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North America | United States | Career

Women Sue F.B.I., Claiming Discrimination at Training Academy

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Women who were once F.B.I. recruits sued the bureau on Wednesday, accusing it of running a “good-old-boy network” at its training academy that discriminates against women, in some cases because of race and disabilities in addition to gender, and sets them up to fail. Male instructors at the academy in Quantico, Va., exposed the women beginning in 2015 to a hostile work environment, sexual harassment and inappropriate jokes, according to the lawsuit. One woman said that an instructor referred to an African-American female trainee as “spaghetti head,” a reference to her braids. The woma
Asia | Japan | Security

Japan rolls out sleek, all-female police squad to protect Ivanka

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A squad of female police have smartened themselves up to guard U.S. presidential adviser Ivanka Trump, who arrives in Tokyo on Nov. 2. Gone is the bulky body armor used when facing rioters or dangerous criminals, to be replaced by smart black suits. It is the first time that Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department has formed a female-only security team.
North America | United States | Crimes

In Chicago, women worried about violence join gun club

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Her hands slowed by rheumatoid arthritis, 71-year-old Marietta Crowder stands in front of her paper target, steadies her gun and pulls the trigger. Shots are fired in quick succession. Crowder is perhaps not the typical patron of a gun club. But she is one of seven women learning to safely handle firearms at a shooting range in a suburb of Chicago, a city wracked by gun violence and a soaring murder rate. "My husband influenced me and we thought about it a long time. Maybe you need a gun these days, in your house at least," said Crowder, who lives in a gated community with her retired
| United States | Leadership

GROWING NUMBER OF WOMEN LEADING US POLICE DEPARTMENTS

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When Anne Kirkpatrick took the helm at the scandal-ridden Oakland Police Department, she inherited an agency that the city's mayor likened to a frat house. The veteran police officer knew she inevitably would be asked what it's like to combat the culture as one of a growing number of women heading police departments, many struggling to repair their public image. Female police officers tend to use wits over brawn to deescalate potentially violent situations, experts say, and as departments shift their focus to nonviolent techniques, it's natural they would tap more women as leaders.
North America | United States | Leadership

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Introduces Bill To Halt U.S. Arms Supplies To Terrorists

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Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii introduced the "Stop Arming Terrorists Act" this week. She talks to NPR's Scott Simon about the bill and how it relates to US involvement in Syria. Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii has been awfully busy. She was at Trump Tower in New York recently and met with President-elect Trump. And then, this week, she introduced a bill in the House called the Stop Arming Terrorists Act. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat, joins us now from her office. Thanks very much for being with us. TULSI GABBARD: Aloha. Wonderful to join you and your listeners
Middle East | Jordan | Activism

Jordan’s First Self-Defense Academy For Women Wants To Fight Domestic Abuse

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On the fourth floor of a discreet office building in Jordan’s capital, a group of women and girls are being told to punch and kick, punch and kick. This is no exercise class. For many of the women, it’s a chance to change their lives: they are learning to defend themselves against the widespread gender-based violence in their communities. The company that runs the class, SheFighter, is technically a self-defense academy for women. But founder Lina Khalifeh considers it the start of a movement. “I have to empower all women in the world,” says Khalifeh, 32, as she leans against a brig
North America | United States | Security

Women propelling gun sales to all-time highs

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FBI figures show the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is running more checks than ever before. Nearly 25 million background checks will have been completed by year’s end. By proxy, that means more guns being sold than before and local shops say their sales are getting better every year. A key group driving sales – women. Women are helping propel firearm background checks and gun sales to an all-time high.
South Asia | New Zealand | Leadership

Police women shining the torch

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Retired, current and recently-sworn women police in Palmerston North hosted half of a torch on Saturday, celebrating 75 years since the first woman joined the New Zealand Police. The half-torch arrived from Woodville at midday, and was handed to Inspector Sarah Stewart for a whistle-stop visit. Accompanying the torch, leader for the Central District's 75-year celebrations Jeanette Park said it was important to pause and recognise the milestone. While still outnumbered by men, she said women in the police had come a long way.
Europe | Great Britain | Security

Ridiculous: Woman upset after London airport forces her to dump breast milk – all 15 litres of it

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Aviation officials at London's Heathrow Airport forced a nursing mother to dump nearly four gallons (nearly 15 litres) of breast milk, including a sizable amount that was frozen, the woman says. But Jessica Coakley Martinez didn't just cry over it. She penned an outraged open letter on Facebook that has resonated with working mothers everywhere. "I normally would not post something this personal, but I do not remember the last time I felt so justly upset," she writes. In her posting, she documents the travails of breastfeeding while holding down a job that requires her to be away from
Africa | South Africa | Crimes

The all-female patrol stopping South Africa’s rhino poachers

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As rhino deaths have soared across South Africa, in Balule reserve the Black Mambas patrol of local women has achieved a 76% reduction in poaching since 2013. Now there are plans to extend the award-winning scheme. “The Black Mambas are winning the war on poaching,” insists Siphiwe Sithole. “We have absolutely zero tolerance for rhino poaching and the illegal wildlife trade. The poachers will fall – but it will not be with guns and bullets.” Sithole and Felicia Mogakane are members of South Africa’s Black Mambas, the world’s first all-female anti-poaching unit that has capt
Africa | Liberia | Security

UN Mission accomplished: Iconic Indian all-women UN peacekeeping unit to return

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Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has thanked India’s first-ever all-woman UN peacekeeping unit that was deployed in the war-torn African nation as it prepares to depart the country after a nine-year tour of duty. The Indian Formed Police Unit (FPU) which is also the first-ever all-woman police unit in UN peacekeeping history, has served the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) since 2007. It will depart the country on February 14, as Liberia gets ready to assume full responsibility for national security amid the ongoing UNMIL drawdown. “The contribution you have made in inspiring
South Asia | India | Security

India appoints first female chief to border security forces

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India has appointed its first woman director of a security force that guards the country’s borders. Archana Ramasundram, who first joined the country’s police forces in 1981, was named director general of the Sashastra Seema Bal  — or Armed Border Force – a paramilitary force that patrols India’s border with Nepal and Bhutan. Ramasundram, 58, ascended to the position just two years after the SSB began recruiting women with approval from the Indian government.  Prior to the appointment, she led the country’s National Crime Records Bureau. In her new post she will oversee more t
South Asia | India | Security

Manohar Parrikar bats for larger role for women in Indian Coast Guard combat operations

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Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today batted for a larger role for women in combat operations in Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and said focus needs to be put on facilitating it. He also lauded the Coast Guard for imparting training to a batch of 10 women officers to operate a hovercraft. Woman personnel constitute 10 per cent of the total strength of the force, which guards the country's maritime boundary.
North America | United States | Security

WWII Code Breaker And NSA’s First Female Deputy Director, Ann Caracristi, Dies At 94

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Ann Caracristi, the first female Deputy Director of the National Security Agency (NSA), code breaker and a pioneer of using early computers in cryptanalysis during World War II, died Tuesday at the age of 94. Caracristi, unlike other code breakers of the time did not have a degree in mathematics, but in English and History. Caracristi graduated from Russell Sage College in Troy, N.Y in 1942. In a transcript from the Veterans History Project: Stories From The Veterans History Project, Caracristi said her recruitment to the Signal Intelligence Service (SIS), which became the NS

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