Category Archives: Women

Labour plans to extend equal pay rights to black, Asian and minority ethnic staff

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Exclusive: Radical changes in a draft race equality act would give same protections as women now receive

A Labour government would extend the full right to equal pay that now exists for women to black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) workers for the first time under radical plans for a draft race equality act seen by the Guardian.

The legal right, which would follow a consultation with business groups and unions, would be phased in to give employers time to adapt to paying all their staff fairly, with back pay only available from when the law changes.

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‘We’re going to blame the women, not our sexism’: bias holding back top female pianists

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Discrimination and misogyny in classical music are denying women opportunities at festivals, venues and in recordings, research finds

A discordant chord over sexism in the classical music world has sounded again. The head of one of the most prestigious competitions is calling for the industry to confront an apparent bias that is holding back female pianists from pursuing concert careers, however brilliant their talent.

Fiona Sinclair, chief executive of the Leeds International Piano Com­petition, told the Observer that female pianists are failing to reach the top of their profession despite an equal number of men and women now training at conservatoires.

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Indigenous reporter fears more journalists will be targeted after arrest as police cleared Canada camp

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Brandi Morin was charged while reporting at encampment authorities arrived at to dismantle and could face two years in jail

A journalist in Canada who was arrested and charged while reporting on a police operation to clear an encampment for unhoused Indigenous people says she fears the charges will chill further reporting of marginalized groups.

Brandi Morin, an Indigenous journalist, was arrested on 10 January while documenting police efforts to dismantle the camp in the city of Edmonton.

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French move to make abortion a ‘guaranteed freedom’ gains big win in lower house

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Constitutional change could face fight in Senate after national assembly approves measure by 493 votes to 30

France’s lower house of parliament has overwhelmingly approved a measure to inscribe abortion as a “guaranteed freedom” in the constitution, a pledge made by the president, Emmanuel Macron, last year.

But the controversial plan now goes to the upper-house Senate, where it faces resistance from the conservative Republicans and the far-right National Rally.

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Somalia to launch its first current affairs TV show led by women

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New show will follow Question Time format answering audience questions on taboo subjects from periods to women in politics

Somalia’s only all-female media team, Bilan, is launching the country’s first TV current affairs show to be hosted by a woman.

The debate show, which plans to address some taboo subjects, will also be the first programme on Somali television to have a panel of at least 50% women, and the first to broach contentious topics, such as a critical shortage of female teachers and the challenges faced by women trying to get into politics, as well as environmental issues.

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Pennsylvania case challenging ban on Medicaid abortions back in court

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Supreme court rules lower court must hear case arguing decades-old law barring coverage for procedure should be overturned

Pennsylvania’s supreme court ruled on Monday that a lower court must hear a case challenging a ban on the use of government-funded healthcare to pay for abortions, raising hopes among reproductive rights advocates for an expansion of abortion access in the state and the establishment of a constitutional right to the procedure.

The case, brought by abortion providers in the state, challenged a decades-old state law barring Medicaid from covering abortions, arguing that it should be overturned because it violates the broader rights guaranteed by the state constitution’s Equal Rights Amendment.

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Abortion investigations causing women ‘life-changing harm’, says UK expert

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Women losing ‘everything’ after being accused of illegal abortion in England and Wales, even if not charged, says Dr Jonathan Lord

Women in England and Wales accused of having illegal abortions have been held in custody after pregnancy loss, had their children taken into care and been saddled with debt, an expert has said.

Dr Jonathan Lord, a co-chair of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) abortion taskforce, said he was aware of up to 30 “deeply traumatic” cases where women had been investigated by the police, with some suffering “life-changing harm”.

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UK medics told not to report illegal abortions to police

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Royal college voices concern at rise in number of prosecutions of ‘deeply traumatised’ women

Medical staff in the UK should not report women to the police if they believe their patients may have illegally ended their own pregnancy, a professional body is to say.

New guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) will say it is never in the public interest to report women who have abortions to law enforcement agencies, according to the BBC.

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Biden abortion ad marks campaign shift to emphasize reproductive rights

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Campaign ad, titled Forced, is designed to tie Donald Trump directly to the abortion issue

The Biden re-election campaign rolled out a new campaign ad Sunday, signaling a shift in emphasis to reproductive rights that the White House hopes will carry and define Democrats through the 2024 election cycle.

The campaign ad, titled Forced, is designed to tie Donald Trump directly to the abortion issue almost 18 months after his nominees to the supreme court helped to overturn a constitutional right to abortion enshrined in Roe v Wade, which would have turned 51 this week.

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Women added to Cop29 climate summit committee after backlash

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Panel was originally composed of 28 men, a move condemned as ‘regressive’ and ‘shocking’

The president of Azerbaijan has added 12 women to the previously all-male organising committee for the Cop29 global climate summit, which the country will host in December.

The move follows a backlash after the Guardian reported the initial 28-man composition of the committee, which was called “regressive” by the She Changes Climate campaign group. “Climate change affects the whole world, not half of it,” the group said.

