the world, aghast.
Film-kiss star demands protection
A Pakistani actress has asked her government for protection after she says she received death threats for a kissing scene in a Bollywood film.
'I'm beautiful and HIV-positive'
In the changing rooms behind the stage, 12 women are busy applying make-up and checking their lavish hair-dos. They are all HIV-positive. And they will be judged primarily on their courage and spirit - qualities as invisible as the disease which is weakening their bodies.
66 accused as mammoth child abuse trial begins
A HUGE paedophile trial opens in France today in which 66 adults - 27 of them women - will appear before a court in Angers charged with the rape and abuse of 45 children aged between six months and 12 years.
Covered in layers of flowing black fabric that extend to the tips of her gloved hands, Jenan al-Ubaedy knows her first priority as one of some 90 women who will sit in the national assembly: implementing Islamic law.
When Freedom Gets the Death Sentence
The murder of a Turkish woman and the applauding of the crime by some students have left Berlin shaken and officials pushing for ethics class. But how deep does the concept of honor run among some immigrant communities?
First the women are raped, then they are jailed, fined
Since 2003, when local African tribes took up arms against perceived neglect and discrimination by the central government, thousands of women have been raped. Many of the victims have been branded to ensure that they never escape the stigma.
Health
Elderly Women Benefit from Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Node-Positive Breast Cancer
According to results compiled from several clinical trials that were recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, elderly women with early-stage breast cancer achieve similar benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy as their younger counterparts
Premature birth lays time bomb for girls
Being born prematurely can set off a chain reaction of hormone-related health problems in girls, Sydney doctors have shown for the first time.
Those born weeks before their due date, and who grow into overweight or obese children, are more likely to exhibit the first signs of puberty early, a study of 89 children, mostly girls, treated at Sydney Children's Hospital has found. That in turn can trigger diabetes and polycystic ovarian syndrome - a hormone imbalance that can cause infertility.
Conference Looks at Health Care for Muslim Women in the U.S
"Patient-centered Health Care for Muslim Women in the United States" is the topic of a conference March 4 and 5 at the University of Illinois at Chicago that brings together consumers, providers and national experts to discuss culturally appropriate health care for Muslim women.
Baby boom in Hong Kong? Not likely..
Hong Kong couples have snubbed a government plea to boost the territory's birth rate by having three babies each, according to a survey published on Friday.
Business and Financial
What's next for Martha Stewart?
Martha Stewart, the millionaire homemaking guru, is out of jail and under house arrest, but what are her prospects for making more money?
Move On Up to the CEO's Office, Marcus Urges Women
"Women are increasingly being educated. They are becoming financially independent. Women need to be assertive on their ideas and decisions. Often these are challenged."
Marcus said women needed to combat the disempowerment that came with ridicule, where they were made to feel that they were not good at anything.
Clean out your financial skeleton closet
You probably have some financial skeletons hiding in your closet. Debts, a horrible credit score, lies, missing money...financial woes you wish would just go away.
Science and Technology
Sperm 'clock' may help rape cases
Forensic scientists say they may be able to use sperm's "death rate" as evidence of when a rape took place.
Relationship sites are a booming online business, as lonely hearts look to 'scientific software' to find mates. But are the biggest players hiding disturbing agendas?
5 women physicists get UNESCO award
Five women physicists have been given the L'Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science awards for fiscal 2005, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has said.
Voices
Mothers of Invention Face Technical Taliban
For Women's History Month, Deepa Kandaswamy points out that women invented paper, produced the pie chart and distilled perfume. But "technical Talibanism," she says, obscures those contributions and handicaps female inventors today.
Harvard President Larry Summers' speech does prove something about the status of women in the sciences.
The 'Fat Bitch' sandwich is the latest target of the language cops on one US campus
In Texas, among the nasty horrors awaiting us is H.B. 1212, mandating parental consent for the performance of an abortion
'Women's Day is good for womanhood'
“Women’s Day is a good day to celebrate womanhood. It is great to have a dedicated day to oneself. On that day our association is going to have a programme where women will come together and take an oath to protect their integrity and fight for their rights.”
Women `worse off than 10 years ago'
The rise in forced prostitution, forced labor and human trafficking has made life for many women worse now than a decade ago, a UN report says
Mama Betty Calls On Women to Re-Examine Fight for Social Rights
WOMEN must re-examine their fight for social rights, said former first lady Mama Betty Kaunda yesterday.
Commenting on the commemoration of the forth-coming International Women's Day that falls on March 8, Mama Betty said the International Women's Day was a wake-up call for women to reflect on their contribution towards a just society.
The Next Generation
Trend: Health-Conscious Teens Toss Make-Up
Female teens are taking on the cosmetic industry, leading a national campaign to educate girls about phthalates and other toxins in nail polish, shampoos, hair dyes and facial cleansers.
What are the challenges faced by women who would like to start a business?
That is one of the questions participants in the Young Women's Entrepreneurship Essay Contest, held through April 9, can choose to answer.
The contest is open to young women in the Kansas City area who will graduate from high school in May.
Over 70 per cent girls in MP keen on sex education
ANS Bhopal March 4: Over 70 per cent of girls in Madhya Pradesh want sex education to be imparted in their schools, a survey report says.
The survey, conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Voluntary Health Association (MPVHA), also says that 80 per cent of the girls were unaware of physical changes occurring in their bodies during adolescence.
The pluses and minuses of directing girls into math
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd heard that and suggested sexists such as Summers partly explain why more men than women rise to the top science jobs.
Career experts heard that and suggested that women feel uncomfortable in math or science classrooms because they’re often dominated by men. They said future bosses can be found among people working in manufacturing or sales and not from female-dominated human services departments.
Girls grapple with success against boys
Girls wrestling boys isn't new, but their success has reached new heights. Some have won their way into state tournaments where no girls have gone before.
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