Goodbye, Rev. Shuttlesworth
October 5th was a rough day for civil rights leaders: Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, who not only helped establish and lead non-violent anti-segregation actions and the civil rights movement as we know it but also took the right to protest right up to the Supreme Court, passed away yesterday. He stared the devil in the face [...]
...read moreVirginia Board of Health Approves Most Onerous Regulations for Women’s Health Centers in the Country
This is a guest post by Katherine A. Greenier.
Under pressure from the Attorney General’s office, the Virginia Board of Health voted on Friday to place burdensome and unnecessary regulations on women’s health centers in the state, placing women’s rights in jeopardy. The threat these regulations pose to women’s access to health care and patient confidentiality reinforces that we must always be vigilant in order to protect constitutional freedoms.
Meaningful Enforcement in the War Against Domestic Abuse
By Madeline Lee Bryer, cross-posted at On The Issues Magazine *Trigger warning* The war against domestic violence is heating up. In a decision released publicly on August 17, 2011, an international human rights tribunal has determined that the U.S. authorities paid insufficient attention to domestic violence and violence against women in violation of the nation’s [...]
...read moreSuing for Looks Discrimination
Pretty people finish first — that’s a well-documented phenomenon. Folks who fall outside of cultural beauty norms — who are fatter or not white or less white or older or whatever else — make less money over their lifetimes. Economics professor Daniel S. Hamermesh suggests that people who are discriminated against because of their looks [...]
...read moreKansas Should Serve as a Warning to Virginia Women
This is a guest post by Dr. James Kenley.
These regulations, which demanded precise sizes for janitorial closets, no-variance room temperatures, and other ridiculous requirements, were purportedly established to protect the health and safety of women, but in truth had one and only one purpose: to shut down the three existing abortion facilities in the state.
Virginia Prisons Will Strengthen Policy Against Shackling Pregnant Inmates
This is a guest post by Katherine Greenier.
The DOC will now strengthen regulations that protect a pregnant inmate’s dignity and health, and the health and safety of her pregnancy. Ankle restraints or restraints that in any other way restrict the woman’s movement will not be used during transportation outside the prison, or during labor, delivery and post-partum recovery.
Review of Decriminalisation in New Zealand
I know I’ve been a little “all sex work all the time” in my posting lately (because it’s important, dammit) and I promise I’m not a total one-trick pony, but I thought some of you might this interesting. I linked to it in the comment thread on my post on the Swedish model. It’s the [...]
...read moreThis week in mother-blaming: child runs onto road, mother convicted
The story of Raquel Nelson, an Atlanta woman who witnessed her four year old son killed by a drunk driver and was subsequently convicted of vehicular manslaughter is the ‘Outrage of the week’ over at Lenore Skenazy’s blog Free Range Kids. And, frankly, what I feel about it is a shit-ton of outrage. In brief: [...]
...read more“Bad mom” doesn’t mean murderer
I’m writing in The Daily today about the Casey Anthony trial (disclaimer: I had nothing to do with that headline and I’m trying to see if it can be changed). A sample: The not-guilty verdict reached this week in the Casey Anthony murder trial set off a social media avalanche of indignation and cynicism directed [...]
...read moreNotes for Reporters Covering Rape Cases
Mother Jones, this is for you:* 1. In court, opposing parties each put on their theory of the case, backed up by evidence. Their theories of the case are never identical; that is why they are in court. But just because the defendant puts on a theory that differs from the plaintiff’s theory does not [...]
...read moreThe Rise of Afghanistan’s Fearless Young Feminists
A must-read over at UN Dispatch. A taste of the interview with feminist activist and Dickinson College sophomore Noorjahan Akbar: UN Dispatch: The abuse of women in Afghanistan is generally associated with rural conservatism and lack of education, but you recently initiated a facebook debate about sexual harassment and highly educated men from Kabul responded [...]
...read moreCasey Anthony is not guilty
Does this mean that Nancy Grace can quit her job now and fade into obscurity? Please tell me that’s what it means.
...read more
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