Just a few weeks ago François Hollande – then still a candidate vying to become the president of France – wrote a letter to one of the country’s leading women’s organisations. “The struggle for equality, for women’s rights … is not a ‘women’s matter’, but the struggle of every citizen,” he said. The pitch for [...]

This week, HBO viewers will get a fresh dose of awkward sex and cringe-worthy moments when Girls returns on Sunday. Now that we’re four episodes deep, there are a couple of things we know for sure: 1. People love it2. People hate it3. People can’t stop talking about it “Did you watch Girls last night?” [...]

A federal appeals judge says Texas cannot ban Planned Parenthood from receiving state funds. Fifth circuit judge Jerry Smith agreed Friday that there is sufficient evidence the state’s law banning Planned Parenthood from participating in the state’s Women’s Health Program is unconstitutional. He let stand an injunction blocking Texas from enforcing it. Smith had stayed [...]

He has promised an equal number of men and women in cabinet, and to reintroduce a ministry of women’s rights. But will François Hollande be the president who finally took on the pervasive sexism in French politics, if as polls predict he wins Sunday’s presidential election? The Socialist frontrunner, who was on Friday leading by [...]

A Twitter user called Conservative MP Louise Mensch “a typical soulless rich whore”; TV critic AA Gill said Professor Mary Beard is “too ugly for TV”; a tweet allegedly described the 19-year-old victim of convicted rapist and footballer Ched Evans as “a money-grabbing little tramp”. These are just a few examples of misogynistic abuse levelled at women in [...]

Thank you for raising awareness regarding the crisis facing the Women’s Library (Women’s archive hunts for a saviour, 1 May). Over 50 years ago the Guardian’s Mary Stott was instrumental in founding our organisation – the National Women’s Register – the then Housewives Register. Our archive is housed by the library and we would be [...]

I know I wasn’t the only barrister to feel disheartened by this article which appeared on the Guardian’s website on Thursday, written by a woman who had been treated unfairly in the way in which tasks were assigned to her and her fellow pupils during their training. I would not try to claim that sexist [...]

For every 100,000 women who give birth in Tanzania, almost 800 die – making it one of the most dangerous places in the world to have a baby. The comparative figure in the UK is just 8.2. The main reason for this high risk is the lack of skilled health workers and facilities for pregnant [...]