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NEWS & LETTERS, JULY 2003
Women World-Wide
by Mary Jo Grey Right-wing Islamic fundamentalists burned down a
girls’ school southwest of Kabul in June in the latest in a series of such
attacks in Afghanistan. The school had been rebuilt and equipped by the UN. This
was the sixth girls’ school burned in Maidan and one of more than a dozen
burned or blown up across the country since late 2001, when the Taliban lost
power. Hundreds of thousands of girls have returned to school since that time. *
* * The unrelenting support of women’s reproductive health
and rights activists was instrumental in New York City expanding access to
emergency contraception to safely prevent accidental pregnancy. The New York
City Council overrode Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto of two key bills. One
requires city hospitals that provide emergency treatment to rape survivors to
also counsel and offer emergency contraception; the second requires city
pharmacies that do not stock emergency contraception to prominently display
signs informing customers about their failure to do so. These bills, and an
existing law requiring emergency contraception be available at all city
Department of Health clinics, make New York City the first city in the country
to have such comprehensive legislation. *
* * A public plea for justice is being made on behalf of
Sakina, a 22-year-old Pakistani woman, and her 15-year-old sister, who were
burned and scarred when Sakina’s husband threw acid in her face during an
argument. Police never even attempted to arrest him, leaving the women
vulnerable to further attack. Since 1994, the Progressive Women’s Association
has documented 1,500 cases of acid attacks. The Pakistani Human Rights
Commission estimates that 70-90% of women there suffer from domestic violence. --Information from WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS BULLETIN |
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