Category Archives: Women

Trump signs order to reinstate ‘global gag rule’ on abortion aid

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Federal rule also known as ‘Mexico City policy’ halts US funds to overseas groups that provide abortion services

Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order reinstating a federal rule known as the “Mexico City policy” which halts US aid from flowing to groups that provide abortion services, counsel people about the procedure or advocate for abortion rights overseas.

The policy, which was first instituted by Ronald Reagan in 1984, is typically implemented whenever a Republican president wins the White House and rescinded whenever a Democrat wins. But this whiplash has major implications for abortion and reproductive healthcare around the world.

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Prisons minister aims to close one women’s jail in England and Wales

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Exclusive: Timpson says government plans to reverse rise in female inmates and use alternative forms of punishment

A women’s jail in England or Wales should be closed by diverting offenders to alternative forms of punishment and rehabilitation, the prisons minister, James Timpson has said.

In an interview with the Guardian, the former head of the shoe repair chain said the government planned to reverse the rise in the number of women being sent to jail, around half of whom are mothers.

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Greater Sydney council bans ‘revealing swimwear’ sparking debate about double standards

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One expert says women’s bodies and attire have long been a source for public debate in a way that doesn’t happen with men

A council in Greater Sydney has announced it is banning G-string bikinis at its public pools without providing further details about how the rule will be policed, sparking debate about gender standards.

Earlier this month, Blue Mountains Leisure Centres (BMLC) posted on Facebook that it had noticed some “confusion” about “appropriate swimwear” when visiting one of their pools.

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Reliance on fertility apps on rise in England and Wales, study shows

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Trend away from hormonal contraception corresponds to rise in abortion rates, say researchers

Women in England and Wales are increasingly ditching the pill in favour of fertility-tracking apps, raising the risk of a rise in unplanned pregnancies, a study suggests.

Researchers concluded there had been a shift in attitudes towards contraception in the last five years, from “more reliable” hormonal options, such as the pill and the implant, to “fertility awareness-based methods”.

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Lisa Nandy rejects calls for England to boycott Afghanistan cricket match

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Culture secretary says it should go ahead despite pressure for it to be cancelled over Taliban’s treatment of women

England should be allowed to play next month’s cricket match against Afghanistan, the culture and sport secretary has said, despite calls for a boycott over the Taliban government’s treatment of women.

Lisa Nandy backed a decision by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to allow the game to go ahead, saying on Friday that cancelling it would “deny sports fans the opportunity that they love”.

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Labour to make taking intimate images without consent a criminal offence

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Ministers say predators could face two years in jail, and plan to include creating sexually explicit deepfakes in bill

Predators who take intimate images of unwitting victims or install cameras to do so could face up to two years’ in jail under plans drawn up by Labour.

Ministers have also confirmed that they plan to create a new offence for those who create sexually explicit deepfake images.

Taking or recording an intimate photograph or film without consent.

Taking or recording an intimate photograph or film without consent and with intent to cause alarm, distress, or humiliation.

Taking or recording an intimate photograph or film without consent or reasonable belief in it, and for the purpose of the sexual gratification of oneself or another.

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Permanent contraception surged after Roe v Wade overturned, study finds

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Young adults living in states likely to ban abortion obtained tubal sterilizations and vasectomies in months after ruling

In the months after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, permanent contraception in the form of tubal sterilizations and vasectomies surged among young adults living in states likely to ban abortion, new research released on Monday found.

Compared to May 2022, when the opinion overturning Roe leaked, August 2022 saw 95% more vasectomies and 70% more tubal sterilizations performed on people between the ages of 19 and 26, according to the study, which was conducted by researchers at the George Washington University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Michigan.

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‘I don’t want flowers, I want my Ukraine’: women’s acts of resistance against Russian occupation

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Zla Mavka movement – meaning ‘wicked forest spirit’ – drops fake rouble notes bearing pro-Ukrainian images and shares messages of solidarity

On 8 March 2023, International Women’s Day, Russian soldiers were handing out tulips and boughs of mimosa to women and girls in the city of Melitopol, southern Ukraine – a move designed to promote friendly relations between the occupiers and the inhabitants.

But the night before, someone had been discreetly sticking posters to walls and lamp-posts. They bore the image of a young Ukrainian woman, dressed in a traditional embroidered shirt, smashing a bouquet over a Russian soldier’s head. “I don’t want flowers,” read the slogan. “I want my Ukraine.”

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Why speech could be a target for the anti-abortion movement in 2025

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The anti-abortion movement is looking at ways to control information about how and where to obtain abortions

The next front in the US abortion wars may be what people are allowed to say about it.

More than two years after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in the case Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, US abortions are on the rise, thanks in large part to the spread of abortion pills and travel across state lines. This has infuriated anti-abortion advocates, who have proposed policies to help the incoming Trump administration curtail the mailing of abortion pills and targeted individuals and groups that help women get out-of-state abortions. In a sign of how the issue is pitting states against one another, Texas earlier this monthsued a New York-based doctor who allegedly provided a telehealth abortion to a Texan woman.

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MPs back PR bill in vote, a symbolic win for electoral reform campaigners – UK politics live

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MPs vote to give leave to bring in private members’ bill on PR but it will have no practical effect

Lord Robertson, the former Labour defence secretary and former Nato secretary who is leading the government’s strategic defence review, is giving evidence to the Commons defence committee. He has told MPs that the Americans are being fully consulted about the review. This is from Shashank Joshi, the Economist’s defence editor.

Listening to George Robertson & Richard Barrons, who are writing the UK’s defence review alongside Fiona Hill, giving evidence to the Commons defence committee. They’re in “constant contact” with allies, Robertson says, and have a US officer on the review team.

