Category Archives: Women

People in abortion restrictive US states economically disempowered – report

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Wages, incarceration rates and unemployment benefits access worse when compared with states allowing the procedure

Wages, employment security, incarceration rates and access to unemployment benefits are all worse in US states where abortion is restricted or banned, compared with those where it is protected, a new report has found.

The report by the Economic Policy Institute also found that minimum wages are, on average, $3.75 an hour lower in abortion restrictive states compared with protective states ($8.17 compared with $11.92); and that restrictive states incarcerate people at 1.5 times the rate of protective states.

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ADHD services ‘swamped’, say experts as more UK women seek diagnosis

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Warnings of ‘great cost’ to individuals, workplaces and the economy as people struggle to access diagnosis and treatment

ADHD awareness hassoared among women in the UK in the past year, but waiting times and the dearth of clinical awareness are leaving people awaiting diagnosis in a perilous position, leading experts have warned.

Dr Max Davie, a consultant paediatrician and co-founder of ADHD UK, said that people talking openly about their diagnoses – such as the Loose Women presenter Nadia Sawalha – had led to more people seeking referrals for the condition.

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Five million children worldwide die before fifth birthday, says UN

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Almost half of deaths occur in babies’ first month and most could be prevented with better healthcare according to campaigners

Five million children worldwide died before their fifth birthday in 2021, with almost half (47%) dying during their first month, according to new UN figures.

Most of the deaths could have been prevented with better healthcare, say campaigners, adding that deaths among newborn babies haven’t reduced significantly since 2017.

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Andrew Tate arrest: Romanian authorities seize four more luxury cars

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Fresh haul follows 11 cars already taken in investigation into social media influencer, who is due in court next week

Romanian authorities have seized four more luxury cars as part of an investigation into the controversial online influencer and misogynist Andrew Tate before a court appearance next week.

The 36-year-old former professional kickboxer, who has been banned from a number of social media platforms for misogynistic comments and hate speech, was detained along with his brother Tristan in the country last week as part of a human trafficking and rape investigation.

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Afghan aid at risk from Taliban ban on women, warns United Nations

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Standoff between UN and Taliban may lead loss of billions in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

The UN’s lead humanitarian coordinator has said UN-supplied aid cannot continue if the Taliban do not lift their ban on women working for humanitarian aid agencies in Afghanistan.

Martin Griffiths, the head of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, is due to visit Kabul shortly to discuss the impasse.

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‘To gain respect, you need success’: the trans tycoon from Thailand who bought up Miss Universe

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Anne Jakrajutatip, boss of JKN Global, recently made headlines by buying the firm behind the contest for $20m

Anne Jakrajutatip, 43, has a story unlike many of the world’s media moguls. Growing up in Bangkok, the child of shop owners, she felt that she was trapped in the wrong body. At school, she faced constant bullying and stigma. She tried to carefully manage her identity, showing what she believed to be her true self in front of friends, and acting as a good son in front of her parents. She experienced sexual harassment while still a child.

It was reading a local newspaper article about Oprah Winfrey, a survivor of child abuse, that led Jakrajutatip to want a career in the media and to become a TV chatshow host. A microphone seemed like a powerful weapon.

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Iranian actor Taraneh Alidoosti released from jail after family post bail

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Alidoosti was arrested for support of women’s movement in Iran, including posing on Instagram without hijab

The celebrated Iranian actor Taraneh Alidoosti has been released from prison by the authorities after her friends and family provided bail. Pictures of her outside jail with campaigners holding flowers and without a hijab were shown on Iranian social media.

She had been arrested for issuing statements of support for the women’s movement in Iran, including by posing on Instagram without a hijab, the compulsory hair covering in the country.

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Shock in India as woman, 20, reportedly dragged by car for hour after collision

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Police in spotlight after claims they failed to respond to reports car with five men had not stopped

The death of a 20-year-old woman who was reportedly dragged for almost an hour by a car after a vehicle collision in Delhi has provoked outrage and calls for justice.

The woman was driving home from work in the early hours of New Year’s Day when her scooter and a car collided. News reports say the car driver and four passengers, all male, did not stop, dragging her body for miles through the streets of outer Delhi.

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Women with restricted abortion access may face higher suicide risk – study

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Research shows anti-abortion laws may have affected suicide rates among reproductive-aged women from 1974 to 2016

Women with restricted access to abortion during the last 40 years may have faced a higher risk of suicide, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania.

Abortion restriction laws may have influenced suicide rates among reproductive-aged women from 1974 to 2016, according to a study released Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry.

In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 and online chat is also available. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Faint hopes that Taliban will relax ban on NGO women after UN condemnation

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Security council’s rare display of unity adds pressure after most aid groups in Afghanistan suspend services

Faint hopes exist that the Taliban may relax its ban on all women working for the non-governmental aid agencies in Afghanistan after the UN security council condemned the ban in a rare show of unanimity.

Almost all the large NGO aid agencies operating in Afghanistan have suspended almost all their work while talks continue to persuade the Taliban to rescind or clarify their decision. Tens of thousands of aid workers – many of them the chief breadwinners for the household – have been told to stay at home during the suspension, as the UN seeks to persuade the Taliban of the consequences for ordinary people in Afghanistan.

