I was born in 1989, while the AIDS epidemic in the US was in full force. I’ve never lived in a world where learning about HIV/AIDS wasn’t a part of my school health classes. I know that I’m lucky to have been taught an unbigoted view of how HIV/AIDS could happen to anyone, no matter [...]
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World AIDS Day: Seize the day
With December 1 comes World AIDS Day. The timing of this commemoration of those gone, those still fighting, and our hopes at prevention (and dare-we-hope an end?) to this epidemic always strikes me as curious. For Americans, World AIDS Day comes on the heels of Thanksgiving (and Black Friday) and nearly smack in the [...]
Savita Halappanavar’s Death Will Not Be In Vain
Wednesday November 13th the entire country of Ireland and most of the world was rocked by the news that a woman in an Irish hospital died after being denied a termination for a baby she was already miscarrying. She was 31 years old, she was a dentist and her name was Savita Halappanavar. As an [...]
Something Of Monumental Importance is Happening Tomorrow!
It’s here! I can’t believe tomorrow is finally Election Day. By now you’re probably exhausted from all of the pleas for your vote. I know I am. But hopefully you’ve already registered and, if you didn’t vote early or by absentee, you plan to vote tomorrow at a polling station. Well if you’re tired of [...]
3 Videos Everyone Should See Before Voting: It’s Not About Abortion
Most women (and their spouses), whether personally comfortable with abortion or not, don’t automatically think about whether or not they might end up in jail, arrested while in labor or strapped to a hospital bed to undergo a forced Cesarean when they get pregnant. Laura Pemberton certainly didn’t before it happened to her. And what happened to [...]
How To Help A Loved One Experiencing Domestic Violence
Trigger Warning)
Domestic violence, dating violence, relationship violence – no matter how we label it’s not something we like to talk about. Or perhaps more accurately, it’s not something we know how to talk about – especially when it’s happening to someone we love.
But it’s really important we learn how to talk about it – in ways that actually help people going through it (which is far more difficult than you may think).
Pandering and Lip Service Not Required: Romney Isn’t A Mystery On Women’s Issues
We can drone on about sound bites and rehash debate comments all we want. We can debate the facts laid in campaign ads, and count up how many lies have been told. We already know where both Obama and Romney stand on women’s issues, so let’s drop the pandering and lip service and be real [...]
Testing Assumptions about Women and Technology
A reminder from the field: Always test assumptions.
Earlier this year, alongside a colleague from the Global Health Project at the MIT Sloan School of Management, I worked to determine how LifeSpring, a maternal health hospital in Hyderabad, India, might utilize mobile technology to gather data about its outreach efforts.
5 Domestic Violence Myths I Learned Still Exist From Watching ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’
Even if you don’t watch trashy reality TV, you probably know socialite Taylor Armstrong, from Bravo’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (RHOBH), survived domestic violence. Within the past couple weeks, RHOBH aired episodes involving an intervention with Taylor about her abusive marriage.
No One Wins a (Tug-of) War on Women: From Uteri to Personhood, Why Feminists Must Reframe the Debate
With only 19 days before the 2012 election, the War on Women is intensifying. While Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s flip-flopping statements on women’s health in last night’s presidential debate might suggest a truce, you can be sure that threats to women’s reproductive freedoms are still as prevalent and ludicrous as ever.