Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Activist daughter of former Iranian president jailed

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Summary of story from The Guardian, January 3, 2012 Faezeh Hashemi, a political activist and former member of the Iranian parliament faces six months in prison for ‘spreading propaganda’. Her lawyer, Gholam Ali Riahi, said that Tehran’s revolutionary court also banned Hashemi from belonging to any political parties and taking part in media or online [...]

The princess calling for reform in Saudi Arabia

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Summary of story from The Independent, January 3, 2012 Her Royal Highness Princess Basma Bint Saud Bin Abdul Aziz is an unlikely critic of the Saudi elite. Basma Bint, the youngest daughter of the country’s second king and niece to its current ruler, is a 47-year-old divorcee and a successful business woman who has spent the [...]

Bereaved teenager fronts anti-smoking campaign in Ireland

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Summary of story from YahooNews, December 30, 2011 A teenager who lost her mother to lung cancer is fronting an anti-smoking campaign in Ireland. In a television advertisement broadcast on New Year’s Day, Margaret O’Brien told viewers what life is like without her mother Jackie, who died 18 months ago. The campaign, run by the [...]

After-school music club for girls to expand

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Summary of story from The Independent, December 26, 2011 The platinum-selling singer Kate Nash is expanding her network of after-school music clubs in England, after establishing six in secondary schools in Yeovil, Liverpool and Bournemouth (see WVoN story). Nash started the project, called the Rock’n'Roll for Girls After-School Music Club, as a response to the lack [...]

Wife of nightclub attack victim launches security campaign

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Summary of story from BBCNews, December 30, 2011 A woman whose husband was left brain damaged after being attacked during a night out is campaigning for better security inside nightclubs. Phillip Snowden, 33, was punched and kicked in the head at Mustang Sally’s in Wakefield in 2010, suffered permanent brain damage and a fractured spine, [...]

Women in the Arab world should not sacrifice their rights

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Julie Tomlin WVoN co-editor Women who took part in the Arab Spring should not give in to pressure to put their agenda on hold, a leading Iranian-born activist has warned. Sussan Tahmasebi understands the impact on women when an extremely conservative form of Sharia law is adopted. The Iranian-born activist who is now working with [...]

Threats to women’s rights from post Arab Spring constitutions

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Julie Tomlin WVoN co-editor New constitutions drawn up in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring could lock in discrimination against women, despite the prominent role they played in the uprisings. Women from Tunisia and Egypt to Syria, Libya and Bahrain stood shoulder to shoulder with men in the street protest movements in their countries [...]

UK doctors sued over Valium prescription

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Summary of story from The Independent, December 29, 2011 Doctors in the UK are being sued for creating prescription drug addicts, amid claims that they failed to follow guidelines published more than 20 years ago. Doctors have been accused of prescribing drugs such as Valium irresponsibly, and encouraging dangerously fast withdrawal. Many patients say they were never [...]

Indian minister: women ‘should know how much skin to cover’

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Summary of story from The Times of India, January 2, 2012 A State Minister in India has come under fire for seeming to suggest a link between women’s attire and rape. C.C. Patil, the Minister for Women and Child Welfare in the Indian state of Karnataka, where Bangalore, India’s ‘silicon valley’, is located, said that he personally [...]

Tortured Afghan child bride had been returned to in-laws

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Summary of story from The Sydney Morning Herald, January 3, 2012 A 15-year-old Afghan girl who was nearly tortured to death by her husband and his family had attempted to escape her attackers more than four months ago but was sent back home by local authorities, it has emerged. Sahar Gul, a child bride married off [...]

Breast implant scandal: rupture risk may be greater

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Summary of story from The Independent, January 2, 2012 The scandal involving silicone breast implants (see WVoN coverage) is worsening in the UK, amid suggestions that around 3,200 British women could be at risk from complications caused by rupture, a far higher figure than previously thought. British Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, ordered an urgent review yesterday [...]

Scientists grow sperm in laboratory dish

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Summary of story from The Daily Telegraph, January 3, 2012 Scientists have made a major breakthrough that could see them developing human sperm in a laboratory. Researchers in Germany and Israel have grown mouse sperm from a few cells in a laboratory dish. The development opens up the possibility of infertile men being able to [...]