Suspected Islamist gunmen have killed at least 27 students and a teacher in a boarding school in the Mamudo village in the northeast of Nigeria. Survivors are being treated for burns and gunshot wounds. Some of the school’s 1200 students fled into the nearby bush to escape the gunmen. Information is scarce at this…
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Two of the top women in UK publishing have stepped down this week, leaving the so-called ‘Big Four’ publishing houses in Britain to be controlled by men. Victoria Barnsley departed as chief executive (UK and International) of HarperCollins after a management shake-up by Rupert Murdoch. She had spent 13 years in the role. Over…
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Women have been raped and assaulted during this week’s protests in Tahrir Square — a reality that is in stark contrast to images of women fiercely demonstrating alongside men during the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Egypt’s Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment/Assault, a crisis hotline for sexual assault victims, has reported over 100 incidents of sexual violence against…
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Men have 63 per cent of the nation’s $1 trillion in super, which equates to a financial disadvantage of approximately $1million dollars for women. The statistics come from super fund First State Super, which quotes ACTU and federal government studies. The stats also indicate that women are further disadvantaged by taking time off work to…
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Last week’s successful leadership spill was bad news for Julia Gillard. For the rest of the women in the Labor party though, there is something worth celebrating. Yesterday Kevin Rudd placed a record number of women in Cabinet (there are now six female politicians instead of four). The women ministers include newcomers Jacinta Collins…
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Two sisters and their mother have been shot dead in Pakistan, after the girls appeared in a video which showed them dancing in the rain. The sisters, aged fifteen and sixteen, have been named in local media as Noor Basra and Noor Sheza, the daughters of a retired police officer. According to Dawn, five masked…
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The Tasmanian Upper House has passed a bill that will allow same-sex couples the ability to legally adopt children. These changes to the Relationships Act aim to ‘remove unfair discrimination against gay parents,’ giving same-sex couples the right to be eligible to adopt children in Tasmania. The bill passed the house of assembly in…
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While Australians debate the country’s leadership, women overseas continue to suffer brutal attacks over things we take for granted. Less than a week ago, an 18-year-old Pakistani woman was attacked in her home. The actress, known as Bushra, suffered burns to her face and shoulder. ‘A man climbed the wall of our house in…
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Kevin Rudd has defeated Julia Gillard 57-45 in a dramatic Labor leadership ballot overnight. Rudd was sworn in as the 28th Prime Minister of Australia this morning. The result comes nearly three years exactly since Gillard replaced Rudd as PM in a leadership spill. Gillard has vowed to retire from politics and will not re-contest…
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The United States moved one step closer to marriage equality today. The highest court in the country ruled the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional by a ruling of 5-4. The decision (United States vs. Windsor) will extend rights to legally married same-sex couples, an act that legitimizes the marriages beyond the symbolic union….
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Young women who are or may become victims of female genital mutilation can now find 24-hour support via a helpline, the Independent reported this week. The project, launched by the children’s charity NSPCC, is the first of its kind in the U.K. The procedure, which involves partial or complete removal of the external female…
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A number of Australian retailers are being accused of sourcing garments from unsafe factories in Bangladesh. An ABC Four Corners report has revealed that workers are being threatened, and in some cases, physically abused, in factories used by brands such as Coles, Target, and Kmart. The report showed that Australian brands ordered clothes from sweatshops…
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On the 16th of June, the 15-year-old daughter of Boing Boing creators Mark Frauenfelder and Carla Sinclair was travelling with a group of high school students on college tour when a TSA officer at LAX started glaring at her. In text messages to her parents, she said that the officer began mumbling at her, and…
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The Age says Julia Gillard should go, re: gender, or policy? The Age has used its Saturday editorial to ask for the removal of Julia Gillard from the Prime Ministership and leadership of the Labor Party. The pleas, advertised on the front page of Fairfax papers, claim to call for the change with ‘all respect’…
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