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South Asia | Afghanistan | Culture

The Taliban orders women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public

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Taliban officials announced that women and girls would be expected to stay home, and if they were to venture out, to cover in all-encompassing loose clothing that only reveals their eyes – preferably, a burka. The restrictions on women's movement and dress are the harshest that the Taliban have announced since they came to power in August. It suggested the increasing dominance of the group's hard-line leaders, who appear to be behind the extended ban on most women and girls attending secondary school. Saturday's announcement seemed to confirm the fears of many Afghans that the Taliban
North America | United States | Courts

Amy Coney Barrett Confirmed To Supreme Court, Takes Constitutional Oath

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The Senate has voted 52-48 to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, just about a week before Election Day and 30 days after she was nominated by President Trump to fill the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In a White House ceremony following the vote Monday evening, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administered the constitutional oath to Coney Barrett. President Trump spoke at the event, thanking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and calling today a "momentous day" for America, the constitution and the rule of law. He also praised Barrett's intellec
North America | United States | Activism

It’s All About Health for Women and Girls: Ghada Khan on Ending FGM

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An estimated 3.9 million girls around the world are at risk of female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) every year. About 513,000 women and girls in the U.S. are at risk of or have undergone this procedure. Ending FGM/C is an issue that many funders can engage in; those who are interested in gender equality, who want to end gender-based violence and child abuse, who want to defend women’s bodily autonomy, and who want to make sure all girls are safe, educated and empowered. Dr. Ghada Khan is a health program analyst and the network coordinator for the U.S. End FGM/C Network, a colla
North America | United States | Law

California sued over law requiring women on corporate boards

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California’s first-in-the-nation law mandating women on boards of publicly held companies is facing what appears to be its first legal challenge. Judicial Watch, a Washington-based conservative activist group, said in a lawsuit filed this week on behalf of three California taxpayers that spending taxpayer money enforcing the law is illegal under the California constitution. When then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 826 into law last year, he noted in a letter to the state senate that “There have been numerous objections to this bill and serious legal concerns have been raised.”
Middle East | Saudi Arabia | Culture

Saudi Arabia grants women right to obtain own passports, travel without male guardian

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Just over a year since women were granted the historical right to drive, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has now passed another monumental reform to enable females to finally obtain passports and travel alone. According to the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Information, the amendment – which was signed by the Saudi Cabinet on Thursday – overturns the longstanding regulation that women must gain approval from a male guardian to receive a passport or were granted a page in their guardian’s passport, rendering it illegal for them to travel abroad independently. Effective as of the end of August,
Middle East | Iran | Activism

Some Iranian women take off hijabs as hard-liners push back

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The simple act of walking has become a display of defiance for a young Iranian woman who often moves in Tehran’s streets without a compulsory headscarf, or hijab. With every step, she risks harassment or even arrest by Iran’s morality police whose job is to enforce the strict dress code imposed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. “I have to confess it is really, really scary,” the 30-year-old fire-safety consultant said in a WhatsApp audio message, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions. But she is also hopeful, saying she believes the authorities find it
South Asia | Australia | Culture

‘Hear us, see us’: a plea to the UN for Indigenous women

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The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner has used a speech to the UN in Geneva to demand the federal government take action on the rising rates of Aboriginal women in jail. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women represent 2% of Australia’s female population but make up 34% of all women in prison, June Oscar told the Human Rights Council on Friday. “The root cause is that Indigenous women continue to experience disproportionate levels of trauma and intersecting forms of discrimination which cut across lines of race, gender and socioeconomic status,”
Middle East | Saudi Arabia | Activism

Saudi women’s rights activist Samar Badawi appears in court

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Prominent women's rights activists including Samar Badawi appeared in a Saudi court on Thursday over charges linked to their human rights activism. Badawi is the sister of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2012 for criticism of officials in the kingdom. It was the first time Samar Badawi had appeared in court since her arrest on July 30, 2018. She was apprehended along with Nassima al-Sadah, a women's rights activist from Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, and Amal al-Harbi
South Asia | Singapore | Law

First woman detained for radicalism in singapore released with restrictions

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Syaikhah Izzah Zahrah Al Ansari, the first woman detained for radicalism under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in Singapore, has been released. In a press release on Tuesday (Jun 25), the Ministry of Home Affairs said Izzah, now 24, was released from detention with restrictions when her Order of Detention (OD) expired in June. She was among four Singaporean ISA detainees who had "shown good progress in their rehabilitation", said MHA, and had been "assessed to no longer pose a security threat that require preventive detention". Izzah, a former infant-care assistant with the PAP Commun
Europe | U.K. | Courts

U.K. Court of Appeal Overturns Ruling Ordering Mentally Disabled Woman to Have Abortion

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A British appeals court on Monday overturned a lower court’s order that a mentally disabled woman undergo an abortion. The earlier ruling had prompted an outcry from the Roman Catholic Church and abortion opponents. The three judges on the Court of Appeal didn’t explain why they ruled against proceeding with the abortion and said they would give their reasons at a later date. The lower court ruled Friday that the woman, who is in her 20s and 22 weeks pregnant, didn’t understand the challenges of caring for a child and wouldn’t be able to meet them. That court, known as the Cour
North America | United States | Career

Five anchors sue NY1 for age and gender discrimination

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Five anchorwomen and reporters at NY1 say the local news channel systematically shoved them aside to make room for younger faces while celebrating the long tenure of male anchors like venerable morning man Pat Kiernan. Roma Torre, Kristen Shaughnessy, Jeanine Ramirez, Vivian Lee and Amanda Farinacci – who range in age from 41 to 60 — filed an age and gender discrimination lawsuit Wednesday in Manhattan federal court leveling the charges at the news channel’s parent company, Charter Communications. The women allege that since Charter’s 2016 merger with Time Warner Cable, their car
North America | United States | Law

Women’s Rights Advocates Condemn DOJ Decision to Not Defend Female Genital Mutilation Law

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On Thursday, April 25th, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) (pictured center) joined elected officials and Equal Rights Amendment advocates to condemn a recent US Department of Justice decision to not  defend a federal law banning FGM/C, to call for Speaker Pelosi to step in to defend the law, and call for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Congresswoman Maloney is the sponsor of H.J. Res. 35, a bill to restart the ratification process of the ERA. While the Trump Administration has decided not to defend the 1996 law banning FGM/C, the House or the Senate could do s
Middle East | Palestine | Activism

#BALANCEFORBETTER: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

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The Arab Women’s Organization of Jordan (AWO) held a conference on March 6 to shed light on issues relating to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Manal Al-Taleb, Program Coordinator for the Women’s Political Participation Program at the AWO, told The Media Line that the event focused on issues relating to labor law in the context of women’s rights, as well as social protection for women, girls and Syrian refugees in Jordan. It was held under the patronage of the minister of social development, and many members of parliament were scheduled to attend, as was the UN
North America | United States | Law

​​​​​​​Male-Only Draft “Unconstitutional”: Women’s Compulsory Military Service

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"They are going to draft your daughters for their forever wars," Ben Domenech of The Federalist rages. This after a federal judge in Texas ruled Friday that a male-only draft is unconstitutional in a surprise decision that only began to hit the press late Sunday via a USA Today report. US District Judge Gray Miller of the Southern District of Texas wrote in his ruling that the “time has passed” on continued debate for women in the military, regardless of if the controversial issue of women serving in combat “may have justified past discrimination.” Miller issued the decis

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