News from the Margins

Radical Feminist Women's Blog

News of Interest to Feminist Women
from the front lines of the war against women

Updated Every Day

June2002

"What will it take for women to recognize that globally, as women, we are targeted for destruction?
What specific cataclysm in the history of our social subordination will forge in us, as a fundamental element of our identity,
an awareness of the fact and the means by which our specific social group is being destroyed?
Which outrage against us will so shake the conscience of the world
that it will force us to acquire a preparedness for dealing with our own possible demise?"
--Natalie Nenadic, from "Femicide

Tuesday, June 10, 2002

Here's an interesting story about African women's fight for land rights. In most African countries although women constitute almost 80 percent of the agricultural labor force, governments still enforce traditional or customary laws when it came to women's rights to land. Although it is women who do the farming, who prepare the soil, plant the seeds, tend the fields, harvest the crops, by law the holder of the title to the land -- the women's husbands -- not only decide what crop to sow and where the crops should be sold, but also make the decision on how whatever money is earned should be spent. http://allafrica.com/stories/200206060063.html (Link lifted from www.womansglobe.com)

According to the latest census figures, the wage gap in the United States is still wide, with women earning only 73 cents for each dollar men were paid. According to experts, "the main reasons for the wage gap are that women often take time off to have children and lose experience and pay because of it; that women often choose lower-paying professions, such as teaching and social work; and that women are discriminated against when it comes to promotions and raises." http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/134468773_wages06.html (www.womansglobe.com)

Murder is the top killer of new mothers, according to an analysis of maternal deaths during the 1990s, released yesterday by the Department of Public Health. According to the study, two-thirds of the women knew their attackers, and the weapons most often used were guns and knives. Black women were four times more likely than white women to be murdered. http://boston.com/dailyglobe2/149/metro/Murder_top_killer_of_new_mothers+.shtml (link lifted from Proud Mary, http://pub59.ezboard.com/bproudmary)

Monday, May 20, 2002

Two in Three Women Abused WHO Finds

As many as two out of three women living in some parts of the world have suffered domestic violence. Preliminary results from a study carried out by the World Health Organisation found that almost half the women living in Peru had been physically assaulted by their partners. This figure increased to 61% outside the major cities. Similar findings were reported in studies of women living in Brazil and Thailand. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1992000/1992915.stm

Tuesday, May 14, 2002

Thai Women's Rights Pioneer Dead at 82
Fought for poor, nuns, prostitutes
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/14May2002_news09.html

Jordanian Woman Wins Right to Divorce
A Jordanian woman has reportedly won the right to divorce her husband, in the first such court ruling under a new law.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1985000/1985271.stm

Thursay, May 2, 2002

Study: Women Cops Less Brutal
Male officers are far more likely than female officers to get entangled in police brutality cases, according to an advocacy group dismayed by a recent drop in the number of women in police jobs.
http://www.womansglobe.com/p/4d/22f06b48d69e.html

Sunday, April 28, 2002

British Firm Wins Right to Advertise for Women Only Jobs
And good for this guy!
http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,4214419%255E2682,00.html

ACLU Challenges High School Rule Requiring Graduating Women to Wear Dresses Under Robes
And what the heck?!
http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,4214419%255E2682,00.html

Those Nude Photos in Penthouse Are Not of Kournikova; Kournikova Plans to Sue
http://msn.espn.go.com/tennis/news/2002/0425/1374096.html

Tuesday, April 23, 2002

Linda Marchiano Killed in Car Crash
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=&ncid=762&e=5&u=/ap/20020423/ap_en_mo/obit_lovelace_4

Porn Magazines Dead Says Screw Publisher
http://nypost.com/news/nationalnews/46157.htm

Genocide in India
A women’s fact-finding panel that toured Ahmedabad and six riot-ravaged Gujarat districts said on Tuesday that the pattern of violence against Muslims there ‘‘clearly indicates genocide’’.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=7098542

Pakistani Feminist, Advocate for Battered Women, Faces Fight of Her Life Against the System
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2002/04/05/MN69414.DTL

Mauling Victim's Partner Preaks Ground with Suit
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/printedition/chi-0204050288apr05.story?coll=chi%2Dprintnews%2Dhed

Good News: Penthouse Empire Crumbling
http://www.observer.com/pages/frontpage3.asp

Monday April 1, 2002

Commission on Afghanistan's Future to Include 160 Seats for Women
A grand council on Afghanistan's future will have at least 160 women among its more than 1,500 members.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_557190.html

First Novel by American Black Woman, Runaway Slave, to be Published This Week
A 150-year-old manuscript by a runaway slave, believed to be the first novel by a black woman, is being published this week
The Bondwoman's Narrative by Hannah Crafts, tells the apparently autobiographical story of her life as a young house slave.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_557552.html

Saturday, March 30, 2002

Battered, Abused Women Storm Bars, Takes Action Against Sellers of Dangerous, High Proof Alcohol
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/03/28/1017206140915.html

UK Women Soldiers Won't Be Allowed on Front Lines
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=279926

Saturday, March 23, 2002

New Year Holds Special Promise for Afghan Women
Afghans welcomed their first new year since the fall of the Taliban yesterday with a raucous celebration of Spring Harvest, a holiday of renewal that this year carries special importance for the nation's women. Tens of thousands of men - and a few dozen bold women who marked the Afghan new year by shedding their all-enveloping burkas - crowded into the national stadium to watch dancing, singing, and parades that were banned by the Taliban.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/081/nation/New_year_holds_special_promise_for_women+.shtml

Welsh Labour Backs Plans to Adopt All-Woman Candidate Lists to Increase Number of Women in Government
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_551592.htmlAnanova

Outrage of the Month! Federal Judge Rule Workfare Women Are Not Protected Against Sexual and Racial Harassment in the Workplace
When Norma Colon, a mother of two young children living in a homeless shelter in New York City, was assigned a workfare job in 1997, she thought her major challenge would be finding good child care. But at work, Colon says, her supervisor touched her inappropriately, suggested they go to a motel and offered to bend the rules in exchange for sexual favors. Colon quit and filed a harassment complaint. Now a federal judge has ruled that Colon and other women in the city's workfare program don't have the same protections against sexual and racial harassment as most U.S. workers. The women, the judge ruled two weeks ago, do work for the city in exchange for welfare benefits, but are not legally employed by the city — a distinction that means they aren't entitled to the same workplace protections most city employees have.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/081/nation/New_year_holds_special_promise_for_women+.shtml

