Category Archives: Women

Democrats bank on abortion in 2024 as Arizona and Florida push stakes higher

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Focus on reproductive rights has yielded big wins and Democrats hope threat of more Republican bans will mobilize voters

Kamala Harris’s Friday visit to Arizona was planned before the state’s top court upheld a 160-year-old law that bans almost all abortions. But the news galvanized the vice-president’s message, one that has already yielded stunning victories for liberals since Roe v Wade fell nearly two years ago.

That message is simple: abortion bans happen when Republicans are in charge.

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‘Right to freedom from torture’: UN experts urge the Gambia not to decriminalise FGM

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Repealing ban would mean return of ‘one of the most pernicious forms of violence committed against women and children’

A team of UN experts has urged Gambian lawmakers not to repeal a ban on female genital mutilation, saying such a move would set a dangerous global precedent.

In a letter dated 8 April and made public on Thursday, the experts, led by Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, said allowing the unchecked return of “one of the most pernicious forms of violence committed against women and children” would violate their right to freedom from torture.

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Arizona’s Republican leaders block attempt to repeal abortion ban

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Democrats stymied after state supreme court rules that 1864 law with no exceptions for rape or incest can go into effect

Arizona’s state Republican leadership halted an effort by Democrats on Wednesday to repeal an 1864 law banning almost all abortions, which the state supreme court this week ruled could go into effect.

The move came after Republican lawmakers in the state had denounced the court’s decision, including some who previously expressed support for the law. Donald Trump and other high-profile Republicans, such as the Senate candidate Kari Lake, had also declared their opposition to the ruling with Lake urging lawmakers to “come up with an immediate commonsense solution that Arizonans can support”.

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Students in Iran threatened with prosecution for graduation dance video

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Al-Zahra University in Bushehr will pursue legal action, says its president, in a move labelled ‘absurd’ by human rights lawyers

A group of Iranian students have been threatened with prosecution after a video of them dancing after their graduation emerged on social media this week.

In the now viral video, a group of about 11 female students from Al-Zahra University in the coastal city of Bushehr, in south-west Iran, were seen dancing and riding a motorcycle.

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Menopause training should be mandatory for all school leaders, says UK union

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Women with symptoms are being penalised, National Education Union’s annual conference told

The UK’s biggest teaching union is to lobby for menopause training to be made mandatory for all school leaders, saying women with symptoms are being penalised for sickness absence and disciplined on competency grounds.

Older staff were at greatest risk of “capability procedures”, delegates at the National Education Union’s (NEU) annual conference in Bournemouth were told, while others were being forced out of their jobs, affecting not only their income but their pensions.

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Garrick edges closer to admitting female members after 193 years of exclusion

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Move comes after Guardian revealed names of powerful men among club’s exclusive membership

The men-only Garrick Club has edged closer to admitting female members, after an emergency committee meeting acknowledged that there was nothing in the club rules to prevent them from joining.

The late-night vote on Thursday means that women could finally become members of the club within months, 193 years after the Garrick was founded and following decades of controversy over its discriminatory rules, sources said.

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Alexis Wright nominated for $60,000 Stella prize for second time

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Judges have described the Waanyi writer’s fourth novel Praiseworthy as ‘a canon-crushing Australian novel for the ages’

Stella prize winner Alexis Wright has been nominated for the $60,000 award a second time, for her 700-page “canon-crushing” novel Praiseworthy.

The Waanyi writer won the Stella prize, intended to reward the work of Australian women and non-binary authors, in 2018 for her biography Tracker.

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‘Get on a plane’: Danish minister urged to meet Greenland coil scandal women

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Exclusive: Territory’s government calls for visit to listen to those thought to be living with consequences of forced fitting of IUDs

The Danish health minister should “get on a plane and visit” some of the thousands of women thought to be living with the consequences of being forcibly fitted with the contraceptive coil as children, Greenland’s gender equality minister has said.

In an attempt to reduce the population of the former Danish colony, at least 4,500 women and girls are believed to have undergone the medical procedure, usually without their consent or knowledge, at the hands of Danish doctors between 1966 and 1970 alone.

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Garrick Club asked to consider membership for seven leading women

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A group of men at the club who hope the male-only rule will change have nominated a set of possible new members

Seven women with leading positions in the British establishment have been nominated as prospective female members of the Garrick in the event that the club agrees to change its rules so that women are able to join.

The classicist Mary Beard, the former home secretary Amber Rudd, Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman and the new Labour peer Ayesha Hazarika are among the first names to have been put forward to the club as possible future members.

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Labour has 99% chance of forming next government, says elections expert – UK politics live

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Prof Sir John Curtice, the psephologist and lead election analyst for the BBC, said the chances of a Tory revival were small

In the House of Lords peers have just started debating the second reading of the leasehold and freehold reform bill. The bill has already passed through the Commons.

Normally, at this stage of the process, the content of a government bill is all but finalised. But, as No 10 admitted on Monday, the government has still not decided how far it will go in terms of cutting ground rents for existing leaseholders.

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Senior Labour figures seeking to water down plans to decriminalise abortion

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MPs due to have free vote on proposal but some in party have privately expressed concerns it goes too far

Senior Labour figures want to water down proposed legislation to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales ahead of a historic Commons debate on the issue.

