A decade ago, three young Cleveland women went missing. In 2002, 20-year-old Michele Knight disappeared. In 2003, 16-year-old Amanda Berry called her sister to let her know that she was getting a ride home from work. She never made it home, and the day after her disappearance, the Berry family faced her 17th birthday without…
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By now, you would have heard about the intense tragedy of this Bangladesh garment factory’s collapse. Rana Plaza was an eight-storey building in Dhaka’s manufacturing zone, housing multiple factories where clothes for Western brands were manufactured. The owners and managing director of the complex allegedly ignored safety warnings and employees saw cracks in the walls…
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Emily’s List launches effort to elect female president Emily’s List has kick-started its campaign to get a female president elected in the United States. The effort, titled ‘Madam President’ will focus on battleground states such as Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire, and will include town hall meetings, online events, ads and Internet engagement. Emily’s…
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Ita Buttrose says female PM is treated differently Australian of the Year Ita Buttrose said that Julia Gillard is treated differently because she is a woman at the National Press Club on Wednesday. The media trailblazer said it was unfair that Ms Gillard is criticised for her clothes and appearance. She also used the speech…
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Following the brutal torture and rape of a five year old girl in New Delhi barely a week ago, three six year old girls have been attacked, one murdered, in separate incidences in India. The body of one girl, found bleeding last Thursday in the eastern state of Jharkhand, had been bound by…
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Many female police officers in Afghanistan have no female-dedicated facilities, according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). Despite a series of ad campaigns targeting women, as well as Western-funded training programs, there is no place for women to change clothes privately. The HRW report indicates that women are yet to be truly accepted…
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Amid protests and threats, France politicians have voted to legalise same-sex marriage and adoptions by gay couples. The bill passed 331 to 225, making France the 14th country in the world to bring about marriage equality. Hours after the vote, fighting begun between protesters and police in Paris. Elsewhere, people celebrated. Politicians defied threats and…
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Five South Sudanese women from Aweil were jailed last week for being unable to pay a household tax of 30 South Sudanese pounds ($7 U.S). Two local chiefs were also stood down for failing to collect the tax from struggling residents. The tax was introduced by the state assembly in January, to fill a revenue…
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It is feared that a girls’ school in Takhar province in northern Afghanistan has been hit by poison gas, causing up to 74 girls to be hospitalised over the weekend, with some in a critical condition. Events like these, causing mass illness and forcing girls to stop attending school, are not uncommon even in post-Taliban…
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A Catholic high school in Columbus, Ohio fired physical education teacher Carla Hale last month, days after her mother’s obituary “outed” her. Hale had been teaching for 19 years. An anonymous parent identified Hale’s partner as a woman (Julie) mentioned in the obituary. Within days, Hale was fired. She told reporters: ‘Bishop Watterson [High School]…
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Tunisian Woman Vows to Bare Breasts Again. Tunisian woman Amina Tyler, who sparked controversy last month when she exposed her breasts online in protest and was subsequently committed to a psychiatric facility by her family, fled captivity this week and vowed to continue to use her body as a symbol of protest. In a video…
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There were jubilant scenes throughout New Zealand and across Australia last night as NZ became the 13th country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage. The legislation, which passed 77-44, redefines marriage as a union between two people, and opens the door for adoption by same-sex couples. Labour MP Louisa Wall, who introduced the Bill,…
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The Tour of Flanders is a famous road cycling race held in Belgium every spring, and is an important race in the European professional calendar. But the most recent Tour of Flanders is perhaps most well-known among the public for an incident that occurred during the celebration of winner Fabian Cancellara. As Cancellara was being…
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The reaction to President Barack Obama’s apology to Attorney General Kamala Harris has been interesting for exactly one reason: the eye-rolling on both sides. Whether one thought the apology was warranted or that it was mere pandering to reactionary feminists, the general impression surrounding the misstep was, ‘this again?’ At a fundraiser in California, Obama…
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