Suit Alleging Abortion-Cancer Link Dismissed
A San Diego judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by a Michigan-based family-values group demanding that Planned Parenthood inform women of a possible link between abortions and breast cancer. Superior Court Judge Ronald Prager ruled the suit should be dismissed because of a state law that prohibits litigation designed to infringe on someone's free-speech rights. Prager ruled Monday that the Michigan group's suit infringed on Planned Parenthood's First Amendment rights and that the Michigan group had failed to demonstrate a likelihood that they could prevail had the case gone to trial.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20020321-9999_7m21planned.html

Pill Found to Raise Breast Cancer Risk
Using the birth control pill can increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, particularly if is she is still taking it after the age of 45, scientists said on Saturday. New research presented at the Third European Breast Cancer Conference confirms the results of earlier, smaller studies which have shown the chance of getting the disease rises by about 26 percent in women who have used oral contraceptives compared to those who have not. For women aged 45 and over the risk is doubled.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=585&u=/nm/20020323/sc_nm/health_cancer_pill_dc_1

No More Sex for Father of 12
In lieu of a prison sentence, Luther Crawford must abstain from sex until he pays nearly $33,000 in back payments for child support, Jefferson County (Kentucky) Judge Thomas McDonald ruled last week. Crawford, 50, is believed to have fathered at least 12 children with 11 different women, but authorities say that number could be as high as 23 kids. Prosecutors suggested the unique agreement as a last-ditch effort to keep Crawford from impregnating any more women. Some have criticized the idea, but Commonwealth Prosecutor Allan Cobb remains resolute.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ct/20020321/cr_ct/no_more_sex_for_father_of_12

Wednesday, March 20, 2002

Uganda Tackles Wife-Beating Taboo
Africa's highest-ranking female politician has spoken out about the beatings which she said were responsible for her separation from her husband.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_1881000/1881472.stm

Father Held in Murder of Six Children
http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=B3466C62-1407-482D-BEA3-13638982F467

Father Shoots, Kills 11 Year Old Daughter, Said He Was "Giving Child to God"
Rather than see his disabled 11-year-old daughter become a social outcast, a Seattle man put a gun to her head as she lay in her bed and pulled the trigger, according to court papers.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134422815_harrold20m.html

Wombs of Tens of Thousands of Women Removed Unnecessarily, Say Researchers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1882000/1882006.stm

Monday, March 18, 2002

Kansas Supreme Court says transsexual's marriage is invalid
A marriage between a man and a transsexual woman is not valid in Kansas, the state Supreme Court declared Friday.
The justices said that J'Noel Gardiner, a finance instructor at Park University in Parkville, Mo., remained a man, despite operations in 1994 and 1995 to become female. Their ruling was unanimous.
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/031502/bre_transmarrig.shtml

Thursday, March 14, 2002

Every Minute a Woman Dies in Childbirth
Every minute of every day, a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement to mark International Women's Day. One in 13 women dies in childbirth in developing nations.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/020308/1/2kkgy.html

Wednesday, March 13, 2002

Jury Rejects Insanity Claim, Convicts Mother of Murder
HOUSTON -- A jury took less than four hours Tuesday to find housewife Andrea Pia Yates guilty of capital murder for drowning her children in the family bathtub on a sunny summer morning. The 37-year-old mother, who said she was insane at the time, could be executed for systematically putting her five children to death in a tub of water. A second round of testimony is to begin Thursday to decide Yates' punishment.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-000018522mar13.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dfrontpage

Assaults in a Cloak of Faith
In the last five years, sex-related cases with ties to faith healing, in which people believe a cure is accomplished through religious faith and prayer, have been publicized in Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Texas and Wisconsin, as well as Canada and England.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-000018520mar13.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dfrontpage

Monday, March 4, 2002

Britain: Chief Justices Concerned, Number of Young Women Jailed has Tripled in Past Decade
The lord chief justice recently urged sentencers to consider the explosion in the female prison population before jailing women, particularly if they had been convicted of a non-violent offence, were first-time offenders or the sole supporter of young children. What is remarkable is that there remains the remotest controversy over whether it is a good idea to give women such as these a custodial sentence. And why it is that, in crown and magistrates courts up and down the country, it is happening on an unprecedented scale. The female population is the fastest-growing section of the prison estate. According to figures released last Friday, a record 4,179 women are currently in jail in England and Wales. The number has trebled in the past decade.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,658131,00.html

Bahamas Rejects Women's Rights Reforms
Bahamian voters have rejected five proposed constitutional amendments, two of which would have extended additional rights to women, in a referendum that drew criticism from the country's leader, who said he was "ashamed" of the result. http://www.reuters.co.uk/news_article.jhtml?type=worldnews&StoryID=652228

Elgin High girls say lockers taken away
Two weeks after Elgin-based Unit School District 46 finished building a new girls locker room to settle a Title IX lawsuit, at least two girls were ordered to remove their gear so boys could use the room, parents said Friday. School officials acknowledge that boys used the Elgin High School girls locker rooms for basketball tournaments this week. Athletic Director Tim Heinrich on Thursday ordered the girls to move their softball gear to make way for the boys or their locks would be cut off, said Marilyn Grens, who was among the parents who sued the district over unequal facilities and scheduling.