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Sexual harassment has shifted away from the office to work trips, MPs told

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In wake of #MeToo, sexism in the City has become more ‘underhand and pernicious’, women tell inquiry

The social change sparked by the #MeToo movement has not translated to the UK’s financial sector, with sexual harassment merely shifting outside the office to conferences and work trips, MPs have heard.

A summary of private hearings held as part of the Treasury committee’s sexism in the City inquiry showed that, while a small number of women said workplaces had become more inclusive in recent years, the majority felt the Square Mile was still an “old boys’ club” with misconduct and misogyny widespread.

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Number of women in UK who die during pregnancy rises sharply

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Separate study finds women who are depressed in pregnancy more likely to die prematurely

The number of women who have died during pregnancy or soon after has risen sharply to its highest levels for 20 years, prompting concern from experts.

The maternal death rate increased to 13.41 deaths per 100,000 pregnancies between 2020 and 2022, according to figures published by the MBRRACE-UK investigation into maternal deaths in the UK. The figure was 8.79 in the period 2017 to 2019.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Afghan girls detained and lashed by Taliban for violating hijab rules

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Girls as young as 16 arrested in shops, classes and markets in Kabul by the Taliban, who labelled them ‘infidels’ for wearing ‘bad hijab’

Girls as young as 16 have been arrested across the Afghan capital, Kabul, in the past week for violating the Taliban’s hijab rules.

The girls – who were detained in shopping centres, classes and street markets – were accused of “spreading and encouraging others to wear a bad hijab” and wearing makeup.

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‘All feminists are under attack’: ultra-right threat in Milei’s Argentina forces writer into exile

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The new president’s rightwing supporters are targeting journalists and women’s rights activists – but the fight goes on

Female journalists who write about gender issues say they are having to deal with a toxic wave of threats against them in Argentina. Some are fighting back, others are lying low and one has gone into self-imposed exile for her safety.

“We are facing a witch-hunt from the ultra-right,” said the author, journalist and activist Luciana Peker, who recently left Argentina for an undisclosed location due to the weight of threats against her.

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Texas can ban emergency abortions despite federal guidance, court rules

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The ruling by a unanimous panel of fifth US circuit court of appeals comes amid a wave of lawsuits focusing on abortion exceptions

The US government cannot enforce federal guidance in Texas requiring emergency room doctors to perform abortions if necessary to stabilize emergency room patients, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday, siding with the state in a lawsuit accusing Joe Biden’s administration of overstepping its authority.

The ruling by a unanimous panel of the fifth US circuit court of appeals comes amid a wave of lawsuits focusing on when abortions can be provided in states whose abortion bans have exceptions for medical emergencies.

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Civil servant at MoD alleges sexual assaults by three male colleagues

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Woman came forward to Prospect trade union after feeling allegations were not sufficiently dealt with

A Ministry of Defence civil servant has told of being subjected to three separate incidents of sexual assault by male colleagues, after allegations emerged of a “hostile” and “toxic” culture at the department.

The woman came forward to Prospect, the trade union, after feeling that her allegations were not sufficiently investigated and dealt with by the Ministry of Defence.

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Domestic violence worst at Christmas and New Year in Australia, with more than 60 women killed in violent attacks this year

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Statistics reveal over 2,000 intimate partner homicides from 1989 to 2021, with three in four victims female

More than 60 women have been violently killed this year, many by intimate partners, and experts warn that the holidays are a particularly dangerous time.

Counting Dead Women Australia – which is run by Destroy the Joint researchers – tracks “every known death due to violence against women” and says the number this week reached 62.

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Scale of bullying and harassment of women in City ‘shocks and alarms’ MPs

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Cross-party Treasury committee says its private hearings suggest there has been no improvement in 20 years

MPs on the cross-party Treasury committee have been “shocked and alarmed” to hear about the scale of bullying and sexual harassment against women in the City of London, which suggests there has been “no improvement whatsoever” over the past 20 years.

The Labour MP and committee member Angela Eagle said private hearings held as part of the committee’s sexism in the City inquiry had raised significant concerns about the conditions women were forced to endure in the UK’s financial services sector.

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Mahsa Amini’s name is ‘secret code for freedom’ says mother as EU presents award

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Family of 22-year-old blocked from coming to France from Iran to collect posthumous Sakharov prize

The European parliament has presented a rights prize posthumously to Mahsa Amini, whose death in Iranian custody prompted mass protests, as her mother hailed her daughter’s name as “a secret code for freedom”.

The award is the latest international recognition for the women challenging Iran’s religious government, after the jailed activist Narges Mohammadi was given the Nobel peace prize.

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New menopause therapy guidance will harm women’s health, say campaigners

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Nice guidelines for GPs ‘placing CBT on a par with HRT’ are criticised as ‘patronising’ and ‘scaremongering’

New official guidance on treating menopause will harm women’s health, experts, MPs and campaigners have warned.

Last month, new draft guidelines to GPs from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said that women experiencing hot flushes, night sweats, depression and sleep problems could be offered cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) “alongside or as an alternative to” hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to help reduce their menopause symptoms.

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