In The News

Insecticide! (An Ecological Disaster That Will Affect Us All)

Michael McCarthy November 28, 2008
The suffix “-cide” means killer, and anyone who presumes that the effects of insecticides are limited to a few select pests are deluding themselves. Biologists explain that insects contribute to the intricate web of life on this planet, but some species are suffering severe population declines, including species of butterflies, bees, mayflies, beetles and moths, reports Michael McCarthy for the...

Tiny Voices Defy Child Marriage in Yemen

Robert F. Worth July 2, 2008
Poverty, combined with families producing more children than they can afford, can end childhood for girls as young as eight years of age. “Pulled out of school and forced to have children before their bodies are ready, many rural Yemeni women end up illiterate and with serious health problems,” writes Robert F. Worth for the New York Times. “Their babies are often stunted, too.” Some Islamic...

Baby Bust!

Kerry Howley June 18, 2008
Wealthy countries tend to have lower birth rates – but now that trend has also emerged in rural areas with low literacy rates and few economic opportunities for women, such as Africa and South Asia. Other countries that once discouraged large families as an effort to eliminate poverty have since reversed course. “After 200 years of exponential population growth, and just four decades after...

Europe’s Old Boys Need to Make Way for Women

Margot Wallström June 9, 2008
Europe has been a progressive leader on many political issues, but women are still underrepresented in continental politics, argues Margot Wallström, vice president of the European Commission in an essay for the Financial Times. In selecting candidates for ministerial positions, top leaders often strive for diversity but overlook glaring gender imbalances, she notes. People naturally tend to...

The Global Abortion Bind

Joseph Chamie May 29, 2008
Induced abortion has been practiced throughout recorded history in all societies. While legal restrictions do not affect incidence, governments continue to debate appropriate reasons, technology, limits and ethics. The result is dilemmas. Even the strongest supporters of a woman’s right to choose may find themselves opposed to procedures conducted for trivial reasons, including sex selection,...

A Life or Death Decision

Robert Verkaik March 7, 2008
The punishment for practicing homosexuality in Iran is a slow and excruciating public hanging. An Iranian student in London, named by a former partner before an execution in Iran, failed to receive asylum in the UK, and has since fled to the Netherlands. A Dutch appeals court will rule on granting the young man Dutch asylum or returning him to the UK. Gay-rights activists throughout Europe...

Iran: Does Government Fear Educated Women?

Iraj Gorgin February 12, 2008
Iran’s parliamentary research arm has reported on new trends of rising numbers of Iranian women enrolling in higher-education programs. Women in the Islamic society must contend with limited rights in the law and the workplace, and thus many pursue education to become competitive for the limited opportunities available to females, suggests one activist. Increased female enrollment could lead to...