Category Archives: Women

Mind the gender pay gap: Berlin women to get public transport discount

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Gender-specific “Frauenticket” will be 21% cheaper than usual and available on 18 March in stunt to flag German pay gap

Women travelling on Berlin’s metro, buses or trams will pay 21% less than men next Monday in a stunt to boost the visibility of Germany’s gaping gender pay gap.

The city’s public transport operator, BVG, said its “Frauenticket” will be available on 18 March only, to mark Equal Pay Day in Germany. Under the slogan “Mind the pay gap”, it said its cut-price ticket was intended to flag the 21% difference between men and women’s average earnings, one of the biggest gender pay gaps in Europe.

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French gynaecologists’ union threatens to stop performing abortions

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Health minister calls protest about lack of medical insurance ‘taking women hostage’

A French gynaecologists’ union has threatened to halt pregnancy terminations in an attempt to force the country’s health minister to meet disgruntled doctors.

The Syngof union wrote to its 1,600 members calling them to be prepared to stop carrying out abortions to “make ourselves heard” and force the government’s hand.

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Fighting a ‘double curse’: Afghanistan’s hopefuls for Paralympic gold | Stefanie Glinski

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Prejudice faced by Afghan women with a disability has proved no barrier to its national wheelchair basketball team

Nilofar Bayat played her first game of wheelchair basketball in an open court in the middle of Kabul, surrounded by mainly male onlookers who shouted insults and called her names.

She decided to keep playing anyway.

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International Women’s Day marked across the world

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Protesters call for an end to domestic violence, sexual attacks and pay discrimination – except in Russia

Protests and celebrations were staged across the world to mark International Women’s Day as issues of gender equality and gender violence were highlighted in myriad ways.

In Spain, an estimated six million – reportedly including nuns – took part in a mass two-hour walkout to demand equal pay and rights for women, according to UGT, one of the country’s largest unions. Thousands of women flooded the streets and squares of Madrid carrying placards saying, “Liberty, Equality, Friendship” and “The way I dress does not change the respect I deserve.”

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Child marriage in Niger is a cultural issue, not an Islamic one

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A visit to the world’s fifth poorest country has shown me that battling early and forced marriage begins with communities

Islam, for me, is a way of life and the core of my world. As a Muslim woman I have always been encouraged to be who I want to be.

I get frustrated when people say: “Why do you wear a hijab? Isn’t that a sign of women’s oppression?” I choose to wear a hijab; I choose to be an educated and liberated woman and I choose to follow Islam.

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Own a classic Observer photograph from the Women’s Liberation Movement march, 1971

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On Saturday 6 March 1971, women from across the UK gathered in central London to join the first national demonstration by the newly formed Women’s Liberation Movement. Observer photographers Jane Bown and Tony McGrath documented the event for the following day’s paper.

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Emma Watson, Keira Knightley among stars urging better protection of women

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Scores of high-profile signatories mark International Women’s Day by signing letter calling for stronger global political support

• Letter: Women worldwide must be heard and respected

Emma Watson, Keira Knightley, and Dame Emma Thompson are among 76 actors, writers, business leaders and campaigners calling on governments to increase support and protection of women fighting for their rights around the world.

The letter, published in the Guardian to mark International Women’s Day on Friday, says women risk “backlash, censorship and violence” whenever they defend their rights or speak out over injustice.

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Women take to the streets of Pakistan to rewrite their place in society

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Campaigners will march on International Women’s Day to protest against harassment, child marriage and ‘honour killings’

During Jalwat Ali’s school days in Lahore, there were limited spaces to gather with other women, never mind flood the streets with punchy placards.

Public spaces often feel constricted in Pakistan, as though under critical male scrutiny. But over the past few days, Ali has been recruiting dozens of women, from garment workers to domestic helpers who barely get a day off. “To solve any problem, we need to make a collective effort,” she says.

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International Women’s Day 2019: Scott Morrison says women shouldn’t succeed only at expense of ‘others’ – live

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Follow all the news and developments as people mark International Women’s Day around the world

Vietnamese media has taken the celebration of International Women’s Day several strides backwards with a piece in Tuoi Tre newspaper asking expat men what they think life is like for Vietnamese women.

