Afghan lawmakers on Saturday rejected the Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women, which would criminalize child marriage, forced marriage, domestic violence and the exchange of girls and women to settle arguments, among other things. The law would also make it illegal for women to face criminal charges for adultery for being raped. (You heard that right.) […]
Author: Ponta Abadi
Ponta Abadi, a graduate of the University of Oregon, is a former Ms. intern. Follow her on Twitter.
Another Sexual Assault Prevention Officer Accused of Sexual Assault
It’s obvious by now that in the U.S. military we’re not only dealing with an unacceptable environment that discourages people from reporting sexual assault, we’re dealing with a full-on culture of impunity. Pentagon officials last week announced that an Army sergeant in Fort Hood, Texas, who worked as a a sexual assault prevention and response coordinator is under investigation […]
The Global Crisis of Child Marriage
It was certainly good news to hear in April that a 6-year-old Afghan girl, whose father previously intended to marry her to a 17-year-old boy, was no longer being forced to get married. The girl’s father received enough money from an anonymous donor to not have to sell his daughter to pay off a debt. […]
Poorer Countries Get Price Cut on HPV Vaccine – But Is It Enough?
Some of the world’s poorest countries are getting price cuts for vaccines that protect against 70 percent of all cervical cancers. The two companies involved, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline, announced recently that their vaccines (Gardasil and Cervarix) would be sold to those countries for $4.50 and $4.60, respectively. These prices are an improvement from the previous $13 per […]
The Next Step In Fighting Street Harassment? A Comic Book.
HollabackPHILLY, a branch of the anti-street harassment organization Hollaback!, hasn’t taken many breaks in the last few months. They’ve placed campaign posters on Philly subway trains, have met with companies about removing pro-harassment messages from their advertising and, last Thursday, the group sent their newly finished anti-street harassment comic book to the printer. Hollaback! started in 2005 […]
Number of Military Sexual Assaults Are Way Up
A report released this week by the Department of Defense shows the estimated number of sexual assaults in the military increased from 19,300 to 26,000 from the 2010 to the 2012 fiscal year—a 34.7 percent increase. The number of reported assaults also went up in that time period, but only by 5.7 percent. And still […]
NEWSFLASH: Judge Condemns Obama Policy on Plan B
UPDATE 5/13/13: Cutting it close to deadline, the Obama administration has filed an appeal to delay sale of emergency contraception over the counter to all ages. Stay tuned. UPDATE 5/10/13: Judge Korman refused to put on hold his order to make EC available over the counter to all ages. He has extended the implementation of his […]
Air Force Officer in Charge of Preventing Sexual Assault Arrested For Sexual Assault
Early Sunday, an Air Force Officer who was chief of the Air Force’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program, was arrested in Arlington, Va., for sexual battery. The crime report states: 05/05/13, 500 block of S. 23rd Street. On May 5 at 12:35 am, a drunken male subject approached a female victim in a parking lot and […]
We Wish We Could Say We Heart Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett published an essay the other day about America’s future success, and about how great progress will be made due to women contributing their talent to the marketplace. The essay is compelling, it makes some great points and it brings attention to the lack of women in leadership positions. Which is why we wish […]
New FDA Restrictions on Morning-After Pill Are … Still Restrictive
UPDATE: The U.S. Justice Department announced today that it will appeal U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman’s decision to make emergency contraception available to all ages without restrictions, and asked for a stay of his ruling. The implication is that the DOJ supports the FDA ruling that’s explained below. After U.S. District Judge Edward Korman ruled […]