Category Archives: Women

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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‘I’ve had death threats’: Real Happy Valley writer vilified in tweets by police

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Former Met PC Alice Vinten says online abuse worse since publication of book about women in force that inspired BBC drama

When Alice Vinten wrote The Real Happy Valley, she intended the book to be a celebration of women in the police force, the real-life accounts of those who served as inspiration for protagonist Sgt Catherine Cawood in Sally Wainwright’s acclaimed BBC drama. Vinten interviewed women officers across Yorkshire who told of their careers on the frontline of policing, as depicted by Sarah Lancashire in the series that was set in the Calder Valley around Halifax.

Instead, the book has prompted a campaign of abuse against Vinten, 42, a former Metropolitan police officer herself, on Twitter, now known as X, including what the author calls an orchestrated campaign of leaving bad reviews and even threats. Worse, she says, they’re from police.

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‘I need mum and dad here’: the charity helping young Afghan footballers reunite with relatives

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The Refugee Council is welcoming those who fled the Taliban and providing legal advice on resettlement in the UK

• Donate to our charity appeal here

Two years on from their arrival in South Yorkshire, young footballers Elaha Safdari, Najma Arifi and Narges Mayeli are still baffled by the array of regional accents in the UK. “I’m always like, ‘Pardon? Can you please repeat? What did you say?’” laughs Arifi, now 20.

This barrier is only a minor hurdle for the trio, who were forced to flee for their lives when the west pulled out of Afghanistan and the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

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Most Garrick club members favour admitting women, poll reveals

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Members campaigning against men-only rule say numbers opposed to change had fallen due to revised legal advise

The slow-moving campaign to force the Garrick, one of London’s last remaining gentlemen’s clubs, to admit women has notched a partial victory with an internal poll revealing that a majority of members are in favour of dropping the men-only rule.

This is the second significant development in the space of a year in the remarkably languid battle for gender equality at the club, which counts among its members the former supreme court judges Lord Neuberger and Lord Sumption, actors Hugh Bonneville and Stephen Fry, and Michael Gove, a cabinet minister.

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One in seven HR heads believe men are better suited to top jobs

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‘Shocking’ poll in England and Wales shows nearly one in five reluctant to hire women they think may go on to have children

A significant minority of human resources executives believe men are better suited to senior management than women, according to the results of a “shocking” poll.

Nearly one in seven HR decision-makers rate men as better for top jobs and nearly one in five admitted they were reluctant to hire women they thought might go on to start families, the survey of personnel managers in England and Wales for the charity Young Women’s Trust (YWT) found.

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Stalking victims face ‘postcode lottery’, says coroner after Gracie Spinks killing

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Concerns raised over ‘consistency and availability’ of stalking advocates in UK police forces to support victims

Stalking victims face a “postcode lottery” of support due to a lack of advocates in police forces across the UK, a coroner has said following the death of Gracie Spinks.

The 23-year-old was killed in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, by a work colleague, Michael Sellers, who had become “obsessed” with her after previously harassing a number of other women. On 18 June 2021 he followed Spinks to the field where she kept her horse before fatally stabbing her and taking his own life soon after.

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Intimate partner homicide data-tracker unveiled after four SA women killed in one week

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Statistical dashboard with up-to-date figures on victims is ‘crucial’ in helping police and policymakers tackle domestic violence, minister for women says

A new intimate partner homicide dashboard offering more up-to-date figures will soon be available after the deaths of four South Australian women in one week.

The government will introduce the federal statistical dashboard by mid-2024 to provide more timely reporting on intimate partner homicide. The new dashboard will enable police, governments, policymakers and all those who are working to end violence against women and children, to better understand what is happening and when. It will initially provide quarterly updates but is expected to provide more up-to-date figures as the initiative develops.

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‘Queen of Drury Lane’ Sarah Siddons celebrated in new play

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April De Angelis comedy, to be premiered in Hampstead, explores life of actor at a time when married women were ‘legally dead’

She was known as the Queen of Drury Lane and the first truly respected female actor in theatre, achieving an astonishing level of celebrity at the end of the 18th century.

But despite her notoriety there are no contemporary biographies about Sarah Siddons, who was labelled by her contemporaries as “tragedy personified”.