"They're being tossed out to let the boys in," said Matt Schacht, another participant in the suit. Schacht has two daughters who play sports at Elgin High. "It wasn't built for boys."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0203020088mar02.story?coll=chi%2Dnewslocal%2Dhed

Saturday, February 23, 2002

Robert Pickton Charged With Two Murders --
Port Coquitlam Pig Farmer to Appear in Court Monday in Missing Women Case
Police investigating the disappearance of 50 women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside arrested a Port Coquitlam pig farmer Friday on two charges of first-degree murder. Robert William Pickton, 52, was taken into custody at 2 p.m. at one of his businesses in Richmond.
http://www.canada.com/news/story.asp?id={6303AE69-5837-461C-B4FB-5CCA10F5A855}

Tuesday, February 19, 2002

Mom Who Drowned Kids Not Insane
Andrea Yates, a troubled Texas mother who drowned her five children in the family bathtub last summer was sick, but sane enough to know that she had done wrong, prosecutors said on Monday in opening statements of a murder trial that could bring her the death penalty.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20020219/ts_nm/crime_mother_dc_6

Sunday, February 17, 2002

Two Million Women and Children Held in Sexual Slavery Worldwide
To most people, slavery seems a dreadful relic of the past, yet 2 million women and children are held in sexual servitude throughout the world, trapped through force, deceit or economic coercion. Each year, 100,000 to 200,000 women and children, some as young as 6, are trafficked across borders for sexual exploitation. Most of them never reach 30. They die of AIDS and other STDs, ill health, physical and psychological abuse, and drug abuse.
The notion of the "happy hooker" who can freely drift in and out of gainful prostitution is false and dangerously misleading.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/printedition/chi-0202170483feb17.story?coll=chi%2Dprintperspective%2Dhed

Women Boycott Campus Newspaper After Article About Sex with Young Girl
A fictional story in this week's issue of The Eyeopener that graphically describes a man having sex with a young girl has upset some students.
Kaliopi Tsimidis, co-ordinator of Ryerson's community services which include the Women's Centre, says six women came to her office for counselling after reading the piece. "The article triggered many survivors of child sexual abuse. It's horrible. One woman was so devastated, we had to send her home in a cab."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_
Type1&c=Article&cid=1013814175918&call_page=TS_Ontario&call_pageid=968256289824&call_pagepath=News/Ontario&col=968342212737

One in Three Girls Sexually Harrassed Online
A Girl Scouts study confirms what has long been common knowledge online: for teenage girls, hanging out in chat rooms can be lot creepier than gathering around the campfire. In a survey released Wednesday of over 1,000 girls aged 13 to 18, 30 percent of the teens said they've been sexually harassed in a chat room. The harassment included unsolicited naked pictures of men, demands for personal details like bra size and requests for "cyber sex."
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,50413,00.html

Friday, February 15, 2002

Enron Whistlerblower Sherron Watkins Feared for Job and Personal Safety
When Enron Corp. executive Sherron Watkins warned then-chairman Kenneth Lay last summer that the company's financial house of cards was set to collapse, she was nervous about her job security. Later, she feared for her personal safety and locked up her files.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20020215/ap_on_bi_ge/enron_investigation_608

Thursday, February 14, 2002

State'High Court Upholds Farrakhan's Right to Keep Women Out of Men's Meeting
The state's highest court has upheld a ruling against a woman who was refused admittance to a 1994 speech by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/ap_farrak02132002.htm

Wednesday, February 13, 2002

Milosevic on Trial for 66 Counts of Genocide
At the Trnopolje, Omarska and Keraterm detention centres of eastern Bosnia, thousands of detainees were starved, beaten, sexually assaulted and tortured. Many were murdered and their bodies hauled off to be buried in mass graves, prosecutors say. The pictures of the camps were what aroused international attention to the Balkan horrors that led to the establishment of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in 1993.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/yugo/article/0,2763,649570,00.html

Thousands of Guatemalan Women Abused in Garment Industry says Human Rights Watch
Women working in Guatemala's two largest female-dominated sectors of industry - sewing and household services - suffer from persistent sex discrimination and abuse, human rights campaigners say.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1816000/1816427.stm

Parents Lobby for Feminist All-Girls School
A group of Calgary parents is trying to start an all-girls public school based on a feminist curriculum.
http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20020212/29153.html

Tuesday, February 12, 2002

Taliban Clerics Routinely Abduct Afghan Women, Kept Them As Sex Slaves
The Taliban routinely abducted beautiful Afghan women as rewards for victory in battle and kept them as sex slaves, it has emerged.
During their six-year reign, the ruling clerics stole women from the Tajik, Uzbek, Hazara and other ethnic minorities they defeated, according to witnesses and officials of the new government interviewed for Time magazine.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101020218-201892,00.html

Milosevic Goes On Trial for Genocide
A U.N. prosecutor accused Slobodan Milosevic of "medieval savagery" at the opening of his landmark trial Tuesday in the deaths of thousands of people and the displacement of more than a million in three Balkan wars.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20020212/ap_on_re_eu/war_crimes_milosevic_23

Raiders Darrell Russell Filmed Rape of Unconscious Woman
Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Darrell Russell ran the video camera that taped a 27-year-old woman being raped by at least one of his friends, prosecutors alleged Thursday. Russell is charged with eight counts of rape by use of drugs, six counts of oral copulation of an unconscious person, five counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object and six counts of sexual battery. The other two men facing the same charges are Naeem Perry, 24, of Berkeley, and Ali Hayes, 27, of Oakland. In court, Gibbs suggested the woman invited the sex by dressing in a "cat suit" and insisting she return home with Russell that evening. The two had dated casually for the past four months. Gibbs also said the woman boasted of posing topless in Playboy magazine.
http://foxsports.lycos.com/content/view?contentId=327000

French Feminists Protest Ad Featuring Model with Black Eye
Several dozen women have demonstrated in pouring rain in front of a top Paris department store to protest over an advertisement showing supermodel Laetitia Casta with a black eye. Around 50 members of La Meute (The Pack), a group that monitors ads it considers derogatory to women, gathered outside Galeries Lafayette chanting slogans and waving banners in front of a giant billboard showing a smiling Casta with bruises and torn clothing.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/020209/107/1fzz2.html

