On Jan. 25, the mayor of Los Angeles signed a regulation that requires the use of condoms by all performers in adult movies filmed within the city's borders. The regulation conditions the issuance of film permits for adult movies on compliance with existing California worker safety rules, which...

Over the past months, candidates for the Republican nomination for president have fallen over each other to declare their opposition to abortion rights. Research indicates that they needn't bother: states are quite capable of restricting women's access to abortion without help from the federal government. In fact, 2011 was a...

"I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised...

Last week, a UK government review of the French breast implants that have caused panic from Australia to Uruguay concluded that there is no evidence the implants should be removed. The Australian Medical Association thinks women should at least get their implants...

If you are poor, chances are it is your own fault. At least that's what Americans thought in 2001. In a National Public Radio poll from that year, about half of those surveyed said the poor are not doing enough to pull themselves out of poverty.

Now, one...

On Tuesday December 6, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Criminal Justice Advisory Policy Board voted in favor of changing its rape definition, which currently dates back from 1929. The old definition covered only female victims and archaically -- and imprecisely -- referred to intercourse as "carnal knowledge,"...

This week, Senators Leahy and Crapo introduced a bill to reauthorize and amend the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a federal law first enacted in 1994.

This is mostly good news. The VAWA mandates federal funding for victim assistance and transitional housing, strengthens provisions to penalize offenders, and...

These past few months have seen many advances on women's participation in post-conflict settings; at least on paper.

In September, female world leaders gathered in New York to speak about the benefits of involving women in politics, in particular after war. In October, the UN...

Earlier this fall, a committee of the Parliamentary Assembly for the Council of Europe held a hearing entitled "Putting an end to coercive sterilizations and castrations." The debate continued on November 21, 2011. What is remarkable about this is not the outcome of the discussion, but rather that...

This week, a national study found that sexual harassment affects about half of the students in grades seven to 12. Some might see this as an indication that there is too much talk about sex in our schools. They would be wrong. Others have chalked it...

Over the past week Libya's interim prime minister Abdel Rahim al-Keib has made numerous statements about human rights, at times announcing high priority to the protection of rights in his administration, at others hinting that some Libyan citizens (notably women) shouldn't expect too much.

Judging from...

This article contains absolutely nothing new about violence against women. That's because we already know everything we need to know about it. Everyone knows it exists. Most people would say it's a pretty bad idea. And yet it doesn't go away. To say it's annoying would be a serious understatement.

Restrictions on abortions just don't work in that they don't result in the desired outcome.

This is the predictable, yet bold, conclusion of a report to be presented at the United Nations on Monday, October 24th by Anand Grover, a UN-appointed independent expert on health. The report,...

Steve Jobs' premature death has generated much online activity, some seeking to exploit his demise for political gain. In this category are articles suggesting that Jobs' status as an adoptee is a reason to restrict abortion access in general. The arguments put forward in this regard are flawed...

As media reports celebrate advances toward new male contraceptive methods, the fact that women currently take the larger responsibility for birth control is held up as somewhat inevitable and sad. In effect, contraceptive use is now so firmly established as a woman's responsibility that data on birth control...

Earlier this year, a student in a human rights seminar I was teaching declared her conviction that gay parents damage their children by virtue of being gay. I explained as gently as I could why this is a discriminatory notion, incompatible with human rights standards, and moved on. My student...

Violent women are making news these days. Last week, the singer Rihanna released a music video, Man Down, depicting a woman (herself) assassinating the man who had sexually assaulted her. This week, the BBC reports that the number of women convicted for domestic violence in England...

This past weekend, New Zealand found itself in the midst of a loud public debate over the case of a teenager who procured an abortion with the support of her school counselor, without informing her parents. The parents were angry, and much was said about the ethics, propriety,...

In five days I will be addressing Argentina's House of Representatives about abortion. The occasion is as deliberately momentous as it is intentionally inconsequential. On the one hand, this is the first time Argentina's national congress has debated the legalization of abortion, and the hearing has been advertised in the...

Sex-selective abortion raises a multitude of overlapping ethical concerns regarding eugenics, population control, and provider privilege or knowledge. It was also, until recently, an issue we linked mostly to China, Korea, and India. Not anymore. Recent news coverage indicates that the son-preference that has led to sex-selective abortions abroad...