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Gender pay gap for UK women aged 40 and over ‘will not close till they are pensioners’

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Equal Pay Day report from Fawcett Society blames lack of flexible working in well-paid high-quality jobs

UK women aged 40 and older will not experience the closure of the gender pay gap until after they reach state pension age, according to a report by the Fawcett Society.

The Equal Pay Day 2023 report, “Making flexible working the default”, found that on average working women take home £574 a month less than men – or £6,888 a year.

Forty per cent of unemployed women said access to flexible work would enable them to take on paid work. Almost a third of unemployed men said the same.

Women were significantly more likely to report working part-time (27%) compared with men (14%).

About 77% of women agreed that they would be more likely to apply for a job that advertised flexible working options.

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Calls for investigation into complaints of ‘toxic’ sexual behaviour at MoD

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Opposition and unions call on Grant Shapps to take action after 60 senior women report widespread abuse

Labour and civil service unions have called on the defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to launch an urgent investigation after 60 senior female staff at the Ministry of Defence reported a widespread culture of sexual assault, harassment and abuse by male colleagues.

The opposition party called on Shapps to take action to “root out this behaviour from top to bottom”, while the heads of the FDA and PCS trade unions called for a meeting with the department’s permanent secretary, David Williams.

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MoD revelations add to sexual harassment crisis within wider military

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Complaints compiled by 60 senior civilian women follow reports of rape, assault and bullying across forces

• 60 women at MoD complain of widespread ‘toxic’ behaviour
• ‘The eyes tracking me is awful’: edited extracts

It is impossible not to conclude from the latest revelations that the Ministry of Defence faces a crisis of sexism, an epidemic of harassment – and in some cases the allegations are far worse.

The complaints, compiled by 60 senior civilian women in the department, include allegations so comprehensive it gives the impression its culture of sexism is institutionalised.

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NHS England boss to say cervical cancer can be eliminated by 2040

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Amanda Pritchard will say combination of vaccination and screening means goal within two decades is realistic ambition

Cervical cancer can be eliminated in England by 2040, saving thousands of women’s lives, the head of NHS England will say on Wednesday.

A combination of HPV vaccination and screening for the disease means that elimination of it is a realistic ambition, Amanda Pritchard, NHS England’s chief executive, will say.

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Allegations of extensive sexual abuse at Kenyan offsetting project used by Shell and Netflix

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NGOs report allegations of abuse and harassment at Kasigau Corridor conservation project in southern Kenya over 12 years

Male staff at a leading Kenyan carbon-offsetting project used by Netflix, Shell and other large companies have been accused of extensive sexual abuse and harassment over more than a decade, following an investigation by two NGOs.

The Kasigau Corridor conservation project in southern Kenya, operated by the California-based firm Wildlife Works, generates carbon credits by protecting dryland forests at risk of being destroyed in key elephant, lion and wildlife habitats west of Mombasa. The scheme was the first ever forest protection scheme approved by Verra, the world’s leading certifier of carbon offsets, and has also been accredited for its biodiversity and community benefits, probably generating millions of dollars in revenue in carbon-credit sales.

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Tampon that tests for STIs created by British startup

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Daye’s product doubles as PCR test for chlamydia, gonorrhoea and other common infections

A tampon is being repurposed to screen for sexually transmitted infections, with the at-home test aiming to encourage more women to seek treatment.

The gynaecological health startup Daye has launched an STI diagnostic tampon, which uses a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to check for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomonas, mycoplasma and ureaplasma, with the tampon used in place of a swab or speculum.

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DRC offers free maternity care to cut death rate among mothers and babies

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Healthcare workers say clinics are being overwhelmed by women seeking help, amid lack of staff and facilities to back programme

Pregnant women across the Democratic Republic of the Congo are to be offered free healthcare in an effort to cut the country’s high rates of maternal and neonatal deaths.

Women in 13 out of 26 regions in the country will, by the end of the year, be entitled to free services during pregnancy and for one month after childbirth. Babies will receive free healthcare for their first 28 days under the scheme, which the government plans to extend to the rest of DRC – although there is no timetable for that yet.

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