NEW YORK — Shaina Taub was in the audience at “Suffs,” her buzzy and timely new musical about women’s suffrage, when she spied something that delighted her. It was intermission, and Taub, both creator and star, had been watching her understudy perform at a matinee preview last week. Suddenly, she saw audience members searching the … Read more
PHILADELPHIA — Thirty years ago, as women’s rights advocates worked to pass the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, domestic violence was still something of a hushed topic. Then Nicole Brown Simpson’s death forced it into the spotlight. Americans riveted by the murder investigation of superstar ex-husband O.J. Simpson, who died Wednesday at 76, heard startling … Read more
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday to let its blocked abortion law go into effect and uphold it altogether, disputing abortion providers’ claims it infringes on women’s rights to exercise bodily autonomy. The law, which bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know … Read more
ERREKUNDA, Gambia — Lawmakers in Gambia will vote Monday on legislation that seeks to repeal a ban on female genital cutting, which would make the West African nation the first country anywhere to make that reversal. The procedure, which also has been called female genital mutilation, includes the partial or full removal of external genitalia, … Read more
TOKYO — A once-beloved Japanese table tennis star said Friday she has reached a settlement with her ex-husband, a Taiwanese star in the sport, ending a high-profile battle over custody of their 4-year-old son. The move comes at a time when Japan’s parliament is discussing legislation to introduce a dual custody system following similar high-profile … Read more
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday plans to tour a Minnesota clinic that performs abortions and provides other reproductive care as Democrats play up their opposition to the rollback of abortion rights in an effort to help reelect President Joe Biden in November. It will be the first time that a president or … Read more
AUSTIN, Texas — A panel featuring Meghan the Duchess of Sussex came together on International Women’s Day to discuss how women and mothers are portrayed in traditional media and across social media, among other issues. The panel was part of the annual SXSW (South by Southwest) being held through March 16 in Austin, Texas, and … Read more
PARIS — French lawmakers on Monday overwhelmingly approved a bill to enshrine abortion rights in France’s constitution, making it the only country to explicitly guarantee a woman’s right to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy. The historic move was proposed by President Emmanuel Macron as a way to prevent the kind of rollback of abortion rights seen … Read more
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Legislation in West Virginia to narrow the definitions of gender would give women no further rights and is a way for Republicans to suppress transgender people, speakers at a public hearing said Thursday. Dozens of speakers condemned the “Women’s Bill of Rights” while a handful spoke in favor of it during the … Read more
JERUSALEM — An American porn actor who has advocated for Palestinians online during Israel’s war on Hamas traveled to Iran and visited the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, which was abandoned after the 1979 hostage crisis. The visit by Whitney Wright as Iran imprisons Nobel Peace Prize laureate and women’s rights activist Narges Mohammadi sparked … Read more
