NEWS & LETTERS, December 2008 - January 2009
Women World Wide
by Mary Jo Grey
The first prison sentence for public sexual harassment of a woman in Egypt was three years in jail for Sharif Gommaa for groping a woman in the streets of Cairo. Though he knocked her to the ground, police refused to file charges. They were only forced to do so because of the persistence of the victim, a well-known film director who insisted on bringing Gommaa to justice. Up to 83% of Egyptian and 98% of foreign women have experienced public sexual harassment in Egypt.
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The University of Iowa has been charged with failing to adequately protect a female student who brought sexual assault charges against two football players in October 2007. She faced physical and verbal assaults by other athletes. The university also did not provide adequate counseling support for the woman when she was interviewed by university officials. The two men accused are scheduled for trial in the Spring.
--Information from Inside Higher Ed
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Legislation that would have legalized abortion in the first trimester in Uruguay was vetoed by President Tabare Vazquez in November. The bill had been passed by the Senate to end a pregnancy in the first 12 weeks due to hardship on the basis of economics, family, age, health or risk to the motherŐs life. Current law criminalizes all abortion except in cases of rape or danger to the motherŐs life. More than half of all Uruguayans support the right to legalized abortion.
--Information from Feminist Daily News Wire
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