Following Norway’s footsteps from 2003, Germany is now set to introduce a quota for numbers of women in boardrooms. The country’s major political forces, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the social democrats, have made a compromise over the frauenquote, or women’s quota. As of 2016, companies registered on the German stock exchange will be required…
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Coming into effect in January 2014, the UK has announced a new law that means anyone in possession of porn that simulates rape can be jailed for up to three years. British Prime Minister David Cameron first spoke of his plans for the new law in July, saying that they were ‘closing the loophole’ and…
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FEMEN activists went topless to protest against the anti-abortion movement in Madrid on Sunday. Abortion is currently a legally authorised practice in Spain. For women who wish for an abortion within 14 weeks of pregnancy, or 22 weeks for those facing health risks, abortion is a legal option. But the new Minister of Justice, Alberto…
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In an effort to combat low breastfeeding rates in some poorer areas of Britain, new mothers will be entitled to receive government benefits pursuant to a new trial program. The pilot stage of the program is to operate out of the lower socio-economic areas of Derbyshire and South Yorkshire in England. Under this scheme,…
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You may remember the news headlines earlier this year about Russian punk-rock band ‘Pussy Riot,’ if not, here’s an update about what’s going on: Pussy Riot made headlines worldwide with their fluorescent, flash-mob performances of noisy free speech, which nevertheless were harmless. The band, consisting of three young women in their twenties, two of them…
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Cinemas in Sweden are introducing a classification system similar to age of audience test to determine gender representation and equality in films. If a movie passes the Bechdel Test, it would get an A grade; similar to if the film had no violence, nudity or coarse language it would get a G rating. The Bechdel…
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A Kuwaiti woman was arrested in Saudi Arabia earlier this week for driving her diabetic father to a hospital. The latest incident comes just days after more than 60 women filmed themselves driving and posted the videos online in protest against the country’s ban against women driving without being accompanied by a male companion. Although…
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While throughout the second half of the 20th century, the Australian government implemented many policies and legislative reforms that improved the position of women, the Global Gender Gap Index 2013 indicates that Australian women are still far from achieving equality with men. The Global Gender Gap Index determines gender equality by measuring the gaps between…
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Saudi Arabia is a country of many unique virtues, one of which, unfortunately, is being the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive. No law officially bans women from driving, but nonetheless they can’t. Under Islamic Shari’ah law, which is not just their religious law but also the political law, Saudi women…
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As the US Government effectively re-opens for business, it provides a useful time to reflect on the role of women during the shut down. In particular, the relationships that have forged between female Senators across the partisan divide provide an interesting and inspiring example of not only strong female politicians, but also on how the…
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Pictured above are badges which were on display at the California Republican Convention on the weekend. Badges which were described by The San Francisco Chronicle writer Carla Marinucci as being ‘very popular.’ Just in case you can’t quite make out that writing (or if you can’t quite believe your eyes and need it to be…
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Maybe it was the surrealism of policemen lying on their bellies, guns ready, between cafe tables; of shattered glass framing a deserted fast food complex; of a terrified family creeping past empty chairs to safety; of extreme violence erupting in a place identical to one we visit weekly. The world watched last week as a…
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Young girls in the West feel pressure to have large breasts, but in the West African nation of Cameroon, girls on the cusp of puberty are having their breasts ironed by family members to stop them developing. Breast ironing has emerged as a result of victim blaming and poor sex education in the country. Unlike…
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Italian gay rights activists are calling for a boycott of pasta company Barilla’s products after its chairman made comments about homosexual families. Chairman of the family-owned business, Guido Barilla, says Barilla advertisements will continue to depict traditional nuclear families enjoying its pasta. ‘For us the concept of the sacred family remains one of the basic…
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