Saturday, February 9, 2002

Vancouver Pig Farm Investigated in Connection with Disappearance of 50 Vancouver, BC Women
Vancouver police Detective Scott Driemel told about 60 local, national and international media gathered for an afternoon news conference at a building supply store parking lot overlooking the farm that they are prepared to scour the entire 10-acre search area "inch by inch" in an investigation that may take months to complete. Police announced Thursday that Robert Pickton has been charged with illegal possession of a firearm and related offences. He is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 28.
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/story.asp?id={00A27848-F224-4702-AA00-1EBB72EC0EDB}

Statement by Vancouver Radical Feminists on the 50 Women Missing in Vancouver
http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/issues/eastside_women01.html

Thursday, February 7, 2002

Women 'Passed Over' by British Scientific Community
THE Royal Society was accused yesterday of failing to recognise the scientific achievements of women while leading researchers welcomed moves to subject the organisation to parliamentary scrutiny. Disillusioned figures in the scientific community described the society as an old boys’ network that paid little more than lip service to gender equality. They said that reform of the way it operated and represented scientists was long overdue and called on MPs to press the institution to allow fairness to prevail.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2002060572,00.html

Saudi Prince: Saudi Women Have "Bigger Things to Worry About" Than Not Being Allowed to Drive
Saudi women have bigger things to worry about than not being allowed to drive, the kingdom's former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal said on Monday."They have many problems in relationships with their husbands and fathers and children, et cetera, et cetera," Prince Turki told a World Economic Forum session called "The Voice of Islam in Development" when asked about the driving ban."
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=humannews&StoryID=570926

Lifetime Forges Unprecedented Partnerships to Launch First Television Network Campaign to Stop Violence Against Women
Lifetime Television has forged unprecedented partnerships with leading non-profit organizations and a bi-partisan coalition of Members of Congress to launch the first-ever comprehensive campaign by a television network to stop violence against women. Nearly one-third of American women report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives.http://199.97.97.16/contWriter/endprnewswire/2002/02/05/dXjXe/4680-0567-NY-Lifetime-Violence...html

Tuesday, February 5, 2002

What Happened to Lauri Klausutis?
Congressional Aide Lauri Klausitis was found dead in the office of a Republican Congressman in Florida last July. Why the silence around her death?
http://www.truthout.com/01.05B.Klausutis.1.htm

Bush Budget Will Slash Childcare, Make Drilling a Priority
The documents show that Bush's $2.13 trillion budget for next year, to be released Monday, will draw upon savings from Medicaid and a health-insurance program for low-income children. It also will propose raising money by leasing mineral drilling rights in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which Congress blocked last year.
http://www.truthout.com/02.04D.Bush.Budget.htm

Prolife Pregnancy Crisis Centers to Use Ultrasound: Goal is to Reduce Abortion
Convinced that a look inside the womb will dissuade many pregnant women from abortion, anti-abortion activists hope to provide ultrasound equipment to hundreds of pregnancy centres that promote alternatives like adoption.
http://www1.timesofindia.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=1868347834

Sunday, February 3, 2002

Thousands Rally Outside World Economic Forum
Thousands of raucous demonstrators rallied against globalization, war and corporate greed under a heavy police watch on Saturday in a massive protest aimed at the World Economic Forum that avoided the violence that has marred similar past meetings.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20020203/ts_nm/forum_protests_dc_1

Saturday, February 2, 2002

Judge Rules Police Raid of Woman-Only Bathhouse Violated Women's Constitutional Rights, Was Tantamount to Strip Search
Toronto police violated the constitutional rights of women attending an all-female bathhouse event when it sent male officers to conduct a raid, a judge ruled yesterday. "I find their personal rights to privacy were violated," said Mr. Justice Peter Hryn, who compared the liquor inspection that night to a strip search. Hryn threw out all evidence — and dismissed the charges — against Jill Hornick and Rachel Aitcheson, who held the liquor licence for the lesbian event. "The male police officers knew the patrons were in various states of undress and in a highly sexualized environment," Hryn said, noting that no attempt was made to use female officers for the liquor inspection.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_
Type1&c=Article&cid=1012518112311&call_page=TS_GTA&call_pageid=968350130169&call_pagepath=GTA/News&col=969483202845

"Sex Workers Art Show": Art that Isn't -- A Great Editorial by Emily Hall
"...art is not social therapy. Art is bigger, weirder, more questioning; its unmistakable fingerprints are investigation, complexity, context. ...Bringing up your howling pain is brave, but it is not art. It is not elitist to ask artists to treat us like grownups with interpretive abilities. It is not fascist, when presented with a press release claiming that this evening of art will "dispel the myth that [sex workers] are anything short of artists, innovators, and geniuses," to wonder whether or not it's true. (A self-righteous and classist dare, if ever I heard one.) You can't ask to be taken seriously as artists, but then claim exemption to criticism on emotional or political grounds."
http://www.thestranger.com/2002-01-31/art.html

Enron Tried to Get Into the Porn Trade
Gerard Van der Leun, vice president for Internet ventures at the General Media Corporation, which owns Penthouse Magazine, was approached last year by Enron at the time an energy-trading company little known outside the financial pages. The Enron visitors proposed an agreement to provide video on demand to consumers through a high- speed connection, using programming from General Media. ...A spokesman for Enron, Mark Palmer, confirmed that the company's efforts to create a separate business to provide video on demand had included a look into sex-related entertainment. But he said that providing video was never part of the core strategy of the broadband push.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/17/business/17BAND.html

New Enron Scandal Link to Bush-- Two given energy jobs after firm's former head suggested them to White House
The former head of Enron, Kenneth Lay, gave the White House a list of his personal recommendations for key federal energy posts and two of the people on his list were appointed, it emerged yesterday, providing the strongest evidence so far of the political influence wielded by President Bush's biggest financial backer. The revelation is likely to increase pressure on the Bush administration to open the books on its contacts with Mr Lay and his associates. The Enron scandal is now threatening to reach to the heart of the White House.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/enron/story/0,11337,643729,00.html

Committee On Discrimination Against Women Concludes Three-week Session; Considered Reports By Eight Countries
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women concluded its three-week session on February 1, 2002, having considered reports of eight States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.  As the Convention’s monitoring body, the Committee made recommendations for the advancement of women in Fiji, Iceland, Estonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Portugal, Russian Federation and Sri Lanka. 
http://www.womansglobe.com/?action=display&article=11731165&template=womansglobe/headlines.txt&index=recent

