Women Lead United Reformed Church

From BBC News:

Two women are making history by becoming the first joint national figureheads of the United Reformed Church (URC). Val Morrison and the Reverend Dr Kirsty Thorpe are being inducted as co-moderators of the URC's general assembly at a ceremony in Loughborough. Mrs Morrison is from Newtown, Powys, and Dr Thorpe was a journalist and trained for the ministry in Cardiff.

Forced Marriage - Men Seeking Help

From the Guardian:

There has been a sharp increase in the number of men seeking help with forced marriages, the government has revealed. The rise of over 65% in calls from men to the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) last year is so significant that experts now believe far more British men are being forced into wedlock than had been thought.

"The calls we receive are the tip of the iceberg," said a spokesman for the FMU. "It now seems likely that men account for one in five of all the forced marriages that take place to British citizens."

Men at risk are usually aged from 15 to 24, but the FMU recently received a call to their helpline from a 62-year-old widower whose family was trying to force him to marry a 35-year-old woman because they no longer wanted to care for him. Cases also include an underaged man taken to Pakistan and forcibly engaged to his five-year-old cousin.

Afghanistan: Rise In Female Candidates

From Bloomberg Businessweek:

The number of Afghan women candidates for September’s parliamentary elections has risen 22 percent over the tally for the vote five years ago, according to a United Nations Security Council report released today.

The number of women pursuing legislative seats increased to 400 out of 2,635 candidates. That compares with 328 women out of 2,707 candidates in the 2005 elections, the UN said.

“This number ensues that, at a minimum, women candidates will fill all of the 68 allocated seats and are likely to get additional ones,” the world body said in the study. There are 249 seats in the Afghan National Assembly’s Wolesi Jirga or House of People, according to the parliament’s website.

WHO: Limit on Caesarean

From BBC News:

The World Health Organization has dropped its recommendation that fewer births be carried out by Caesarean section, saying there was no evidence for a limit.

The WHO had previously advised that no more than 10 to 15% of babies be delivered by section, a figure often cited by those concerned about rates in the UK - where one in four babies comes into the world in this way.

But now the WHO states that "there is no empirical evidence for an optimum percentage" and stresses that "what matters most is that all women who need Caesarean sections receive them".

France: Husbands Jailed For Insults

From the Telegraph:

Couples who insult each other over their physical appearance or make false accusations about infidelity face jail, under a new French law making "psychological violence" a criminal offence.

The law – the first of its kind – means that partners who make such insults or threats of physical violence faces up to three years in prison and a €75,000 (£60,000) fine. French magistrates have slammed the new legislation as "inapplicable", as they argue the definition of what constitutes an insult is too vague and verbal abuse too hard to prove.

It will apply to both married couples and cohabiting partners.

Dating Violence

From the Vancouver Sun:

The rates of dating violence nearly doubled for both men and women between 2004 and 2008, a new study shows, although victims were mostly grown women.

While teenage girls experienced 10 times as much violence as boys their age, a Statistics Canada study released June 29 says that rates of police-reported dating violence are actually highest for those in their 30s.

Between 2004 and 2008, rates of reported violence rose 40 per cent for women and 47 per cent for men. Women were victims of dating violence 80 per cent of the time, with a majority of incidents occurring after the relationship ended.

In 2008, there were 23,000 incidents of dating violence, with over half of incidents described as common assault — the least serious form of physical assault.

The incidents accounted for more than one-quarter of police-reported violence, and represented seven per cent of total violent crimes in Canada that year.

Teenage girls age 15 to 19 were more often victimized by an older partner, the study found. According to police data, 71 per cent of incidents against women resulted in charges, compared with 57 per cent of men.

Weengallon women have the recipe for success

From the Goondawindi Argus:

WHEN it comes to cooking up a perfect pink Ladies Day Out extravaganza the Weengallon women have discovered a wonderful recipe.

Take a tiny red ridge town, add 400 women wrapped in pink, 25 glamorous stores, a dynamic guest speaker, an exciting auction, a marathon of raffles, a magnificent smorgasbord menu and lashings of laughter and place it all in a luxurious marquee.

Weengallon Kindy President, Melissa Southern, says this year they have the formula just right for their 2010 Weengallon Wrapped in Pink Ladies Day Out on Tuesday the 24th of August. She explains the annual breast cancer fundraiser has become so popular that last year they simply ran out of room. “We had 270 women in the hall. We were packed tighter than sardines.”

New deal for women & children in Taraba, Nasarawa

From the Nation:

THE health of women and children has come under focus across the country. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with state governments, is seeking to reduce deaths among pregnant women and children under age five.

Expectant mothers and even those breastfeeding have been receiving medications to boost their health and that of their children. Newborns too have been getting inoculation against the deadly poliomyelitis. The one-week programme has been successful in both Taraba and Nasarawa states.

Apart from Vitamin A supplements administered on children from zero to 59 months (that is, below five years) to de-worm them against killer diseases, the kids were also given OPV or Oral Polio Vaccine to protect them against poliomyelitis. For ante-natal care, pregnant women were given fersolate, folic acid (ion tablets) and Tetanux Toxoid (TT) to increase their haemoglobin (blood) that would sustain them during childbirth, in case of huge blood loss. The programme also featured health education on key care practices such as breastfeeding and hand-washing.

The entire 16 local government areas of Taraba benefitted from the free healthcare programme, also known as “Maternal and Child Survival Week.”

UK: Eggs On Ice

From Fox News:

Young British women are considering freezing their eggs to preserve their fertility until they are well established in their careers, a new study suggested Monday.

A survey of 100 female medical students, with an average age of 21, revealed more than 85 percent would be prepared to delay starting a family for career reasons, and that 69 percent would be happy to store eggs on ice as insurance against later infertility.

The findings, from researchers at the University of Leeds, in northern England, suggested that there is growing demand for egg freezing among young women, particularly those who have decided on a career such as medicine that will involve many years of training.

Srilatha Gorthi, who presented the study to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Rome said: “These results are not surprising, as professional women have long struggled under the double yoke of social pressure to become educated and financially self-sufficient, and the competing biological imperative to reproduce while still young.