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Idaho’s ‘abortion trafficking’ law partly revived by US appeals court

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State can enforce law against those who harbor or transport a minor across state lines without parental consent

Idaho can enforce a first-of-its-kind “abortion trafficking” law against those who harbor or transport a minor to get an abortion out-of-state without parental consent, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday.

But the San Francisco-based 9th US circuit court of appeals in its ruling blocked a part of the law that prohibits “recruiting” a minor to get an abortion.

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Feminist hit movie Her Story touted as China’s answer to Barbie

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Directed by a woman with a cast of female leads, the film is the latest to be centred around female experiences and prove a box office success in China

The recent box office success of Her Story, a Chinese comedy directed by a woman with a cast of female leads, has led commentators to dub the movie China’s answer to Barbie.

The second feature film by Chinese director Shao Yihui, Her Story revolves around a newly unemployed single mother with a daughter and their young female neighbour, as they explore their experiences and struggles as women in Shanghai.

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Leader of Ireland’s Social Democrats gives birth to baby girl on polling day

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Holly Cairns announces birth of daughter on day of Ireland’s general election
• Ireland’s election: the parties, the issues and the voting

The leader of Ireland’s Social Democrats party has announced the birth of a baby daughter on the day of the country’s general election.

Holly Cairns, who is standing for re-election in the Cork South-West constituency, posted on Instagram: “She’s here. We are completely in love with her.”

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Prisoners denied dignity while receiving NHS care, watchdog finds

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Health Services Safety Investigation Body reveals difficulties inmates have when they leave jail for treatment

A female inmate remained handcuffed to a male prison officer while she had a mammogram, in an example of prisoners being denied their dignity while receiving NHS care, a watchdog has revealed.

The incident is highlighted in a report by the Health Services Safety Investigation Body (HSSIB) into the difficulties prisoners can face when they leave jail to see a GP or visit a hospital.

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Thorpe and Faruqi to ask Senate to investigate alleged racism and sexism in parliament

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Exclusive: Two senators sponsor motion calling for a review of rules covering discriminatory language and behaviour

Lidia Thorpe and Mehreen Faruqi will ask the Senate’s procedure committee to investigate racism and sexism in federal parliament, raising concerns about “white privilege” and how women of colour are treated in politics.

The two senators, former colleagues in the Greens before Thorpe quit the party for the crossbench, have co-sponsored a Senate motion calling for investigation into whether the chamber’s rules should be updated to “eliminate language, behaviour, decision-making, and practices that are sexist, racist or otherwise exclusionary and discriminatory”.

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Pelicot rape trial: ‘It is Gisèle’s name that will be remembered’

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Woman who has become a feminist hero says she is ‘determined to change society’, as trial approaches its end

More than a hundred women formed a line and applauded as Gisèle Pelicot left the courtroom of the French mass rape trial this week. Pelicot, whose husband has admitted drugging her and inviting dozens of strangers into her bedroom to rape her for a decade, thanked supporters, putting a hand to her heart.

She would, she told the court, now go for walk. “I heal by hours and hours of walking – it’s a way to protect myself. That and my psychologist, music and chocolate … Everyone has their own therapy for suffering.”

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Women who have lost a baby prefer the term ‘pregnancy loss’ over ‘miscarriage’

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Exclusive: New research finds ‘clinical, cruel’ language used by medics is unacceptable to many

Women who have lost a baby often dislike the language used by medical professionals and would prefer the term “pregnancy loss” over “miscarriage”, research has found.

More than six in 10 women (61%) who had lost a baby between 18 and 23 weeks of pregnancy said it was unacceptable for doctors, midwives and nurses to use the word “miscarriage”.

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Female migrant in Florida subjected to ‘horrific’ treatment, complaint alleges

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Detainee, identified as Ana, mocked and leered at by male guards after they strapped her almost naked to a chair

A female migrant in mental distress was kept in solitary confinement for a month at a Florida detention center, then mocked and leered at by male guards after they strapped her almost naked to a restraint chair, a federal civil rights complaint alleges.

The reported sexual and mental abuse of the detainee, identified solely as Ana, took place at the Baker county detention facility, a rural camp 30 miles west of Jacksonville with a long history of allegations of mistreatment, harassment, retaliation and cruelty to detainees.

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Australian women to get home self tests for chlamydia and gonorrhoea – but experts urge caution

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People with genital or pelvic symptoms may feel a sense of false reassurance with a negative result, sexual health expert warns

With rates of some sexually transmitted infections in Australia on the rise, women will soon be able to test themselves for chlamydia and gonorrhoea at home – but sexual health experts have urged caution.

Australia’s drugs regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), has approved the rapid home test for sale, and it is expected to be available in pharmacies from 13 December, with a recommended retail price of $24. The test involves taking a vaginal swab, which is then placed in a container with testing solution.

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Saoirse Ronan ‘absolutely right’ about women’s safety fears, says Gladiator combat trainer

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Paul Biddiss, who trained Paul Mescal and Day of the Jackal star Eddie Redmayne, says streetwise women are more aware of surveillance and harder to follow

He has trained would-be assassins and marshalled invading hordes, Napoleonic forces and Roman regiments, but movie military adviser Paul Biddiss found himself in the midst of his biggest Hollywood skirmish last month when the actor Saoirse Ronan made a powerful intervention about women’s personal safety.

Ronan, a guest on Graham Norton’s BBC chatshow sofa, sparked a nationwide debate about women’s security fears when she interrupted fellow actors as they discussed techniques that Biddiss had taught the casts of both Gladiator II and the new drama series The Day of the Jackal.

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