School to pay teachers €43,000 for sex harassment by pupils
A BOYS' school is facing a compensation bill of €43,000 in a landmark case involving the sexual harassment of two female teachers by pupils. The Labour Court upheld and went beyond an original Equality Officer ruling, increasing the penalty against the 300-pupil De La Salle school in Wicklow town. Both sides had appealed the Equality Officer ruling.
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=682727&issue_id=6828

Friday, February 1, 2002

First Woman Suicide Bomber Was Paramedic
A Palestinian woman who set off a bomb in downtown Jerusalem, killing an elderly Israeli man and injuring dozens, was a paramedic profoundly affected by the wounded Palestinians she treated, relatives said yesterday.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=bomber31&date=20020131&query=suicide+bomber

Mom Jailed for Protecting Kids from Convicted Sex-Offender Father
A Northern California woman who ignored court orders and fled to Texas with her two young daughters to keep them away from her ex-husband, a convicted sex offender, was sentenced Jan. 11 to a year in jail, the Associated Press reported
http://www.capwiz.com/now/issues/alert/?alertid=90643&type=CU

Bush Gives Abortion Opponents a Win
The Bush administration gave abortion opponents a victory on a question that has long divided America - when does life begin? - while insisting that its true interest was something far less contentious: the importance of prenatal care. ``It undermines the whole premise of Roe v. Wade by giving legal status to a fetus from the moment of conception,'' said Marcia Greenberger of the National Women's Law Center.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20020201/ts/bush_abortion.html

ANYWAY: Conservative Women's Groups Call for End to Women in Military
Women's groups attending the Conservative Political Action Conference, called on the Bush administration Thursday to put an end to what they called the Pentagon's "politically correct social engineering projects," saying a gender-integrated military drives up costs, complicates missions and endangers lives.
http://news.crosswalk.com/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID74088|CHID194343|CIID1118586,00.html

Thursday, January 31, 2002

Cover-up Alleged in Mystery of Up to 30 Missing French Girls
Evidence is mounting in France suggesting that investigations into the fate of up to 30 young women who disappeared in Burgundy over the past three decades have been systematically stifled. Between 1958 and the early 1990s inquiries into the disappearance of dozens of young women in the region around Auxerre, some 100 miles south-east of Paris, were either mysteriously shelved or so badly handled that only two cases have so far been resolved. Most of the files have since gone missing.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,641992,00.html

Acid Attacks in Bangladesh
Figures released by the Acid Survivors Foundation in Bangladesh show that the number of acid attacks jumped 50% in 2001 from the previous year. There were 338 attacks throughout Bangladesh last year, most carried out against women fleeing arranged marriages, the foundation said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1791000/1791513.stm

Lesbian Mother Loses Visitation Rights in Georgia
The Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled against a mother and her lesbian partner, saying the mother cannot maintain visitation rights, according to her divorce agreement, because their partnership is not equivalent to a Georgia marriage. In 2000, the two women established a civil union in Vermont, which recognizes same-sex unions. A divorce agreement signed by Freer and her ex-husband in 1998 bars the children from overnight visits with a parent living with someone who is not a spouse or relative. A lower court ruled on Jan. 30, 2001, that Freer violated her divorce agreement because a civil union does not equal marriage. Freer said she has not seen her children since August 2000, and only was allowed to talk to them on Christmas Eve 2000.
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/saturday/news_c32515ad315d300e0098.html

Monday, January 28, 2002

Enron: Fall of the arrogant
Enron's demise has discredited a vicious market ideology and given a boost to the anti-corporate cause
Enron became the example par excellence of how, in the late 90s, US corporate culture hijacked and inverted 60s' radicalism. Business guru Gary Hamel praised Enron's "activists" who saw themselves as "revolutionaries". They lived the rule of "creative destruction" in which all conventional assumptions were to be challenged. In their adverts, they had the cheek to liken themselves to Gandhi and Martin Luther King. It bred a culture of breathtaking arrogance that Enron could do the impossible.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/enron/story/0,11337,640588,00.html

Woman Suicide Bomber Strikes
A 20-year-old Palestinian woman detonated a suicide bomb in the heart of one of Jerusalem's busiest shopping streets yesterday killing herself, an elderly bystander and injuring at least 100 others, a dozen of them seriously. In a dramatic departure for Palestinian extremist organisations - which have previously banned women from becoming suicide bombers - police sources last night identified the attacker as a female student from the Al Najah university in the West Bank town of Nablus.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,640614,00.html

Sunday, January 27, 2002

The Breaking of the Scandal "Glass Ceiling": In Enrongate, Powerful Women Play Starring Roles None Having to Do With Sex
"The scandal glass ceiling seems to have been broken," declared Ellen Miller, a senior fellow at the American Prospect, a liberal magazine, who was an outspoken critic of campaign finance abuses during various fund-raising scandals in the Clinton years. Is this progress? "The story has changed. It's not about sex. It's about women as major players in powerful positions."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2002/01/27/MN136247.DTL

Afghan Commission Names 21 to Select New Decision-Makers, Includes Only Two Women
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,639660,00.html

Saturday, January 26, 2002

Transgender Activists Win Suit Against Feminists, Vancouver Rape Relief Shelter
A Canadian transsexual woman has been awarded $4,664 by a human-rights tribunal after she was turned down for a position with a program that trains women to counsel female rape victims. The unusual case pitted transgender advocates against feminists.
http://news.crosswalk.com/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID74088|CHID194343|CIID1117246,00.html

Jordanian Man Given Six Month Sentence for Killing His Daughter for Having Sex Before Marriage
Women activists in Jordan have expressed disappointment with a court verdict sentencing a man to just six months for killing his daughter for having sex before marriage. Jordanian women activists have been campaigning for years to have honour killings de-legitimised.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1778000/1778891.stm

