(WOMENSENEWS)–
Cheers
Baylor University’s women’s basketball team, which had a perfect 40-0 season, won the N.C.A.A. basketball championship against University of Notre Dame, reported the Associated Press. The championship game drew the highest ratings on ESPN since 2004 and viewers were up 14 percent from last year. Baylor became the first team–men’s or women’s–in N.C.A.A. history to win 40 games. Baylor’s star, Brittney Griner, is seen as one of the greatest women’s college basketball players.
More News to Cheer This Week:
A spokesman for President Barack Obama said women should be admitted as members to the all-male Augusta National, home of the Masters Golf Tournament, reported the AP April 5. Mitt Romney and New Gingrich took the same stance, reported the Washington Post April 5.
A U.S. group that helps medical students get training in abortion services is funding opportunities in the U.K. for the first time, amid fears that anti-choice activism in the country will deter young doctors from working in the field, reported the Guardian April 6.
Contraception saves nearly $19 billion in annual medical costs and reduces abortion rates, according to the nonprofit National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported April 3.
Female legislators of Missouri introduced a bill to limit a man’s access to vasectomies by making it a felony to receive the procedure unless there is a life threatening condition, CBS St Louis reported April 3. They were responding to legislative efforts to restrict women’s access to contraception.
Saudi Arabia is considering letting girls play sports at school, according to a senior education official, The Egypt Independent reported April 3.
The Girls Around Me mobile app–which allowed users to pinpoint locations of women nearby and access their full name, photos, and send them messages–has been voluntarily taken off the market due to safety concerns, reported PC World April 2.
President Obama stood behind Planned Parenthood and ripped Republicans for "playing politics" with women’s health in a video message to supporters of the health care provider, The Hill reported April 2.
Marlene Sanders, founding co-chair of Women’s eNews, was named one of "The 100 Outstanding Journalists in the United States in the Last 100 Years" by the faculty at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, together with an Honorary Committee of alumni, in March.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 66, the democracy champion who spent 15 years under house arrest, was elected to the country’s parliament, reported the AP April 2.
In a speech at TEDxChange in Berlin, Melinda Gates launched a major initiative for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to promote family planning in developing countries, according to the Population Council April 5.
The Face It Campaign, launched April 2, draws attention to Facebook’s all-male board. Women are the majority of Facebook users and produce 62 percent of its content, according to the campaign.
Global retail giant Walmart has launched a training and education program for about 60,000 women working in its factories in India, Bangladesh and China, reported India Times April 6.
Jeers
Women in rural India are being sterilized under torchlight at dilapidated state-run hospitals by doctors who are given annual sterilization targets, one of India’s leading human rights activists said in petition filed in India’s topmost court, Bikya Masr reported April 2. The Supreme Court of India has now asked state and federal governments to respond to the petition by Bihar-based activist Devika Biswas.
Also in India, a 38-year-old railway employee is battling for life after she set herself on fire to protest delay in action against two colleagues, who had allegedly tried to rape her last month, Bykia Masr reported April 4.
More News to Jeer This Week:
A Wisconsin law that made it easier for victims of wage discrimination to have their day in court was repealed Thursday, after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) quietly signed the bill, reported the Huffington Post April 6.
Plans for Saudi Arabia to send women to the Olympics for the first time appear to be nixed, reported the Chicago Tribune April 5, as Saudi Olympic Committee president Prince Nawaf "does not endorse female participation" for Saudi Arabia.
In cases of moderate knee arthritis, a study showed that an orthopedic surgeon is 22 times more likely to recommend knee replacement surgery to a male patient than to a female patient presenting the same level of pain and functional limitations, reported the Huffington Post April 5.
Pope Benedict re-stated the Roman Catholic Church’s ban on female priests and warned that he would not tolerate disobedience by clerics on such fundamental teachings, reported Reuters April 5.
Britain’s forced marriage victims are being coerced to marry in more far-flung places and at a much younger age than previously thought, The Independent reported April 2.
A federal judge ruled that the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have failed to adequately respond to a Freedom of Information Act request for records documenting rape, sexual assault, domestic violence and sexual harassment in the military, the ACLU announced in a press statement April 2.
Mississippi lawmakers passed a bill that would require any doctor performing abortions to be a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist with admitting privileges at a local hospital, NECN.com reported April 4, which could shut Mississippi’s only remaining abortion clinic in Jackson.
Officials say a small homemade explosive device caused a fire and minimal damage on April 1 at a Planned Parenthood clinic in eastern Wisconsin, reported the AP April 2.
Male chief financial officers at U.S. companies are paid an average of 16 percent more than female counterparts of similar age at companies with comparable market values, according to a study, Bloomberg.com reported April 2.
Sexual objectification of women in music videos isn’t limited to those featuring male stars, but also happens to female stars themselves, The Los Angeles Times reported April 4.
Noted:
President Obama now leads Mitt Romney by 18 percentage points among women in the top 12 swing states, giving him an overall lead of nine points in those states, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll released April 1.
African American women have a more difficult time clearing the HPV virus than white women, according to a study, reported the AP April 2.
Democrats in Senate races in Ohio and Florida are benefiting from a widening gender gap, according to a Quinnipiac University poll, reported Talking Points Memo April 2.
Infertility is almost twice as common among African American women as it is in white women, yet studies indicate that African American women use infertility services less often, according to PR Newswire April 2.
The suspect in a mass school killing in Oakland had problems "dealing" with women and was "mentally unstable," according to a nursing instructor who had tried to counsel the middle-aged man while he attended Oikos University, The Los Angeles Times reported April 4.
Nejat, an independent Afghani NGO, estimates that around 60,000 women in Afghanistan regularly take illegal drugs, including hashish and marijuana, Pakistan’s website The Daily Times reported April 2.
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