The news section has now been replaced by The F-Word blog
MSPs back breastfeeding and ban
porn
It was all go in the Scottish Parliament in late 2004. A widely supported bill to make it
illegal to ban women from breastfeeding in public was
passed. MSPs praised the strong political message
that said “breastfeeding isn’t something shameful.”
An Equal Ops committee of MSPs have backed a call to
ban adult pornography. They support a petition from
Scottish Women Against Pornography that claims a link
between porn and sexual crimes. While acknowledging
the difficulties and controversy in the plan, one MSP
said the “big business” of pornography can be ignored
no longer.
‘Men only’ branch for church?
The Anglican church has considered starting a male-clergy
only branch to solve the row over whether women can
become bishops. The C of E report also contemplated
continuing to allow women to become priests but
preventing them being ordained as bishops. The church
first ordained women priests ten years ago but
opponents believe that as Jesus only had men as
apostles, it is fundamentally wrong to allow women to
lead the church.
Girl accused of having ‘rape fantasies’
A girl who was allegedly gang-raped by footballers has
been accused of fantasising about being raped and
wanting to leave home to become a ‘whore.’ The
teenager told the court that poems with a rape theme
were not about her and denied being a “fantasist with
a vivid imagination.” The defence for one footballer,
Shane Sutherland, claimed that the 15-year-old
consented to any sexual activity that took place.
Mum’s the word
‘Mother’ is the most beautiful word in the English
language, according to a survey of non-English
speakers, while ‘father’ did not even make the list.
The British Council, which carried out the poll, said:
“All of us have a mother and have a reasonable idea
of who that person is, it’s one piece of certainty we
can have and it’s also a very powerful word in a
variety of cultures.” Other words on the list include
peekaboo, oi, and zing.
More news headlines from this month…
- 40 schoolgirls suspended after threatening to kill a
girl in row over a boy
- Women’s prison conditions ‘disturbing’
- UK pay gap ‘wider than thought’ (especially in
Aberdeen)
- Pill may cut heart disease risk
- Vaccine against cervical cancer available soon
- Major study launched into why women do not progress in
certain job areas
- Fall in bogus minicab driver sex assaults
- Stress linked to miscarriages
- Reforms launched to protect ethnic minority women from
domestic abuse
- Atkins diet ‘works better on men’
- Obese women ‘lose brain tissue’
- HRT ‘should only be used as a short-term measure’
- Fewer conceptions among under 16s
- Too few women have breast scans
- Routine domestic abuse checks for mothers-to-be
- More help needed with home births, say NCT
- Call for late abortion (20-24 weeks ) services
- More teenage girls than boys binge drink
- Mother carrying UK’s first ‘designer baby’
- ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ women binge drinkers targeted by new
ads
- Boots considers selling sex toys
- Labour party women-only lists ‘bar ethnic minorities’