Susan notes: an interesting and thoughtful post by Erin Bougie on Gender Across Borders, a global feminist blog.
Since the Track and Field World Championships ended in August, the world has been anxiously awaiting the IAAF’s (International Association of Athletics) decision on whether or not to strip Caster Semenya of her gold medal. For those who don’t remember Semenya, she is the 18-year old South African 800m runner who is under scrutiny for having an extremely muscular build and rapidly improving her times. Readers might also know her as the “hermaphrodite” runner.
From a recent article in Sports Illustrated, a deal between Semenya’s lawyers and the IAAF was made allowing her to keep her gold medal and prize money from the World Championships.
I specifically put hermaphrodite in the paragraph above in quotes for a reason. The IAAF has not released ANY information regarding the results Semenya’s gender verification tests and probably will keep the results confidential. However, if Semenya is not seen in future races, it is obvious that results have classified her as a male for competition purposes.
The hermaphrodite gossip originates from a September article in The Daily Telegraph, an Australian newspaper claiming she has three times the amount of testosterone that a “normal” female would have. According to a source closely involved with the IAAF testing, which included various scans, has revealed she has internal testes – the male sexual organs which produce testosterone.
Susan notes: in June 2009, the world, myself included, watched horrified, as the lifeblood quickly flowed from Neda Agha Soltan in a street in Tehran. It took just a few minutes for her to die of a gunshot wound to the chest. It will take decades, perhaps centuries, for the meaning of her death to fade from the memories of Iranians. Perhaps it will never be forgotten.
Neda's mother pleaded with her not to go out on June 20, her music teacher, who was with her in the street, asked her to hang back from the front line of the protest. Ironically, she was on her way back to her car to leave when she was shot - an unlikely martyr in a battle for power, the outcome of which still remains to be seen. This five-part Frontline documentary examines Neda's life, and the environment surrounding the June 2009 Iranian elections.
Project 19 works to advance women into leadership
positions, and derives its name from a historical amendment to the U.S.
Constitution.
In 2010, the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote, will be 90 years old.
"So, we are going state to state, coast to coast.
We're going to 19 cities," one of the founders of Project 19, Robin
Ford, said. "We just want to see the numbers of women involved in
leadership increase."
The tour began Nov. 3 in Austin, and will end Aug. 18, 2010 in Washington, D.C.
Children as young as 10 are being moved around the
UK to be sexually exploited at parties organised by paedophiles, a
charity says.
Barnardo's says that thousands of girls and
boys are at risk of organised trafficking, and accuses councils of
failing the victims.
The organisation says the vast majority of local authorities do not provide expert help for such children.
It urges councils to commission research and to act on the results.
In
its report, Whose Child Now?, the charity says that, although there are
more than 200 local authorities across the UK, only 40 are known to
provide specialist services for the victims of sexual exploitation.
Barnardo's
runs just over half of those services. In those 21 areas, it works with
more than 1,000 children who were sexually exploited in the past year.
Since the Track and Field World Championships ended in August, the world has been anxiously awaiting the IAAF’s (International Association of Athletics) decision on whether or not to strip Caster Semenya of her gold medal. For those who don’t remember Semenya, she is the 18-year old South African 800m runner who is under scrutiny for having an extremely muscular build and rapidly improving her times. Readers might also know her as the “hermaphrodite” runner.
Susan notes: in June 2009, the world, myself included, watched horrified, as 
Children as young as 10 are being moved around the
UK to be sexually exploited at parties organised by paedophiles, a
charity says.