Feature Archives

On the evening of Friday, September 15, 2006, members of the Filipino/ American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity (FACES) and Women for Genuine Security (WGS) lay in symbolic protest around the Dewey statue in downtown San Francisco. The silent protest was held in response to the brutal rape by US Marines of Nicole, a 22-year-old Filipina woman, at the former Subic Naval Base in Olongapo, Philippines on November 1st, 2005. Currently, the Marines face trial in the Philippines.

On August 24th, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its decision to allow Plan B, the emergency contraceptive (EC) manufactured by Barr Pharmaceuticals, to be sold without prescription (over-the-counter) to women age 18 and older who show proof of age. National women's organizations are calling this an "incomplete victory" because it does not include young women aged 17 and younger. EC contains the same medication found in birth control pills, which have been used by millions of women for decades.

Radical Women will host a celebration of Women’s Rights Day at 7:30 pm on Saturday, August 26th at Radical Women's office, New Valencia Hall, at 1908 Mission Street. The event will feature a multi-racial panel of female activists who have been organizing as part of a national movement to bring full rights to immigrants. They will be talking about the essential role of immigrant women in leading the fight for unconditional amnesty, open borders, and an end to criminalization and discrimination based on citizenhip status.

On Saturday, August 19th, which would have been Abeer Hamza's 15th birthday, candlelight vigils were held in several cities. Abeer Hamza was the young Iraqi woman who was raped and killed, along with her family, in March of this year by US occupation forces. The vigils in for Berkeley, New York, and Los Angeles were organized by a group of 8 young women who were outraged by the story of what happened to the Hamza family. In Berkeley, people gathered for a vigil at Willard Park from 7:30 to 9:30pm. Photos

Saturday, August 26th was the 5th Annual Sistahs Steppin' in Pride celebration. This East Bay Dyke March and Festival started at the Lake Merritt pillars at 11am, with the march leaving at noon. The free community celebration continued that afternoon in Snow Park's Sistah Village (on Harrison between 19th and 20th Streets). There were vendors, a children's area, elder space, and more. Photos and audio

Lane posted to Santa Cruz IMC that a flyer had been posted in the Seabright neighborhood, detailing an attack that a woman had survived. The flyer has been torn down, possibly by the police, perhaps because it challenges conventional responses to violence against women. The woman reported that she fought off the attacker and chased him away. She then writes about why she will not file a report with the police. Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos organized July 28th marches to call for peace in Santa Cruz. Photos and Report Seabright residents met with Santa Cruz police officers on August 3rd. At the meeting, police announced the arrest of a suspect in one of the sexual assaults. Audio and analysis

A Radical Women contingent from four U.S. cities travelled to Jackson, Mississippi to take part in marches, rallies, forums and other actions that Southern feminists have organized during the week of July 15th through 22nd. Photos During this time, the last abortion clinic in Mississippi has been under siege by Operation Save America. A rally in Jackson on Saturday the 15th was disrupted by a bomb threat. Radical Women called for people to either join them in Jackson, or lend their financial support. BACORR organized a Reproductive Rights Film Festival to benefit efforts in Mississippi. On Sunday, July 16th, the PBS documentary "The Last Abortion Clinic" was shown at the Roxie Cinema in San Francisco.