Women's Views on News

Model Naomi Campbell called to give evidence in "diamond" war crimes trial

Prosecutors in the trial of ex-Liberia president Charles Taylor are calling on Naomi Campbell to testify whether he gave her a "blood diamond".

Taylor is accused of of arming rebels in return for diamonds illegally mined by kidnapped civilians, many of them children.

Mia Farrow has alleged in a declaration that Campbell said she was given the diamond by Taylor following a charity dinner in 1997 held in Nelson Mandela's house. The model has repeatedly denied that she received any diamond.

Taylor has pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out during the decade-long conflict, which ended in 2001 according to the report in the Daily Telegraph.

Gender influences attitude to work

Women enjoy and engage more with employment than men because men have more of a Protestant work ethic, apparently.

According to new research men see getting a job as something not to enjoy but to make money, whereas women are looking more for job satisfaction.

Reuters report that the research carried out by the University of Portsmouth's psychology department also found that in both sexes there was a rise in satisfaction among workers approaching the end of their career. Good job really with the Government raising the compulsory retirement age.

Watch this - nobody asks to be raped. Ever.

This is a must. A fantastic new video from Rape Crisis Scotland, with the clear message (and yes, we do still have to repeat it) - nobody asks to be raped. Ever.

Researchers suggest giving hormone to pregnant women to reduce lesbianism

This story is a bit difficult to unravel, but the essence of it seems to be that two researchers - paediatric endocrinologist Maria New and psychologist Heino FL Meyer-Bahlburg - have been working on the influence of prenatal hormones on a person's future sexual orientation. 

They say that some of their research has shown that about one-third of lesbians have modestly increased levels of hormones which cause them to have a lower interest in having sex with men. But - and this is the really controversial bit - they also have less interest "in getting married and performing the traditional childcare/housewife role". 

And the treatment? To give them a steroid called dexamethasone prenatally so that the behaviour of these women is more akin to "heterosexual norms"?

Are they serious, I hear you ask? Well, it would appear so. Dan Savage savages (sorry) their approach and their research in this article on Slogthestranger.com.

Despite $17 million in US aid, women and girls are still being raped indiscriminately in the Congo

When Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, visited the Democratic Republic of Congo last year, she pledged $17 million in US aid to fight the brutal and indiscriminate campaign of rape against women and girls. 

"Working together, we will banish sexual violence into the dark past, where it belongs, and help the Congolese people seize the opportunities of a new day," she wrote later.

Advocates cheered. The new commitment “signaled there may be a comprehensive, American-led diplomatic push on the way” to end the violence, remembered Maurice Carney, executive director of the Washington-based Friends of the Congo.

Yet 10 months later, Africa experts are questioning how the $17 million has been spent. And many allege that despite new Congo legislation passed last week as part of the financial regulation bill, Congress and the Obama administration have avoided taking some of the difficult steps necessary to bring an end to the root cause of the rape crisis: Congo’s 14-year war over control of mineral deposits.

The full story is on the Daily Beast.

Computer hacker blackmailed women into making personal porn videos for him

A divorced mother-of-three opened up her e-mail one day to find a message from a stranger threatening to publish images of her that her boyfriend had taken some time previously, if she didn't agree to make a porn video for him. 

The mysterious blackmailer had managed to seize control of her computer and find the photos. He'd also rifled through her e-mails to learn other unsavoury bits of information that he could use against her. 

Luckily, the FBI found the email to this woman and those of 229 other female victims - including 44 minors - when they raided a house in the suburban neighborhood of Santa Ana, California. 

They arrested Luis Mijangos, 31, a Mexican citizen who said he earned $1,000 a week writing computer programs and designing websites. Paraplegic since the age of 18 when he strayed into a gunfight between two rival gangs, Mijangos was charged last week with extorting women for “sexually compromising photographs.”

Read the full story on The Daily Beast. 

Disney wants to dress mums-to-be

Oh great, now Disney are planning to release a maternity wear collection according to Salon.com

What on earth do they think their bestseller will be? Tinkerbell? Piglet? or Cinderella - the morning after?

Eating chocolate can help reduce women's blood pressure

Sweet-toothed women with high blood pressure may welcome the findings of some new research. Scientists have discovered that eating more dark chocolate helps to reduce hypertension by up to 20 per cent.

And for anyone with what is described as a sedentary life there is more good news. Eating chocolate, which is high in chemicals called flanavols, is as beneficial as 30 minutes of exercise in pulling down the hypertension levels, according to a report in The Scotsman.

However, before reaching for the chocolate bar, the research from the University of Adelaide, Australia comes with a health warning: It doesn't work for anyone who has normal blood pressure.

Icelandic PM marries her long term woman partner

Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir has married her long-term partner, making her the world's first national leader with a same-sex spouse, according to msnbc.com.

Sigurdardottir, 67, married writer Jonina Leosdottir on Sunday, the day a new law took effect defining marriage as a union between two consenting adults regardless of sex.

The two had had a civil union for years and changed this into a marriage under the new law, which was approved by parliament earlier this month.

World Health Organisation removes target for Caesarean sections

They've been called the mums "who were too posh to push" and hospitals had targets to try and limit the number of Caesarean sections to around 15 per cent.

But now the World Health Organisation has dropped these artificial targets saying there was no evidence to prove that a limit on interventions is better for babies or mothers.

In fact WHO goes as far to say: "What matters most is women who need Caesarean sections receive them."

The BBC reports that the current rate of sections in British hospitals is around 25 per cent and half of these are classed as emergencies.

Health officials welcome the removal of targets but state that they work to prevent intervention and give as many women as possible the chance to experience a natural birth.