The Progress Fund

Iran Women Rights Defenders Continue Undeterred by Prison Detention

ELAHE AMANI – Women News Network – WNN Today on a daily basis, personal memoirs of ongoing encounters of government crackdown and resistance in Iran are being written in print and in cyberspace by countless Iranian civil rights activists, scholars and women human rights defenders. In the process of finding a new transitional global identity, Iran state [...]

Haiti womens micro-lending bank brings big cash to rescue

Able to quickly reach a well-developed network of women throughout the country, an alternative banking system performs while the Haitian economy is in shambles Peggy Simpson – Women News Network – WNN in partnership with the WMC – Women’s Media Center A micro-credit program and banking system for more than 200,000 women in Haiti has come to the [...]

Women farmers key to Liberia climate change debate

PATRICK K. WROKPOH in Liberia – Women News Network – WNN In partnership with Panos London Illuminating Voices. Monrovia: On the outskirts of Monrovia, the Liberian capital, in the town of Jah Tondo, I recently saw for myself the real impact of climate change in a tropical developing country. Jah Tondo is in the lower Western Cluster region [...]

What’s the big deal about gender? – Female Identity as Intersex

WNN India Correspondent, NILANJANA BHOWMICK Women News Network – WNN The changing navigation of female identity A U.N. report by Finnish international law professor and United Nations Special Rapporteur, Martin Scheinin, says, “gender is not synonymous with women, and, instead, encompasses the social constructions that underlie how women’s and men’s roles, functions and responsibilities, including in relation to sexual [...]

US troops increase as local hero says no – Afghanistan’s Malalai Joya

Cairo correspondent Joseph Mayton for Women News Network – WNN Her name doesn’t roll off the tongue easily. But what makes Malalai Joya who she is has nothing to do with her name. It is the fact that the former Afghanistan Member of Parliament is not shy about speaking her mind. It has run her into [...]

Nebraska Prenatal Bill Stirs Fight Over Immigration

(WOMENSENEWS)--Should a state be required to provide prenatal care for women with undocumented status? A bill under contention in Nebraska proposes joining 14 states and the District of Columbia in providing prenatal care for all pregnant, low-income women regardless of immigrant status under CHIP, the children's health insurance program. read more

Female Wrestlers Vie for Piece of Turkey's Heart

ISTANBUL, Turkey (WOMENSENEWS)--Three hundred wrestlers from 24 countries sweated it out at the 38th Yasar Dogu International freestyle wrestling tournament hosted here in February. read more

Gender Violence Blocks Development Targets: Report

UNITED NATIONS, New York (WOMENSENEWS)--Isatu Kalokoh, a 32-year-old mother of three, lives in the far-eastern suburbs of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. In her community, 60 percent of the residents are women. Kalokoh is a housewife, but many of the women here making a living farming oysters, selling wood and working as petty traders of small retail goods. read more

Afghan Women Fear Violence in National 'Peace'

KABUL, Afghanistan (WOMENSENEWS)--Women's rights activists here fear a "peace deal" brewing with the Taliban may bring more violence into their lives. read more

Same-Sex Marriage Official; More Female Soldiers Assaulted

(WOMENSENEWS)-- Cheers A law allowing same-sex couples to legally marry in Washington, D.C., took effect March 3 after much controversy, Voice of America reported. Washington's City Council approved a law legalizing same-sex marriage in December. read more

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RT @tristantaormino: Looking 4 blogs/sites abt women's body acceptance, size, challenging normative beauty standards, redefining sexy on own terms pls RT

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What men really love about women « 1000petals… http://bit.ly/9HmdBn #mirandaodonoghue #BYEAClub

#MyCJ March 12 deadline to attend Somerset County Outstanding Women awards: FRANKLIN (SOMERSET) — Lo.. http://tinyurl.com/y97cd8h

#MyCJ March 12 deadline to attend Somerset County Outstanding Women awards: FRANKLIN (SOMERSET) — Lo.. http://tinyurl.com/y97cd8h

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Photo: iamfortunesfool: Curvey women FTW http://tumblr.com/xaq79vpme

RT @GiGiR7: Women lie...Men lie

RT @GiGiR7: Women lie...Men lie

White House continues to slam insurers

President Obama is turning up the heat on private health insurers again, taking his increasingly populist health care overhaul pitch on the road to Missouri.

'Lost Boys' star Corey Haim dies at 38

Former 1980s teen movie actor and heartthrob Corey Haim died early Wednesday, authorities said.

Police: 'Jihad Jane' tried suicide in '05

Colleen LaRose, the Pennsylvania woman indicted for allegedly conspiring to support terrorists and kill a person in a foreign country, attempted to commit suicide in 2005, according to a police report filed at the time.

CDC: Most with herpes don't know it

As much as 16 percent of the U.S. population between the ages of 14 and 49 has genital herpes, according to a government study released Tuesday.

Air traffic perfect storm for NYC

Flying in and out of New York -- which is usually no picnic -- is likely to get worse this spring and summer. A new nationwide rule on tarmac delays, possible exemptions to that rule and a runway closure may create a perfect storm for air travelers when bad weather is added to the mix.