France makes birth control free for everyone under 25
The free contraceptives offered include the pill, IUDs, contraceptive patches, and other methods composed of steroid hormones. Doctor’s visits for birth control prescriptions will also be free.
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.
U.S. federal judge throws out Trump-era rule facilitating development of streams, marshes, and wetlands
District Judge Rosemary Marquez’s decision applies nationwide, according to the Washington Post, and will protect drinking water and wildlife habitat for millions of Americans and billions of animals.
Mexico’s top court decriminalizes abortion in ‘watershed moment’
The decision in the world’s second-biggest Roman Catholic country means that courts can no longer prosecute abortion cases, and follows the historic legalization of the right in Argentina earlier this year.
Indonesian army ends ‘two-finger’ virginity tests on female recruits
The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) conducted investigations into the practice in 2014, 2015 and 2017, with experts labeling the tests abusive, unscientific and discriminatory.
Ayesha A. Malik to become Pakistan’s first woman Supreme Court justice
In a first in the country’s judicial history, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) is going to elevate a woman judge to the Supreme Court when it meets on Sept 9.
Tanzania to offer alternative education for school dropouts including pregnant girls
Secondary school drop-outs in Tanzania will be offered the opportunity to resume studies in alternative colleges, part of a shift away from a disputed policy under which pregnant girls were expelled from school.
Sudan to ban female genital mutilation and allow non-Muslims to drink alcohol
Sudan will permit non-Muslims to consume alcohol and strengthen women’s rights, including banning female genital mutilation, in a reversal of almost four decades of hardline Islamist policies.
Slovenia defines sex without consent as rape
Coercion, the use or threat of force, or the inability to defend oneself will no longer be the only conditions for a crime to be considered rape after the Slovenian parliament passed amendments to the penal code on June 5.
Chile becomes first country in the world to have a constitution drafted by an equal number of women and men
“This is a global milestone, and it’s the result of a struggle that shows that the feminist coalition is a successful example of political mobilisation,” comments Constanza Núñez Donald, a human rights lawyer based in capital city Santiago.
Samoa elects Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, its first woman prime minister
“She was already very much a role model for women in Samoa, but now she’s broken through yet another glass ceiling,” said Kerryn Baker, Pacific affairs expert at the Australian National University.