Colombia’s capital city of Bogota elects first female mayor
Claudia López won the race for mayor of Bogota on a platform promising to combat corruption and advance equal rights for minority communities.
Women's rights & well-being
NASA astronauts successfully complete first ever all-woman spacewalk
Christina Koch and Jessica Meir completed the first spacewalk with an all-women team. Since cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to do a spacewalk in 1984, women have participated in 42 spacewalks.
Abortion decriminalized in Sydney after Australian lawmakers overturn 119-year-old law
Women will now be able to get abortions up to 22 weeks into their pregnancy without proving that their health will be impacted if they continue the pregnancy.
Indonesia raises minimum age for brides to end child marriage
Indonesia’s parliament has revised the country’s marriage law to lift the minimum age at which women can marry by three years to 19, a move welcomed by campaigners as a step toward curbing child marriage.
Kenya passes law requiring free sanitary towels for schoolgirls
Schoolgirls who have reached puberty will now receive free sanitary towels from the government, a new law aimed at minimizing absenteeism and putting them at par with their male counterparts says.
New York City becomes first city in the United States to invest in female musicians
The New York City Mayor’s Office is addressing the underrepresentation of women in music by opening up $500,000 worth of grants to local female-identifying musicians.
Thousands of Japanese women join campaign to ban workplace high heel requirements
More than 19,000 people in Japan have signed a petition to ban office dress codes which force women to wear high heels to work.
India begins launching “pink booths” to encourage female voting
“Pink booths” feature an all-female staff – including police and security personnel – and childcare facilities in order to encourage women to vote.
Nevada convenes the United States’ first ever majority-female state legislature
The female majority is having a huge effect: More than 17 pending bills deal with sexual assault, sex trafficking and sexual misconduct.
Minnesota governor signs bill to make marital rape illegal
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Thursday signed a law that repeals the state’s marital rape exception, which protected rapists against prosecution if they lived and had an ongoing sexual relationship with the victim.