The insightful verdict from the men, who hail from Australia, France, the UK and Japan, is that “it must be tough to be a woman in Vietnam”.

El Salvador’s Supreme Court has commuted the 30-year sentences of three women imprisoned for abortion convictions, lessening their punishment to time served and ordering them to be released immediately.

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El Salvador: three women jailed for abortions released

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Supreme Court commutes 30-year sentences of trio who have each served 10 years in prison

El Salvador’s Supreme Court has commuted the 30-year sentences of three women imprisoned for abortion convictions, lessening their punishment to time served and ordering them to be released immediately.

The three women had spent about 10 years in prison on aggravated homicide charges for allegedly having abortions. All claimed that they had miscarriages. The court found that the women were victims of social and economic circumstances and ruled that the original sentences were unreasonable.

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Italian far-right members produce sexist leaflet for International Women’s Day

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Female ministers and opposition condemn leaflet from League members in southern Italy on the ‘natural role’ of women

Representatives of the far-right League in southern Italy have provoked fury after producing an explicitly sexist leaflet to mark International Women’s Day.

It was intended to be a dedication to women, but the pamphlet instead takes aim at those who “offend women’s dignity” by impeding their “natural role” of “supporting life and the family”.

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Labor’s abortion policy: all the issues explained

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The opposition’s plan to allow open up sexual health services to more women raises key questions about access, cost and state laws

Labor has announced a national sexual and reproductive health strategy to improve access to contraception and abortion. A major plank of this policy is to “support all women to access termination services in public hospitals”, raising a number of crucial questions:

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‘Thousands’ of young girls denied abortion after rape in Argentina

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Anti-choice doctors and health officials accused of obstructing legal terminations after 11-year-old girl gave birth to rapist’s child

The lives of thousands of girls in Argentina are being put at risk as legal abortions are delayed and obstructed by doctors trying to force pregnancies to full term.

The issue of anti-choice doctors, medical institutions and government officials deliberately trying to hold up legally sanctioned terminations was brought into sharp focus last week when it emerged that an 11-year-old girl’s baby was born alive because health officials delayed her request for an abortion. The girl had fallen pregnant after being raped by her grandmother’s boyfriend.

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UK pledges £2m to help end stigma and shame of period poverty

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As well as global funding, Penny Mordaunt announces creation of £250,000 taskforce to tackle problem in Britain

The UK government has announced £2m to support organisations around the world to end period poverty by 2030.

The minister for women and equalities, Penny Mordaunt, also announced £250,000 for the creation of a taskforce comprised of government departments, businesses, charities and manufacturers to come up with new ideas to tackle the problem in the UK.

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Facebook criticised after women complain of inaction over abuse

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Amnesty says social media firm must do more to support users who report harassment

Human rights campaigners have called for action after a survey revealed that more than half of the reports that women lodge about harassment on Facebook are met with no action from the social media company.

The Survation poll, commissioned by the feminist campaign group Level Up, found that 29% of the 1,000 women who took part had been harassed on Facebook.

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Screen queens: the funny, fearless women who revolutionised TV

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Phoebe Waller-Bridge exploded into our living rooms with Fleabag, her vicious comedy about an angry, awkward woman. As it returns, Guardian writers pick their TV heroines

Who gets to be the bitch?

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Ocasio-Cortez’s critics babble and bluster … but can’t ignore her | Arwa Mahdawi

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The young congresswoman has turned the tables on the Wall Street Journal after it accused her of taking ‘pride in ignorance’

Large swaths of America appear to be suffering from a debilitating condition known as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Derangement Syndrome (AOCDS). Symptoms include bouts of extreme condescension, an inability to stop sputtering the word “socialist”, and overwhelming anger that a young woman of colour is unapologetically succeeding.

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Saudi Arabia: detained women’s rights activists to be put on trial

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More than dozen arrested in 2018 and rights groups say some have been tortured

Saudi women’s rights activists detained last year in a sweeping crackdown on campaigners will be put on trial, prosecutors have said.

“The public prosecution would like to announce that it has concluded its investigation and prepared the indictment list against the defendants ... and will refer the case to the relevant court,” the state-controlled Saudi Press Agency said on Friday.

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