Federation of Russia: Women and Girls are Daily Victims in the Cycle of Violence and Impunity says Rights Group
According to Amnesty International, torture and ill-treatment of women and girls in custody is endemic and widespread throughout the Russian Federation. Perpetrators of such treatment among the police enjoy a broad degree of impunity with little likelihood of prosecution for their actions, this actively dissuades victims from filing complaints. Furthermore, prosecutors are notoriously reluctant to take into consideration allegations made by women claiming that they have experienced sexual harassment, intimidation, torture or ill-treatment in police custody.
http://www.wn.com/?action=display&article=11577991&template=womansglobe/indexsearch.txt&index=recent

"What's a Woman's Life Worth?" Toronto Women's Groups Urge Changes in Domestic Violence Policies
Frustrated by a relentless scourge of domestic violence, women's groups have urged a coroner's jury to suggest sweeping changes to judicial and social policy.
http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.Murder-Suicide-Inquest.html

Saudi Officials Warn American Servicewomen Not to Appear in Public Without Abaya, Head-to-Toe Covering
Saudi officials warned Thursday they would not allow U.S. servicewomen to go around without a head-to-toe robe, and criticized Washington for lifting the requirement that its female troops wear the garment.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/01/24/saudi.military.muslim.ap/index.html

Friday, January 25, 2002

We Knew It Already: Wage Gap Widens Between Male and Female Managers Between 1995 and 2000
Female managers are not only making less money than men in many industries, but the wage gap widened during the boom years of 1995 to 2000, according to a congressional study to be released today. Full-time female managers earned on average less than their male counterparts in the 10 industries that employ 71 percent of all female workers; in seven of the 10 fields, the pay difference widened.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=glass24&date=20020124&query=women

Thursday, January 24, 2002

Bush Joins Pro-Life Rally
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1776000/1776679.stm

Wednesday, January 22, 2002

Pakistani Women Seek End to Honor Killing
KARACHI, Jan 22: Speakers at a meeting on Tuesday expressed the view that a multi-dimensional strategy was needed to counter the growing menace of honour killings (karo-kari). Speaking at the meeting, organized by the Aurat Foundation for the decision-makers, activists and media persons to discuss the issue, they suggested that public opinion be built to change the social and cultural mindset of society. They were of the view that presently effective steps were not being taken against honour killings. They suggested that amendments be introduced and loopholes be plugged in the relevant laws through which culprits be punished. They said although a large number of people, particularly women, were being killed in name of karo-kari, very few of these incidents were reported to the police due to social and cultural traditions.
http://www.dawn.com/2002/01/23/nat22.htm

Afghans Urged to Shed Burqa-- Leader Puts Priority on Rights of Women
KABUL, Afghanistan -- In a dramatic reversal of Taliban policy, Afghanistan's new government is strongly encouraging female workers at national ministries not to wear the head-to-toe covering known as the burqa on the job. Hamid Karzai, the country's interim leader, has also instructed ministries to hire more women, according to several ministers. Karzai, who was attending a conference in Tokyo at which governments pledged more than $1 billion today for Afghan reconstruction, has made equal rights for women a priority.
http://cgi.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020121/3789379s.htm

US Threats to Women's Rights Around the World Must Stop - ACPD says Canada Must Intervene
OTTAWA, Jan. 22 /CNW/ - "Today is a sad day for the rights of women across the world", declares Katherine McDonald, Action Canada for Population
and Development's (ACPD) Executive Director. "It marks the first anniversary of President George Bush's decision to impose the controversial Mexico City
Policy or "Global Gag Rule" which denies US government funding to international family planning groups that support abortion. As a result, more
than a dozen family planning agencies in developing countries such as Kenya, Nepal and Bangladesh have reduced their education services and have been
silenced in public policy debates on the issue. Some have even been forced to close down altogether. Every minute of every day, somewhere in the world 40
women have unsafe abortions. President Bush is imposing his personal religious beliefs on women in developing countries. He will have the weight of their
suffering and deaths on his conscience."
http://www.newswire.ca/releases/January2002/22/c4782.html

Women May Live Longer, But They Suffer More Than Men from Common, Serious Diseases
http://www.miami.com/herald/content/features/digdocs/082181.htm

Sunday, January 20, 2002

Accused Murderer of Mail Order Bride Goes on Trial in Washington
Indle King Jr. was unhappy with his mail-order bride and on the prowl for a new one when he plotted to kill Anastasia King, a deputy prosecutor told jurors today. In opening statements, Coleen St. Clair of the Snohomish County prosecutor’s office said evidence would show that King was already searching for a new mail-order bride when he came up with a complex scheme to explain the disappearance of his 20-year-old wife. One scheme included pinning her killing on a tenant in his Mountlake Terrace home, St. Clair said.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=webmailorder16&date=20020116&query=mail+order+bride

Anti-Abortion "March for Life" Conference and March Begins Today: Featured Speakers are Predominantly Male
https://www.marchforlife.org/fc2002conventionflyer.htm

29 Years After Roe V. Wade, Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Decision Faces Grave Danger
In honor of the 29th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is launching a nationwide campaign to highlight the grave danger posed to a woman's right to choose abortion by the expected retirement of a Supreme Court justice. This court decision, which enables women's full participation in the social, economic and political life of our nation, is supported by a razor-thin majority on the court.
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about/pr/020118_roewade.html

Nurse Sentenced to 8.5 Years in Prison for Performing Abortions
A Portuguese nurse who performed illegal abortions at her home has been sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison. The court admitted Ribeiro acted to "help other women."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1767000/1767226.stm

Kansas Doctor Offers Free Abortions
A doctor who was once shot by an anti-abortion protester marked the 29th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision by offering free abortions Saturday, a move that drew more than 100 protesters to his clinic.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20020119/us/free_abortions_2.html

Women Win Big at Sundance Festival
The cinematic struggles of women captured the hearts and awards of voters last night at the closing ceremonies of the Sundance Film Festival, Robert Redford's annual showcase of independent film.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1011481304833&call_page=TS_Entertainment&call_pageid=968867495754&call_pagepath=Entertainment/News&col=969483191630

