women's rights news stories on Newser

Saudi King Fires Adviser After Remarks on Women

Sat, 12 May 2012 07:34:15 CDT

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has dismissed an ultraconservative adviser after he publicly criticized reforms aimed at easing restrictions on women. Sheik Abdul-Mohsen al-Obeikan had told a local radio station that officials were working to Westernize and secularize the country's laws by "legalizing taboos." The "situation is a very dangerous one...

Egypt Bill: Husbands Can Have Sex With Dead Wives

Mary Papenfuss — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 03:31:22 CDT

Husbands who aren't into lively sex would have the option of making love to their dead wives under a bill before the Egyptian parliament. The "Farewell Intercourse" bill would permit a husband to have sex with his wife up to six hours after her death. Theoretically, women could do the...

150 Schoolgirls Poisoned in Afghan Attack

Kevin Spak — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:19:44 CDT

About 150 Afghan girls were poisoned today after drinking the water at their Takhar province school, in what officials believe was a deliberate attack by Islamist militants opposed to educating girls. "We are 100% sure that the water they drunk … was poisoned," an education department spokesperson tells Reuters , speculating...

Sex Service: We Help Gals Get Better Grades

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 14:59:21 CDT

Free sex—a valuable service for women? Three business students in Germany say the answer is yes. The trio at the University of Mannheim have started a service called Bib:Love that offers free one-night stands to stressed-out female students, Der Spiegel reports. Their posters, which promise "Good Grades through...

Hundreds of Afghan Women Jailed for 'Moral Crimes'

Rob Quinn — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:55:00 CDT

More than a decade after the Taliban regime was ousted, Afghanistan is still imprisoning hundreds of women for "moral crimes" like running away from their husbands, according to Human Rights Watch. The group interviewed scores of women in Afghan prisons, and found that many were there because they had attempted...

GOP Lawmaker to Women: Back the Democrats

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:13:52 CDT

Republican Rep. Richard Hanna has a little advice for women voters: Give your money to the Democrats. "I'll tell you this: Contribute your money to people who speak out on your behalf, because the other side—my side—has a lot of it," said Hanna at an Equal Rights Amendment...

3 Nations to Send First Female Athletes to Olympics

John Johnson — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:24:22 CDT

This summer's Olympics in London may be the first in which every nation will send at least one female athlete, reports the New York Times . That's because three Muslim holdouts—Saudi Arabia, Brunei, and Qatar—are expected to grudgingly make the concession. Don't expect full teams: Saudi Arabia may send...

Teen Forced to Marry Rapist Commits Suicide

Rob Quinn — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 01:03:30 CDT

Women's rights activists in Morocco say Amina Filali was raped three times: first by a man, then by tradition, then by the law. The 16-year-old killed herself by drinking rat poison after being forced to marry the man who raped her when she was 15, AP reports. A section of...

GOP Handing 2016 to Hillary

Kevin Spak — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:57:23 CDT

On Saturday, Hillary Clinton took a resounding shot at Republicans. "Why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me," she said. "It doesn't matter what country they're in or what religion they claim. They want to control women." Clinton isn't supposed to get involved in domestic politics, "but...