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Plan B morning-after contraceptive is not abortion pill, US to specify

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FDA regulators to change packaging labels to make clear pill will not work if person is already pregnant

The US Food and Drug Administration has announced it will change packaging labels for the emergency contraceptive Plan B, to specify that it is not an abortion pill.

According to many anti-abortion activists, any form of disruption to an egg is considered an abortion.

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Taliban minister defends closing universities to women as global backlash grows

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Neda Mohammad Nadeem says ban was necessary to prevent mixing of genders as rare protests break out

The minister of higher education in Afghanistan’s Taliban government has defended his decision to ban women from universities – a decree that triggered a global backlash and protests inside the country.

Afghanistan’s Taliban-run administration announced earlier this week it had closed universities to women partly due to female students not adhering to its interpretation of the Islamic dress code and interaction between students of different genders.

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GPs ask for all contraceptives to be subsidised and end to abortion ‘postcode lottery’

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Exclusive: ‘We need to do more to improve access to and affordability of the full range of contraceptive options,’ Senate inquiry told

All contraceptives should be government subsidised, Medicare rebates for IUD insertion should be increased and larger quantities of contraception pills should be dispensed at once to make abortion and contraception more accessible, the peak body for general practitioners says.

In its submission to the Senate inquiry into universal access to reproductive healthcare, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said there were significant barriers to reproductive care, particularly in rural and remote communities.

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Scotland’s gender recognition bill became a lightning rod for wider issues

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The SNP’s proposals including making it easier to get a gender recognition certificate polarised national politics and provoked angry debates over rights

When Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, pledged to reform gender recognition laws at a LGBTQ+ leaders’ hustings before the 2016 Holyrood elections, she could not have envisaged the escalating toxicity and political polarisation that would ultimately surround her plans, nor the personal toll it would exact.

The proposals to bring in a system of self-declaration for individuals wishing to change their legal gender has led to multiple protests outside the Holyrood parliament, booing the avowedly feminist first minister as a “destroyer of women’s rights”. It has prompted the SNP’s biggest ever backbench rebellion and brought Sturgeon head to head with another of Scotland’s best-known women, the Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who on the eve of the final vote described the gender recognition reform bill as “the single biggest rollback of women’s rights in our lifetimes”.

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Taliban ban Afghan women from university education

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Higher education ministry issues indefinite order three months after thousands sat entrance exams

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have ordered an indefinite ban on university education for the country’s women, the ministry of higher education said in a letter issued to all government and private universities.

“You all are informed to implement the mentioned order of suspending education of females until further notice,” said the letter signed by the minister for higher education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem.

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Anti-abortion US priest Frank Pavone defrocked by Vatican

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Pavone had been investigated for placing an aborted foetus on an altar and posting a video of it online

The Vatican has defrocked the anti-abortion US priest Frank Pavone for what it said were “blasphemous communications on social media” as well as “persistent disobedience” of his bishop.

A letter to US bishops from the Vatican ambassador to the US, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, said the decision against Pavone, who heads the anti-abortion group Priests for Life, had been taken and that there was no chance for an appeal.

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Scathing report condemns UK police for ‘victim blaming’ in rape cases

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Examination exposes failure to track repeat suspects and botched investigations by struggling forces

A damning official examination into how police forces tackle rape has exposed persistent failings in the criminal justice system, including a failure to track repeat suspects, “explicit victim-blaming” and botched investigations.

The long-awaited independent report into the first year of Operation Soteria Bluestone – launched by the government after a catastrophic fall in rape prosecutions – also paints a picture of a over-worked, traumatised and inexperienced police workforce in England and Wales, which is struggling to cope with an increase in rape reports after years of austerity.

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Iran ousted from UN body tasked with empowering women

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Twenty-nine of 54 members vote to expel country over regime’s bloody crackdown on protests calling for gender equality

Iran has been ousted from a UN body tasked with empowering women after​​​ world powers voted​ in favour of a motion submitted by the US, which said the Islamic Republic’s membership was an “ugly stain” on the group’s credibility.

Activists and rights groups have said Tehran’s role in the 45-member commission on the status of women was a farce, considering the regime’s forces have beaten and killed women peacefully calling for gender equality.

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London fire brigade put into special measures over misogyny and racism

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Watchdog to monitor force closely after damning report revealed deep-seated behavioural problems

London fire brigade (LFB) has been placed into special measures by the chief fire inspector after a report revealing incidents of misogyny, racism and bullying.

The watchdog moved the LFB into an enhanced level of monitoring on Wednesday, citing concerns about “culmulative evidence” from its last inspection and later of unacceptable behaviour within the brigade.

His Majesty’s inspector of fire and rescue services, Matt Parr, said: “We should recognise that London fire brigade’s recent cultural review was commissioned by the brigade, whose leadership has accepted its findings without reservation.

“However, it is clear that the behavioural problems we highlighted earlier this year are deep-seated and have not improved. We will now examine London fire brigade’s improvement plans more frequently and more intrusively, and work closely with the brigade to monitor its progress.”

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Argentinian court clears woman of killing her baby after obstetric emergency

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Accused had a gynaecological condition and was unaware she was pregnant, court told, as verdict hailed a victory by women’s rights activists

A woman in Argentina accused of killing her baby after suffering an obstetric emergency has had her case dismissed.

A court in Buenos Aires, cleared La China*, 43, after the prosecution withdrew its charge of aggravated homicide.

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