Ireland votes to end abortion ban
Ireland voted decisively to repeal one of the world’s more restrictive abortion bans, dealing the latest in a series of stinging rebukes to the Roman Catholic Church.
Women's rights & well-being
This archive covers documented progress on women’s rights and well-being worldwide — from legal reforms and health advances to economic gains and shifts in policy. Stories here focus on what’s working, who’s driving change, and where meaningful progress is taking hold.
#MeToo justice infiltrates the aid sector as sexual exploitation allegations proliferate
Many said that despite repeated warnings going back 15 years to a then controversial report by Save the Children on the prevalence of sexual abuse in west Africa that include aid worker abuse the issue has long been ignored by managers.
Iceland becomes first country to legalize equal pay
The legislation, which came into force on Monday, the first day of 2018, makes Iceland the first country in the world to legalise equal pay between men and women.
Brenda Hale sworn in as first female president of U.K.’s supreme court
The first woman appointed to be a law lord, in 2004, Hale had to wait until this week for a second woman to join her on the U.K.’s highest court.
Nepal outlaws custom of exiling women during their periods
The ancient Hindu tradition of Chhaupadi, whereby women are confined to animal sheds during menstruation to keep “impurity” out of the home, was banned by the supreme court in 2005.
Jordan repeals law allowing rapists to avoid punishment if they marry their victims
The decision is expected to be approved by the upper house, and then ratified by King Abdullah II.
Proportion of female CEOs leading Forbes 500 companies at an all-time high
There are a record number of women who are CEOs of the Fortune 500, which was unveiled Wednesday morning, June 7, and Cleveland is well represented in those ranks.
Icelandic women walk off the job to protest a 14 percent pay gap
Iceland’s women walked off the job at 2:38 p.m. on October 24, 2016, the exact moment each day they effectively stopped getting paid compared to men. Thousands filled the streets of Reykjavík, echoing the legendary 1975 strike. Two years later, Iceland became the first country to legally require employers to prove equal pay.
Pakistan passes criminal law to prosecute honour killings
Pakistan’s honour killing law, passed in October 2016, closed a devastating loophole that had let families “forgive” relatives who killed their own — almost always women — and walk free. The mandatory 25-year sentence arrived months after the murder of social media star Qandeel Baloch galvanized public outrage. It marked a quiet but meaningful shift: the state, not the family, now decides.
California lawmakers vote to mandate prison time for rape of unconscious victims
California’s 2016 rape sentencing law closed a quiet but consequential gap: judges could no longer hand down probation when a victim was unconscious or intoxicated rather than physically forced. The Assembly passed it 66–0, weeks after the Brock Turner case drew national outrage. A narrow fix, but one that aligned the law with how assault actually happens.