“Comfort women” was the colloquial and reductive term given to the nearly 200,000 women across Asia who were lured, kidnapped or coerced by the Japanese military into being prostitutes for the Imperial Army during World War II. The “comfort women” system, which was organized and supported by Empire of Japan officials, originally began with impoverished [...]
President Obama and NASA announced that they will posthumously honor the first American woman in space, Sally Ride, with the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom. They timed this decision to coincide with a national tribute to the astronaut’s legacy that took place Monday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. [...]
Making good on a promise he made when he first ran for president of France a year ago, President Francois Hollande signed into law a bill that will allow same-sex couples to not only marry but also adopt children. His decision came about after months of tumultuous, and sometimes violent, protests led by the country’s [...]
Transgender students in California could soon enjoy more rights and protections. A bill was approved Thursday in the California Assembly that would allow transgender students to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities. This means that athletic teams that are all girls or all boys will be open to students who identify with either gender. [...]
UPDATE: The Minnesota state Senate voted 37-30 today to approve same-sex marriage in the state. The governor’s office said he will sign the bill into law tomorrow. As marriage equality is gradually–and, lately, rapidly!–being embraced state by state (let alone being considered by the highest court in the land), a statement that Martin Luther King [...]
The last abortion clinic in Mississippi, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, has won a temporary injunction against the enforcement of a 2012 state law that would have required it to shut down. Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III blocked the state from closing the clinic as it attempts to comply with a TRAP law [...]
Thousands of companies in New York City will now be required to provide paid sick days for employees, thanks to a legislative compromise cobbled together between labor unions and the city council. The deal was partially made possible from a caving-in of City Council speaker, Christine Quinn, who was the leading opponent of paid sick [...]
Despite women being a formidable voting bloc in the 2012 presidential election, pay equity policies have yet to reflect the influence women have gained. Today, women earn just under 80 cents on the dollar when compared to men, a gap that eventually causes a loss of about $380,000 over a woman’s career. This year’s upcoming [...]
As the Supreme Court takes up the same-sex marriage battle, more and more people and organizations are jumping on the equality bandwagon. Not only have amicus briefs been filed by a wide range of groups, but public figures such as Hillary Clinton have recently come out in support of marriage equality. And now we are [...]
As a lady journo myself, I’ve experienced my fair share of sexist, ignorant remarks when I was out reporting. “They let you carry around that big Nikon?” “You sure you should be out here by yourself?” When a social justice project took me to different communities in South Los Angeles for on-the-street interviews, I was [...]
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