A boycott over unfair labor practices against Jessica McClintock, Inc., a women's clothing company, has been ended by an agreement between the company and Asian Immigrant Women Advocates (AIWA). AIWA, a nonprofit organization working for justice and dignity for garment workers, had organized the boycott three years ago after a subcontractor of the company, Lucky Sewing, closed its doors without paying workers.
The agreement, mediated by the U.S. Department of Labor and announced by Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, calls for Jessica McClintock, Inc. to donate money to establish a garment workers' education fund and a fund for Lucky Sewing workers; sponsor scholarships for students and garment workers; provide garment workers with bilingual state and federal publications on fair labor standards; and explore with other groups alternative methods for worker wage protections.
The vast majority of garment workers
are women who often work long hours for substandard wages in unsafe
conditions.
To demand the right to vote and stand
for parliamentary elections, forty Kuwaiti women lawyers, scientists,
and academics participated in a rare public demonstration outside
the Kuwaiti legislature, which is the only elected legislature
in the Gulf Arab states. Some of the protesters had been members
of the civilian resistance during Iraq's 1990-91 occupation, and
the demonstrators accused the government of reneging on a promise
made at that time to give women political rights. Women in Kuwait
hold top positions in civil service, the oil industry, and education,
and are allowed to wear Western clothes and drive cars, but they
lack social and political equality with men.
To find out about the "morning-after pill" and other emergency contraceptives, women can now dial a toll-free hotline: (800) 584-9911. Callers receive information about emergency contraception, and the names and phone numbers of three health care providers in their area who can prescribe the contraception.
The hotline was started on Valentine's Day by Reproductive Health Technologies Project to "break the nationwide silence" about emergency contraception, which can include regular birth control pills or the copper-T intrauterine device. The hotline has been receiving 275 calls per day.
Although the FDA has not approved birth
control pills for emergency contraception, the pills are believed
to be 75% effective at preventing pregnancy if given within 72
hours of unprotected intercourse, and can be legally prescribed
for this purpose by doctors. A study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute
found that use of "morning-after" pills could result
in 2.3 million fewer unwanted pregnancies per year.
Until this year, South Korean girls aspiring to go to college had to earn higher exam scores than boys, because of quotas that allotted more seats in college-prep high schools to boys. But this year 400 mothers demonstrated in the streets and threatened to file a gender discrimination lawsuit.
Because girls had to earn 138 points to be admitted to high school compared to 117 for boys, 10,000 girls failed the exam this year even though they earned higher scores than boys who were admitted. After media coverage of the women's lawsuit threat, President Kim Young-sam ordered the 10,000 girls to be admitted, and said that the passing score would be the same for boys and girls in the future.
In the wake of a recent Hawaii State Commission recommendation that the Hawaii legislature allow same-sex marriage, some 20 states are circulating bills banning same-sex marriage. Three states have already passed such bills: South Dakota, Idaho, and Utah. Governor Romer of Colorado vetoed a similar bill.
The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that the state cannot ban same-sex marriages unless it can prove a "compelling state interest." The case was sent back to a lower court. The state must now prove that denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples is a compelling state interest, and the case is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court again. When the issue is resolved around 1998, lesbian and gay rights activists expect that Hawaii will begin issuing marriage licenses regardless of gender. Traditionally, marriages in one state are recognized by all other states.
