South Asia | Afghanistan | Culture

Taliban assurance of ‘women’s rights’ has big caveat

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An agreement by the Taliban to respect women's rights may seem like a breakthrough, but activists have questioned how the hardline Islamists - notorious for stomping on freedoms - will interpret the careful wording. A historic meeting between Afghan representatives and the Taliban concluded late on Monday with the longtime foes issuing a joint statement, including a reference to women's rights. Participants at the Doha summit agreed that "assuring women rights in political, social, economic, educational, cultural affairs as per (and) within the Islamic framework of Islamic values", i
North America | United States | Society

Women bear emotional and financial burden of incarceration, study finds

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Women, and particularly women of color, bear a large portion of the financial and emotional burden when family members become involved with the criminal justice system, a report has found. A diverse coalition of 20 groups from across the US examined the impact incarceration has on families and communities. Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families focuses on four areas: coping with fees and fines; meeting basic needs; keeping families connected, and health impacts. The report highlights the disproportionate way in which women are affected emotionally, physically and financiall
Middle East | Palestine | Conflict

Women in Gaza: ‘If we want to live here, we want to live in dignity’

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The conflict between Israel and Gaza last July has left the most acute humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip for decades. An international donors’ conference in Cairo last October raised $5.4bn (£3.4bn) to rebuild Palestine – however, according to a World Bank report in May, only a quarter of that sum has actually been delivered to those desperately in need. Life for women in Gaza has never been easy but last summer’s escalation of violence has made the situation much worse for many. Over the last year I have have been in contact with three women whose lives were shattered – and I
North America | United States | Science

The 5 Biases Pushing Women Out of STEM

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By now, we’ve all heard about the low numbers of American women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Some argue it’s a pipeline issue. Another theory is that women are choosing to forgo careers in STEM to attain better work-family balance—rather than being pushed out by bias. We conducted in-depth interviews with 60 female scientists and surveyed 557 female scientists, both with help from the Association for Women in Science. These studies provide an important picture of how gender bias plays out in everyday workplace interactions. My previous research has shown tha
North America | United States | Health

Body Image And Social Media: Scientists Analyze Harmful ‘Thinspiration’ Photos Of Women

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Exploring her favorite topics on social media, a young girl may stumble upon all sorts of unexpected images. A new UC Davis study systematically analyzed content that appears on Twitter and Pinterest under two innocuous tags commonly used by those trying to lose weight: "thinspiration" and "thinspo." Nearly half the images featured headless bodies of women and predominantly focused on the pelvis, abdomen, or thighs, while also tending to be sexually suggestive. Yet not all social media is alike, with the two tools differing in key ways. Pinterest tended to show images that had “a littl
South Asia | India | Culture

Building India’s cities, silent workforce of women goes unrecognized

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When newly-wed Kamlesh was told she would be accompanying her husband to work in the city, she was thrilled at the prospect of a better life than in the drought-prone village in central India where she grew up. But arriving in New Delhi 12 years ago, crammed into the back of a truck with her husband and dozens of others, Kamlesh was shown a make-shift tent home on a pavement and realized that city life would not be what she had expected. "We were put to work immediately. The contractors told us to clear all the dirt and soil around the construction site and carry the cement to the masons
Europe | Great Britain | Activism

Women’s war stories are finally being told. But let’s not pretend war is romantic

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If you accept, as I do, the notion that feminism is by nature anti-war, then the increased presence of women in warmongering action blockbusters like Man Of Steel (which was used by the National Guard as a recruitment drive) and Battleship should not be applauded. This “feminising” of traditionally boys-own pop culture ties into the ongoing debate about whether or not it is a “feminist issue” to have women on the front line. On the one hand, there’s a school of thought that says equality is reached when female soldiers are considered as capable as their male counterparts. The logi
International | Society

British Swimming mourns loss of a champion

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British Swimming has sent its deepest condolences to the family and friends of OIympic champion Camille Muffat following the news of her death in a helicopter accident. Camille was among 10 people killed when two helicopters crashed in Argentina yesterday. Eight French nationals, including yachtswoman Florence Arthaud and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine, as well as two Argentian pilots were lost. The helicopters were involved in the filming of a survival show for television. Camille won three medals at the London 2012 Olympic Games the pinnacle of which was gold in the 400m Freestyle.