Friday, January 18, 2002

Fifty Women Missing from Downtown Vancouver B.C.
Police have said in recent years they fear a serial killer may be preying on the vulnerable women of the Downtown Eastside, many of whom work the streets to support a drug habit.
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/news/story.asp?id={62FED7DC-AE26-486A-8875-0CA0569D08FC}

Women Workers File Sex Bias Suits Against Boeing in Three States
In a move that could affect tens of thousands of female employees of Boeing worldwide, a U.S. law firm filed three sex discrimination suits in three states yesterday, claiming the aerospace giant has denied women promotions, equal pay, bonuses and overtime, based solely on gender.
http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20020117/1157000.html

Women's Group to Congress: Give Us 9/11 Money or See You in Court
A women's rights group is demanding a share of the $11 billion in federal disaster relief for the 9/11 terror attacks, saying it wants the money for affirmative action programs to help more women break into traditionally male fields like firefighting, construction and policing.The New York-based NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund — a spinoff of the National Organization for Women — is threatening to sue for discrimination if its wishes aren't granted. Leading the campaign are female city firefighters who believe women's roles in the recovery effort have been largely overlooked.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,43117,00.html

Wednesday, January 16, 2002

Woman Exec Warned Enron Chiefs Early On That Enron Was "Scandal in the Making"
Last August, more than two months before Enron disclosed it had overstated profits and understated debts, an internal whistle-blower warned Chairman Kenneth Lay the company might "implode in a wave of accounting scandals," congressional investigators said yesterday. In an unsigned letter to Lay in August, Enron employee Sherron Watkins described "a veil of secrecy" surrounding Enron partnerships that were keeping huge amounts of debt off the company's books.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=enron15&date=20020115&query=enron

Pelosi Is Highest-Ranking Female U.S. Lawmaker Ever
Rep. Nancy Pelosi an eight-term California Democrat and proven political fund-raiser and organizer, on Tuesday became the highest-ranking woman ever in the U.S. Congress. Pelosi did so in beginning her term as the minority whip in the House of Representatives, the leadership job she won in a special election last October of fellow House Democrats. ``We broke the glass ceiling for women on the toughest of political turfs,'' Pelosi, 61, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday from her congressional district, which includes most of San Francisco. ``Now we will make even more .progress.'
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020115/pl/congress_pelosi_dc_1.html

Woman Judge's Domestic Violence Ruling Creates an Outcry in Kentucky
A judge has decided to hold two women in contempt of court for contacting the men who had been ordered to stay away from them.
"You can't have it both ways," said Judge Megan Lake Thornton of Fayette County District Court in recently fining two women $100 and $200 respectively for obtaining protective orders forbidding their partners from contacting them, then relenting and contacting the men.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/08/national/08ABUS.html

Monday, January 14, 2002

"Great Moment for Afghan Women" --
AFGHAN WOMEN WIN BASIC RIGHTS
Afghanistan's interim administration leader Hamid Karzai unexpectedly signed a document yesterday that demands human rights for Afghan women. . "This is extremely important because his signature puts on the record to his Cabinet and to all of Afghanistan in what direction the country will be going," said Nasrine Gross, an Afghan-American women's rights advocate. The Declaration of the Essential Rights of Afghan Women states they are entitled to "equality between men and women, equal protection under the law, institutional education in all disciplines, freedom of move- ment, freedom of speech and political participation and the right to wear or not wear the burqa or scarf".
http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,3584368%255E401,00.html

Nigerian Woman's Death by Stoning Appeal to be Heard Today
An Islamic court in northern Nigeria is hearing an appeal today on behalf of a woman sentenced to death by stoning. Safiya Husseini was convicted of adultery by a Sharia or Islamic court in Sokoto state last year, a crime which carries a mandatory death sentence.
http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?id=9521&categoryid=2

"Never-marrieds" One of the Fastest-Growing Groups in America
In less than 30 years, the number of people who have never walked down the aisle has more than doubled, as the median age of marriage has reached a historic high: 25 years for women, and 27 years for men.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/abc/20020110/ts/gma020109never_marrieds_1.html

Saturday, January 12, 2002

Family Planning Funds Put on Hold--Abortion Foes Press Bush to Deny Money for U.N. Population Fund
The White House has put a temporary hold on millions in family planning funds until President Bush decides whether to set aside the money altogether to signal opposition to China's population control methods, according to administration and congressional sources
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34163-2002Jan11.html

Study Finds Women More Honest Than Men
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020110/od/liars_dc_1.html

Models Say Maxim Used Photos in Porn Book Without Permission, File Suit
Two European models sued the publishers of Maxim magazine yesterday, saying their photos were used without permission on a raunchy book called "Maximum Sex." Katja Hilgendorff, who has appeared in Cosmo, Vogue and on European runways, popped up unexpectedly on the cover of the book, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in Manhattan federal court. The model says she never gave permission to become the cover girl.The suit said she posed for the pictures in December 2000, but never agreed for them to be used in the 2001 book, which features her name and pictures "juxtaposed with explicit sexual text, much of which is pornographic in nature."
http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/37661.htm

Friday, January 11, 2002

Government Blasts South African Hospital for Administering HIV Drugs to Raped Baby
A top government official has barred doctors from giving anti-retrovirals - even to raped infants. As South Africa was reeling at the news of an alleged gang-rape and sodomising of a nine-month-old baby in Upington last November, the Northern Cape MEC for health was blasting a Kimberley hospital for giving the infant anti-retroviral medication.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200201100392.html

Woman Doctor Suspended for Questioning Mbeki's AIDS Policy, Defense of Anti-HIV Drugs for Raped Baby
The German doctor who alerted the M&G to Kimberley hospital's turnaround on anti-retroviral drugs was suspended for allegedly criticising the government's HIV/Aids policy. Beatrix Weber was accused in her disciplinary charge sheet of "unlawfully and intentionally undermining the Office of the President by stating ... that the president is confused and is misleading the country with regard to the issue of HIV/Aids".
http://allafrica.com/stories/200201100393.html

Thursday, January 10, 2002

British Government Retains Ban on Women Working on Submarines
Britain will maintain its ban on women working on submarines because a review of medical research confirmed air on the vessels could be dangerous to unborn babies.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20020109_2133.html

