In 2003, I sat in my eighth grade sexual education class, listening to my teacher explain to us that abstinence was the only way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. As one could predict, later that year one of my classmates, despite having looked terrified during the discussion of STIs, became pregnant at the [...]
6,998,460,833: the world’s current population, according to an estimate by Population Action International (PAI). In anticipation of October 31st, the day the world’s population is predicated to reach 7 billion, I’ve sat at my desk transfixed by PAI’s scrolling ticker, documenting the rapidly increasing population as it approaches a number troubling to reproductive rights activists, [...]
A study published last week called into question the benefits of injectable hormones, the most popular form of contraception used in Southern and Eastern Africa, and identified a link between the contraception and HIV transmission. The study appeared in a New York Times article, attracting attention to the possible implications for the women of Africa [...]
Last Friday, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, activist Leymah Gbowee of Liberia, and pro-democracy activist Tawakkul Karman of Yemen, were awarded the covenant Nobel Peace Prize, “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work”. They share this honor not just as three women, [...]
By Trish Calvarese, 9/26/2011 In a national TV address Sunday, Saudi King Abdullah declared an end to the de facto ban on women’s suffrage. Beginning in 2015, women will be able to vote and run in local elections. This seemingly good news, heralded by the AP as “a major advancement for the rights of women,” overshadowed disturbing [...]
A recent survey compiled by the Thomas Reuters Foundation found that Afghanistan is the world’s most dangerous country in which to be born a woman. Factors such as desperate poverty, inaccessible and poor health care, lack of education, and targeted violence toward female public officials led a panel of 200 gender experts to rank the country [...]
Today, May 5, 2011 is International Day of the Midwife, which was spearheaded by the International Confederation of Midwives in 1992. It’s been said over and over, but it bears repeating. ONE WOMAN DIES EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY DUE TO COMPLICATIONS OF CHILDBIRTH. That’s approximately 529,000 women each year, with another 10 MILLION more [...]
For a while there it seemed as if most of the world had forgotten about Haiti (again). This week, by all indications from the news media, the ongoing tragedy has not been completely forgotten. Unfortunately, I can’t help but feel discouraged when nearly half of the people I speak to about Haiti are sure that [...]
Post by: Patrice Guillory On December 1st, the world will remember almost 60 million people have been infected with HIV and 25 million people have died of HIV-related causes since the beginning of the epidemic. Today, in many parts of the world, including the U.S., women have become the face of the disease. Women make [...]
It was reported today that a 13 year-old in Yemen died from post-coital injuries, four days after her arranged marriage to a 23 year-old man. She suffered from tears in her genitals and rectum, and severe bleeding. Last September, a 12 year-old Yemeni bride died after being in labor for 3 days. Marrying young girls [...]
That’s What S(HE) Said…