Later this spring, MPs are due to have a free vote on a proposal by the Labour MP Diana Johnson to abolish the criminal offence associated with a woman ending her own pregnancy.

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Japan schools move to protect cheerleaders from upskirting at sporting events

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Several schools have brought in shorts for cheerleaders at baseball tournament while another positioned teachers between the cheerleaders and spectators

High schools taking part in Japan’s annual spring baseball tournament are taking action to prevent spectators from taking sexualised photographs of female cheerleaders.

The invitational tournament – and a regular tournament held every summer at Koshien stadium near Osaka – are supposed to be a celebration of youthful sporting prowess and a chance for teenage boys from 32 schools around the country to make their mark and perhaps catch the eye of a professional ball club.

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Channel 4 boss apologises over failure in investigation of Russell Brand claim

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Alex Mahon says former staff member made ‘serious’ allegation in 2009 that was not ‘investigated as it should have been’

The head of Channel 4 has apologised to a former staff member for the organisation not properly investigating a “serious” allegation made against Russell Brand in 2009.

However, the broadcaster found “no evidence” that staff at Channel 4 knew about the accusations made by four women in a Dispatches documentary before it was aired in September.

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Lawyers call on judges in Garrick Club to give up membership

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Exclusive: Letter with more than 60 signatories says membership ‘perpetuates systemic discrimination against women’

A group of more than 60 lawyers in England and Wales have called on all judges who are members of the men-only Garrick Club to resign from it immediately, claiming membership is “incompatible with the core principles of justice, equality and fairness”.

In an open letter, the barristers, solicitors and legal professionals say they have been concerned by recent reports in the Guardian naming dozens of senior figures in the judiciary as current members of a club that has repeatedly blocked attempts to allow women to join.

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Thousands of UK women owed pension payout after ombudsman’s Waspi ruling

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The way women’s state pension age was raised plunged retirement plans into chaos with many now in line for compensation

Thousands of women are owed compensation because of government failings related to the way changes to the state pension age were made, a long-awaited official report has said.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) said those affected were owed compensation but added that that Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had clearly indicated it would “refuse to comply”, which was “unacceptable”.

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Andrea Leadsom criticises civil service head’s Garrick Club involvement

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Former Tory leadership contender says she would not join men-only club even if it changed rules

A government minister has criticised Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, for having been a member of the men-only Garrick Club and said she wouldn’t join if it began admitting women.

Andrea Leadsom, a junior health minister and former Conservative leadership contender, said she thought it was “extraordinary” that the cabinet secretary had “only just discovered” the club excluded women.

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Democrat becomes first state lawmaker to speak while pregnant about fight to get abortion post-Roe

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Eva Burch, a Democrat, gave 10-minute speech on floor of state senate on Monday about state’s ‘coercive’ maze of restrictions

When Eva Burch learned that her pregnancy was not progressing and decided to have an abortion, Burch and her husband quickly made another decision: Burch, who is a Democratic state senator in Arizona, was going to speak up about it – from the floor of the state senate.

On Monday, as her voice shook and a group of women surrounded her, Burch gave a 10-minute-long speech about her decision and the struggle to navigate Arizona’s “coercive” maze of abortion restrictions. With her speech, Burch joined the ranks of women who have spoken out since the fall of Roe v Wade about their battles to get abortions even for nonviable pregnancies.

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Women at Cheltenham feel threatened by pop-up strip clubs, says minister

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Alex Chalk urges local council where racing festival takes place to stop granting licences to such venues

The presence of pop-up strip clubs at Cheltenham is making women feel “threatened and intimidated” at one of Britain’s biggest race festivals, the justice secretary has said.

Alex Chalk, the MP for Cheltenham, challenged the local council to stop granting licences to so-called sexual entertainment venues (SEVs).

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Chuck Schumer’s call for new Israeli elections condemned as ‘grotesque’ and ‘inappropriate’ by Republican leaders – live

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Senate majority leader’s scathing speech draws criticism from Mitch McConnell and Mike Johnson as well as Israel’s ambassador to the US

Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, has called for Israel to hold new elections, arguing that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “no longer fits the needs of Israel”.

Schumer, long a strong supporter of Israel and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US, strongly criticized the Israeli leader in a 40-minute speech on the Senate floor.

If prime minister Netanyahu’s current coalition remains in power after the war begins to wind down, and continues to pursue dangerous and inflammatory policies that test existing US standards for assistance, then the United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course.

As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may. But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice.

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Suicide toll prompts call for more support for UK domestic abuse victims

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Project finds police recorded 93 suspected domestic abuse-related suicides in a year – one every four days

Campaigners for women’s rights in the UK are calling for more mental health support for domestic abuse victims after police recorded 93 suspected abuse-related suicides in a year.

A report found 242 domestic abuse-related deaths were recorded between April 2022 and March 2023, of which 93 were suspected suicides, 80 were intimate partner homicides, 31 were adult family homicides, 23 were unexpected deaths, 11 were child deaths, and four others were deaths involving individuals living together who were not family members or intimate partners.

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