International

Indian women celebrate ban on harmful drug

The Supreme Court of India has finally banned a harmful birth-control chemical, which has been inserted into the uterus of thousands of Indian women for several years.

The announcement on the banning of quinacrine came five months after federal official assured the Supreme Court that its use would be prohibited. In addition, the ban comes after years of repeated request form All India Democratic Women’s Association to stop the use of the drug.

India is believed to be one of the first countries to ban the drug because of the possible dangers including the suggested link to cancer.

Pellets of quinacrine, originally intended to fight malaria, are inserted into the uterus and prevent pregnancies by scarring the fallopian tubes. No anesthesia is used and the procedure is irreversible. Side effects include abnormal bleeding, backaches, fever, abdominal pain and headaches. The procedure was carried out on women mainly form the West Bengal state.

Quinacrine is not approved for use in the USA and nearly all major family planning organizations and the World Health Organization (WHO) oppose its use for sterilization.

FDA rule on women in clinical trials

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a rule that would ensure that women are not excluded from participating in early studies of drugs and biologics to treat life-threatening diseases just because of their reproductive potential.

The proposal also extends to prevention of the exclusion of men because of potential risks of toxicity to offspring or reproductive organs.

It has been pointed out that the FDA proposal reflects a significant evolution of thought about participation of women of reproductive potential in clinical studies during the past two decades. It is also in keeping with the agency’s 1993 guideline, encouraging women’s participation in all phases of clinical trials.

I Human 2000 Peace Initiative

A new project – I human 2000 Peace Initiative – was created by two Canadian artists in 1995. The objectives include the creation of a place where people can meet to discuss and document alternatives to violence. It would also encourage individuals and nations to look at peaceful solutions, starting with the deactivation of firearms and de-mining of land mines.

Official are currently reviewing the list of proposed countries to assess the feasibility of obtaining surplus deactivated firearms from those sources. They also plan to approach foreign governments and militaries to obtain decommissioned firearms for this innovative project.

The intention is to leave a peace sculpture and its accompanying documentation as a legacy for future generations. It will honor the courage required to find peaceful solutions, one gun at a time.

Landmark international definition of rape

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, sitting under UN jurisdiction in Arusha, Tanzania, has handed down a landmark judgment with the first conviction for genocide to include rape.

Jude Navanethem Pillay of South Africa, the only woman on the Tribunal, successfully lobbied her colleagues for the inclusion of the count of rape as an act of genocide when women were assaulted specifically because of their being member of a targeted ethnic group.”

Judge Pillay, a member of the Board of Advisors for the Sisterhood is Global Institute and a founder of Equality Now, defined rape as “a physical invasion of a sexual nature of a person under circumstances that are coercive.”

It is the first such definition not to restrict itself to specifying gender or bodily parts. In addition, the tribunal set a precedent by ruling that “coercive circumstances” need not involve force but that threats and intimidation also qualify.

The Sisterhood is Global Institute is now urging its members to work through NGOs toward getting this definition adopted in their country.