After Ma’Lik Richmond and Trent Mays were found delinquent of raping an incapacitated 16-year-old girl in August 2012, critics watching the case leveled a stinging allegation against Steubenville, Ohio: In the hero-worshipping football town, star players—like Richmond and Hays—can do no wrong. That accusation proved true this week when Richmond, released from juvenile detention after serving nine months […]
Author: Margaret Nickens
Margaret Nickens is a senior at Brown University and an intern with Ms. magazine. Follow her on Twitter.
Senate Considers Anti-TRAP Legislation
The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing Tuesday on the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would outlaw many TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) laws that have unnecessarily restricted access to abortion services. While many of the nine witnesses presented eloquent testimony in support of the act, the hearing also served as […]
This Summer in Comics: Thumbs Up for a Woman Thor, Down for a Patriarchal Labor Union
The comic book industry usually appreciates women most when they are chopped into little bits and stuffed into freezers. Yet Marvel is making strides towards rewriting these traditionally misogynistic universes with their recent announcement that the new Thor will be a woman. Marvel editor Wil Moss explained, The inscription on Thor’s hammer reads ‘Whosoever holds […]
Happy World Population Day! Sex Ed and Family Planning Means Healthier Women and Children
In 1989, the United Nations Development Programme named July 11 World Population Day—an annual reminder that issues around population lead to aggravated pollution, the overuse of natural resources, water shortages and poverty, among other things. Improving access to family planning education and services is intimately related to addressing overpopulation, but as we celebrate the 25th World […]
Under Attack: Buffer Zones Around Abortion Clinics
Now that the Supreme Court has struck down the law upholding 35-foot buffer zones around abortion clinics in Massachusetts, similar buffer-zone laws in Maine, Vermont, Wisconsin and New Hampshire have quickly been rescinded or put on hold, leaving clinic staff and patients vulnerable to harassment and potential violence. Portland, Maine, repealed its 39-foot buffer zone ordinance Monday, while city officials […]
IUDs and Female Condoms: Woman Power!
Intrauterine devices (IUDs)—contraceptives that prevent the fertilization of an egg or implantation of the egg in the uterus—have come under attack by the Supreme Court and the Ohio legislature recently. In the Hobby Lobby case, the Court ruled that a for-profit organization can use religious beliefs as an excuse to not cover certain contraceptives including IUDs, and […]
New Anti-Incest Campaign Employs Disney Princesses
A new art campaign entitled “Princest Diaries,” was recently released by Middle Eastern artist Saint Hoax as a way to encourage incest survivors to report their abuse to authorities. The posters feature a variety of Disney princesses being forced to kiss their fathers, with the reminder, “46 percent of minors who are raped are victims of […]
Supreme Court Aftermath: Striking Down Buffer Zones Puts Doctors, Patients, Health-Care Workers at Risk
Let’s not mince words. The Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday to strike down a Massachusetts buffer zone law has significantly hindered the government’s ability to protect women exercising their constitutionally protected right to seek abortion and reproductive health care, and has endangered doctors and health care workers providing these critical medical services. The Massachusetts law established a […]
Supreme Court Upholds Temporary Ban on Wisconsin Anti-Abortion Law
The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal today by Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to overturn the temporary injunction against a Wisconsin law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic. Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin signed the bill into law in July 2013. The requirements […]
New Rosies Strike For Low-Wage Workers
President Obama, business and labor leaders, legislators, advocates and others are meeting in Washington, D.C., on Monday as part of the White House Summit on Working Families. Yet just down the road, low-wage, federally contracted women workers are striking to tell the President that the government is not doing enough to support them and their […]