June 29th, 2009
White House Advisor on Violence Against Women
Joe Biden appointed Lynn Rosenthal as the white house advisor on violence against women. Never before has there been such a position.
"Rosenthal has a strong record as a domestic violence advocate. According to a White House press release, she currently serves as the Executive Director for the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She is a previous Executive Director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence and of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence. In 2000 and 2005, Rosenthal also played a key advocacy role in the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. "
http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=11783
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May 13th, 2009
Current states that have legalized gay marriage
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May 8, 2009
For years sex education in schools have been told to teach abstinence as the only form of birth control-hoping it would reduce the amount of teenagers having sex, when it actually just left students in the dark and lessens their likelihood of having safe sex. Teens will always have sex, they should at least know what their options are.
Today Obama released his proposed fiscal year 2010 budget, in this budget he wants to reduce funding for abstinence only sex ed programs and would provide funding for comprehensive programs.
above link takes you to a pdf of the proposed budget.
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April 9, 2009
Today Governor Bill Ritter, Colorado, signed a bill that grants more rights to same sex and unmarried couples, this bill will allow individuals to legally assign a 'designated beneficiary' with many (not all) of the rights and privileges of a married spouse-right to inherit property, to act as a medical proxy, to be designated as a beneficiary in retirement plans and pensions, and to visitation in a hospital or other medical facility.
Read the whole story (and not just my summary)
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CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - the real Women's Bill of Rights
Put into place by the UN, about 90% of countries (apart of the U.N.) have signed and implemented CEDAW. The only countries that haven't signed are Iran, Nauru, Palau, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan and Tonga—and one industrialized country, the United States. (Ms. Magazine) About ten years ago feminists in San Francisco were getting tired of waiting to the rest of the country to get on the band-wagon-so they started trying to form a local version of the CEDAW. Now the CEDAW has started changing the way things are done in San Francisco- among other things, state funded programs to help out women of all ages and prevent discrimination of any form to any person.
“As we purport to support the advancement of women’s rights in Afghanistan, Iraq and around the world, it is long past time for the U.S. to pass CEDAW...We are gearing up for a major push.” Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation (publisher of Ms.).
Ms. Magazine, The woman's bill of rights, Andronici, Justine 2009
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March 19th, 2009
Lately there has been reports of rape in the military, today the Department of Defense released a report that shows that from 2007 to today there has been an 8% increase of sexual assaults involving people in service.(8% more people reported abuse) Still only 20% of cases are even reported. "Given the fear and stigma associated with the crime, sexual assault remains one of our nation's most under-reported crimes in both the military and civilian community...The department has been aggressively pursuing efforts to increase reporting and convince more victims to seek care and support services." (Dr. Kaye Whitley, director of the Pentagon Sexual Assault and Prevention Office)
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March 17th, 2009
Marilyn Musgrave, former US representative, unseated in 2008, is leading an anti-choice PAC campaign. This group will go after pro-choice congressional incumbents in the 2010 election. She has dubbed this group "Votes Have Consequences", inferring that a vote towards pro-choice will lead to treacherous consequences. Musgrave is part of an organization called the 'Susan B. Anthony List'
(The Colorado Independent, Norris, Wendy 3/12/09)
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March 11th, 2009
White House Council on Women and Girls
President Obama has made a huge stride for woman's equality this week, recognizing that there is an equality problem in this country and that there are many 'female centered' issues that are not being addressed. His plan is that the council will do a lot of focusing on improving women's economic security, evaluating and developing public policy that is 'family-friendly', finding new ways to prevent violence against women, and improving women's health care.(VOA News 3/11/09)
"The mission of the Council will be to provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families. The Council will be chaired by Valerie Jarrett, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor, and will include as members cabinet-level federal agencies. The Executive Director of the Council will be Tina Tchen, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Liaison at the White House," Excerpt from the White House Memo
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March 6th, 2009
There has been a new position created in the white house, a new ambassador- for international women's issues. Obama created this position and gave it to Melanne Verveer. She was Hillary Clinton's chief of staff when she was First Lady. She was also the founder of a non-governmental organization, Vital Voices Global Partnership- a group that supports global women's leadership. Obama's interest in women's issues, not just nationally but globally, is a shinning light to women's activists.
Chicago Sun Times, Sweet, Lynn March 6th, 2009
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March 6th, 2009
Controversy is spreading though-out Brazil, when the other day the Catholic Church of Brazil (fully supported by the Vatican) excommunicated several doctors and a mother for their involvement in an abortion. The mother's nine year old daughter was raped by her husband, the girls' step-father. She became pregnant with twins, at her age having one baby let alone two would most likely kill her. Now, the law in Brazil is that abortion is illegal, except in cases of rape or when the mother's life is in danger-this young girls situation certainly applies. There has been a huge uproar of people who are criticizing the church's stance on this issue.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who leads the Church's Congregation for Bishops told an Italian newspaper that "It is a sad case but the real problem is that the twins conceived were two innocent persons, who had the right to live and could not be eliminated….life must always be protected, the attack on the Brazilian Church is unjustified." (Feminist Daily News Wire 3/10/09)
The Brazilian Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao also told Reuters "I believe the position of the church is extreme, radical, and inadequate….I am shocked by the radical position of this religion which, wrongly saying it is defending a life, puts another life in danger that is as important as any other." (Reuters 3/5/09)
for a complete article
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1883598,00.html
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February 2nd, 2009
Iceland's First Woman AND First Openly Gay Prime Minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir, was sworn in today. She is the first gay national leader in the world.
Iceland is no stranger to gays getting a fair shot, they have one of the most progressive gay rights legislation in the world. Gay marriage was legalized back in 1996
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Global Gag Rule Repealed
“Barack Obama, with the stroke of a pen, is now saving the lives and health of countless women and girls around the world. President Obama is keeping his pledge to women and I believe this is only the beginning,” Planned Parenthood President
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January 22nd, 2009
Today is the 36th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade
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http://www.msmagazine.com/winter2009/
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