North America | United States | Ethics

Air Force pilot-turned-congresswoman in dogfight for WWII air women

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Air Force fighter pilot-turned-congresswoman Martha McSally is in a dogfight for a generation of female aviators who paved the runway for her, but not even the president can help, according to a top Pentagon official. The Arizona Republican, who became the first female fighter pilot in U.S. history to fly in combat and command a fighter squadron, is battling to win a place in Arlington National Cemetery for some 1,000 women who flew non-combat missions during World War II. At a House hearing Wednesday, she pressed the acting secretary of the U.S. Army on why President Obama has not taken ac
South Asia | India | Career

Women auto drivers bravely fight all odds in Chennai to work

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This story is not about ordinary women, but the ones who fearlessly fight gender inequality everyday. Chennai, known as the gateway to South India, also acted as a gateway towards women empowerment. Since March 2014, hundreds of women have started driving auto rickshaws in the city. The count is increasing at a fast pace as the passengers feel safe travelling with them. But with such great initiative comes obstacles. This move has threatened male auto rickshaw drivers and their income. Out of anger, male auto drivers harass these women drivers. But these sneers from the male auto driv
North America | United States | Activism

Beth Clarkson, Kansas statistician, suing the state to obtain election records, says voting results don’t add up

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A university mathematician found something that didn't add up, and now she's suing the state of Kansas to make sure every vote counts. Wichita State University statistician Beth Clarkson requested Sedgwick County release election records for the recent election. This week, Secretary of State Kris Kobach asked a judge to block that request. Clarkson said the election results in some counties, including Johnson County, are impossible to audit. During a celebration for the 95th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote, Clarkson said, “If we’re not bei
International | Ethics

Why More Women in Law Enforcement Means a More Just and Peaceful World

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When I was 11, my family visited Washington, D.C., and the absolute highlight of the trip was a tour of FBI Headquarters. Without giving away the "state secret" of my age, suffice it to say that J. Edgar Hoover was very much alive and also the Director of the FBI at the time. I asked the guide a question that day that turned out to be quite prescient: "Can girls be FBI agents?" His response: "No, because girls would spend all their time painting their nails." At that tender age, encouraged by parents who told me I had no limits in life, I recognized how incredible his response was. Fifteen
North America | United States | Business

10 Women-Friendly Tech Startups

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Ten startups released numbers showing how women-friendly they are, as part of the launch of San Francisco startup Doxa. We’re talking pay gaps, percentage of women at the company (and in tech and leadership), maternity leave, and who gets promoted. Doxa‘s goal is to help women find equitable places to work that fit their personality. Women can take a personality test and browse company profiles not just by women-friendliness, but also by factors like hours and vacation days, happiness and interconnectedness, average tenure and upward mobility, amount of busy work and meetings per week,
Africa | Nigeria | Culture

Airport janitor ridiculed, honored for returning forgotten $60,000 to owner

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The Lagos State House of Assembly, on Monday held a special session to honour Josephine Ugwu, a cleaner at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, who returned N12 million she found at the airport toilet. Ms. Ugwu made the huge find, and returned same, in January 2015. She was invited to narrate her story to members of the Assembly. Kolawole Taiwo, the Deputy Speaker, who presided, presented a letter of commendation and an undisclosed amount of money to Ugwu. “For her honesty and patriotism for returning the N12 million on January 23, we find her worthy of honour. “Her
South Asia | Australia | Educational

The part women play in domestic violence

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Women can only command real power once we socialise girls to take themselves seriously and develop mental grit. Violence against women gets a lot of press at the moment. As a woman, I find male violence always inexcusable and repugnant. As a clinical psychologist though I understand quite a lot about how and why it happens – since I frequently come up against it in my work. For sure, from a moral perspective the perpetrator is always at fault. Nonetheless, if we are to have any impact on stopping this violence, we need to understand how and why it often happens. From the perspective of how
North America | United States | Business

Everyday injustices for working women: The slights add up

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Commentary: If you want to make a difference in gender equality, consider the subtle and often subconscious ways in which women are overlooked, devalued and underestimated in the business world. Earlier this year, I called it the most important issue in the tech world in 2015. It's about more than social and economic injustice. It's about meeting society's needs for advancements in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). I've found plenty of men and women who agree with me, but there's still a question of what we can do to make it better. Right now. Every day. One of the thi
North America | United States | Corruption

Hillary Clinton Email Case Reopened by Federal Judge

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A federal judge has agreed to reopen a lawsuit that seeks to gain access to emails from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private server. Judge Reggie B. Walton’s decision Friday came after the State Department and Judicial Watch, which brought the lawsuit, agreed that the documents that Clinton kept on her own email server separate from the government should be turned over. Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, told Fox News on Tuesday that the decision is an "extraordinary development." He said it could ultimately lead to the department having to "explain itself under
North America | United States | Ethics

AP general counsel urges lawmakers to strengthen FOIA

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Associated Press General Counsel Karen Kaiser today urged lawmakers to enact bipartisan legislation now before the U.S. Senate to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act and make it work better. In testimony delivered to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary in Washington, Kaiser detailed the many problems journalists and the public face when seeking access to public documents. “Non-responsiveness is the norm. The reflex of most agencies is to withhold information, not to release, and often there is no recourse for a requester other than pursuing costly litigation,” Kaiser sai
International | Activism
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Massive world military spending is driven by the profit motive of the arms industry and politicians’ weaponized notion of ‘security’. But women peace activists also hold militarized masculinity to account. Unsurprisingly, world disarmament has featured prominently in the WILPF events in The Hague this week. It is, after all, the key goal in WILPF’s long struggle with national governments and the international system since the Armistice of 11 November 1918. On WILPF’s birthday, 28 April, we mounted a symbolic action outside the World Forum. Thousands of red plastic discs, sym
International | Environment

Sylvia Earle: There’s Still Time to Save the Oceans

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The legendary oceanographer talks about why she crisscrosses the globe to protect marine life Pioneering oceanographer Sylvia Earle’s lifelong affinity for the ocean began early. “When I was three years old I got knocked over by a wave, and the ocean got my attention,” she told me at DOER Marine, the ocean technology company in Alameda, California, that she founded. It’s held her attention ever since. A former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and current National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence, Earle has led dozens of deep-sea missions
North America | United States | Activism

Women Turn Tables on Online Harassers

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About 24 hours after joining Tinder, Ashley Brincefield, 31, a customs inspector in Port Tobacco, Md., began getting creepy messages. Married men propositioned her for sex. Guys lashed out if they didn’t get a reply in a timely fashion. Various men sent naked selfies. Ms. Brincefield tried blocking them and reporting them to Tinder, but the harassers would just surface under a new screen name, she said. So she decided to take matters into her own hands. She took screen shots of the offending messages, superimposed them with remarks like “Tinder is not the solution to your marital problem
North America | Canada | Environment

Elizabeth May amends government bill for 1st time

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The Green Party scored two major legislative points this week when it won the support of the Conservative-dominated House of Commons' natural resources committee to make amendments to Bill C-46, the Pipeline Safety Act. It's a rare circumstance in the current parliamentary climate to have any opposition amendments passed in committee. In fact, these are the first Green Party amendments to a government bill ever adopted. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said she is "just so pleased."