Jaguar Worker Fired in Porn Probe
A Jaguar worker has been fired and five others suspended after pornographic images were circulated at the luxury car firm's Birmingham factory.
http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/page.cfm?objectid=11525820&method=full&siteid=50002

Utah Polygamist to Be Tried for Statutory Rape of Teen Wife , 13
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020109/ts/crime_polygamy_dc_1.html

Wednesday, January 9, 2002

Japan's Oldest Woman Royal Hints at Female Rule
I think it is possible that a female member of the imperial family could ascend the throne as the 127th reigning monarch, and that would not be unnatural, considering the long history of Japan," she wrote.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/01/07/japan.royals/index.html

Study Shows Chlorination Increases Risk of Miscarriage, Birth Defects
A study, by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and U.S. Public Interest Research Group, concluded that an estimated 137,000 women across the United States faced elevated risks during pregnancy because of contaminated municipal tap water.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020108/sc/environment_water_dc_1.html

Tuesday, January 8, 2002

Red-Faced CNN Execs Pull Ads Calling Woman Newscaster Paula Zahn "Sexy"
A CNN promotional spot touting its new morning newscaster as "just a little sexy" was pulled off the air after it was broadcast repeatedly over the weekend in error, CNN officials said. Red-faced executives said the 15-second ad was the work of an overzealous promotional staff and that "appropriate steps" were being taken to ensure future promos are cleared through proper channels.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/020108/64/1czx7.html

Thai Lawmaker Calls For War on Porn
The easy availability of lewd material in the country is a major cause of sexual abuse against children, said a Thai senator who called on the government to act against pornography. Senator Wallop Tangkhananurak said that Interior Minister Purachai Piumsombun should declare war on lewd printed and multimedia materials in a bid to combat child abuse, the Bangkok Post reported yesterday.
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,1870,94915,00.html?

13 Year Old Girl Found Safe, Tied Up in Home of 38 Year Old Man She Met on Internet
http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20020105missingp1.asp

Monday, January 7, 2002

Leading British Judge Demands Action Over Sex Trade
One of Britain's leading judges yesterday called for new laws to crack down on the human traffickers responsible for forcing a growing number of women and children into sexual slavery. Peter Singer, a high court judge in the family division, accused the government of showing a lack of political will in responding to the "burgeoning phenomenon" which sees as many as 1,400 women, and some children, being brought to Britain each year to enter the sex industry.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,626903,00.html

Women Sexual Abuse Survivors Do Not Become Child Abusers; Many Male Survivors Do
Dr. I. Kolvin and colleagues from the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust in London reviewed the cases of 843 people attending a psychotherapy clinic for sex offenders. Two women and 225 men were found to be child abusers, out of a total of 96 women and 747 men. Forty-one of the women were victims of sexual abuse, one of whom became a perpetrator, the investigators report in the British Journal of Psychiatry for December. Seventy-nine of 135 male victims became perpetrators. Homosexual men and transvestites were significantly less likely to be perpetrators than heterosexual men and men who were not transvestites. The authors observed no significant associations between status as a child molester and voyeurism, fetishism, obscene phone calls or other sexually deviant acts. Ten perpetrators and eight non-perpetrators used pornography compulsively, suggesting this as a possible risk factor. In addition, 19 of 24 men molested by a female became perpetrators, compared with 60 of 111 molested by males.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020104/hl/molestation_1.html

U.S. Chess Championship Features Men and Women Competing for the First Time
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=chess06m0&date=20020106&query=chess+championship

Saturday, January 5, 2002

Dick Armey's at it Again: House Health Bill Scuttled by Abortion Rider
Legislation to fund community health centers was effectively killed late Wednesday night after abortion opponents added language that would have allowed hospitals and health plans to opt out of providing abortion services and referrals. The move by House Majority Leader Richard K. Armey (R-Tex.) highlights the kind of trench warfare that has come to dominate the abortion debate on Capitol Hill. Faced with a divided Congress, GOP leaders have sought to place abortion restrictions on popular bills that stand the best chance of making it into law. But supporters of the legislation said they were dismayed their bill had become ensnared in an abortion fight. Dan Hawkins of the National Association of Community Health Centers said the legislative wrangling "endangered health care for millions of poor Americans and people of color."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9739-2001Dec20.html

Brisbane Islamic Leader: "Face of Islam," Faces Prostitution Charges
Islamic leader faces prostitution-related charge He allegedly signalled to a woman, whom he took to be a prostitute, and offered her $50 for oral sex and $80 for intercourse. Deen became the public face of the state's Islamic community after the fire-bombing of a Brisbane mosque in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.A ``cycle'' of child sexual abuse seems to exist for only a minority of male victims, but not at all for female victims, British researchers report.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/2002/01/04/FFXV3ZMU0WC.html

Woman Daycare Provider Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison for Molesting Children; Boyfriend Walks
http://www.womansglobe.com/?action=display&article=11223053&template=womansglobe/headlines.txt&index=recent

Brazilian Film Takes "Sympathetic" Look at Transsexualism, Prostitution
"Princesa" is a sympathetic look at what it's like to be a Brazilian transsexual prostitute working in Milan. The picture tells the story of Fernanda, a 19-year-old who lives in a zone in between male and female. The equipment is male; the presentation is female. Fernanda (Ingrid de Souza) has augmented breasts and long hair and looks a little like former MTV video jockey "Downtown" Julie Brown.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2002/01/04/DD76618.DTL

Teen Girl Who Had Sex in Bathroom Guilty of "Fornication", High Court Says, Boy Guilty of Public Indecency
A 14-year-old girl had no right to privacy when she had sex in a public bathroom at a suburban Atlanta high school, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled. The court Monday upheld a Juvenile Court judge's denial of a defense lawyer's motion to dismiss charges against the teen-ager. The girl was charged with delinquent acts of fornication and public indecency at Rockdale County High School. The justices did not address a claim that Georgia's fornication statute, which dates from before the Civil War, is invalid, said Paul Stalcup, Rockdale's assistant p