feminist news round-up 24.02.13

Australian judge rules gay marriage ban is not sex discrimination

An Australian judge ruled earlier this week that the ban on gay marriage is not sex discrimination as both sexes are treated equally. ‘A man cannot enter into the state of marriage as defined with another man just as a woman cannot enter into the state of marriage with another woman as defined,’ said Justice Jayne Jagot in her ruling. Gay rights activist Simon Margan brought a legal challenge against Queensland, New South Wales and the federal government for not allowing same-sex marriage, citing ‘unlawful discrimination based on sex and marital status by reason of the inability of those persons to register same-sex marriages.’

Lung cancer, not breast cancer, leading cause of cancer deaths of Australian women

Ladies, put down the ciggies – lung cancer has overtaken breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths in Australian women. And cancer specialists say that the lung cancer death rate will continue to rise, due in part to the number of women who took up smoking in the ’60s and ’70s, but due to increased obesity rates, will most likely be overtaken by bowel and breast cancer in the future. At present, the lung cancer death rates are around 3,000 cases per year in women and breast cancer is about 2,700.

Cash, sexism and violence keep women out of politics in Kenya

Two and a half years since Kenya’s adoption of a new constitution that guarantees women a third of the seats in parliament, the nation’s male-dominated assembly has still not passed the necessary legislation to put the constitutional principle into practice. Only one of eight presidential runners in next month’s election is female, and women held just 10% of seats in the last parliament. Parliamentary candidate Sophia Abdi Noor claiming, ‘Society sees our place as being in the kitchen and the bedroom. Nothing beyond there.’ Kenya has never elected a female lawmaker.

The Stella Prize first longlist of contenders released

Stella Prize organisers have unveiled the first longlist of contenders for the Stella Prize, which has been set up to honour Australian women’s writing. The 12 books include novels, short stories, speculative fiction and non-fiction.  You can view the list here.