Another lovely week here with the editors of ShoutOut! We have myself, @badfeminist21 and the lovely @firebreather0 . This weeks news roundup includes some international news out of Scotland, the U.S. Women’s National Team, Virginia’s laws on abortion, and how JMU is R.E.A.C.Hing out to the Shenandoah Valley community.
Scotland Passes Bill to Make Period Products Free
It is estimated that women will spend around $5,500 on period products in their lifetime. In 2018 Scotland was the first nation that passed a bill that make period products free in all schools, colleges and universities. Scotland just took that notion a step further by possible being the first Nation to make period products free EVERYWHERE.A bill passed by the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday will make pads and tampons free. Everywhere. They’re hoping to alleviate “period Poverty”- when woman cant afford period products. The bill passed with 112 votes in favor, none against and one abstention. They believe they’d have to budget around $31 million per year in order to afford for this bill to be thoroughly implemented. The bill now goes to the second stage, in which members of Parliament can propose amendments.
Story by @firebreather0
U.S. Women’s National Team
In March of 2019, three months before the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) took on the rest of the world to win their fourth World Cup title, Twenty-eight members of the team filed a “Gender Discrimination” lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation. The Federation is the governing body of U.S. soccer and the employers of the National Teams. Recently the team and the Federation both filed documents to the U.S. District Courts in Los Angeles to forgo the trial, however the USWNT is seeking $67 million in damages, while the U.S soccer federation, wants to forgo the entire trial. The documents included were the Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) of both the men’s and Women’s team where it can seen that Men’s team earned around $180,000 in their world cup qualifying matches (when they didn’t even qualify LOL) and the women earned $200,000 after their 2019 World Cup campaign…after winning their 4th title.
https://time.com/5653250/uswnt-equal-pay-lawsuit/
Story by @badfeminist21
Virginia lawmakers ease abortion restrictions
Now that democrats are in charge of the house in Virginia, they’ve passed a bill that will undo the previous restrictions the house had made when I the house was run by Republicans. Restrictions included a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion and a requirement that women seeking an abortion undergo an ultrasound and counseling. The legislators who were advocates for abortion rights mentioned its also beneficial for medical situations where-in an abortion is necessary to end a miscarriage. Abortion-rights advocates have said the changes will make Virginia a “safe haven” for abortion access for women in neighboring conservative states. The bill now goes to Governor Ralph Northam.
Story by @firebreather0
JMU R.E.A.C.H.
JMU R.E.A.C.H. stands for Rural Engagement and Capacity-Building Hub, it is a group of faculty and staff from JMU, who work with the community to prioritize issues and concerns that directly effect their community. On Sunday, R.E.A.C.H. met with the Timberville community, where they voted on their pressing issues. The community decided that they wanted to focus on affordable and accessible transportation. Now, JMU R.E.A.C.H. will contact JMU, Local and State agencies for funding in this project. They have more meetings to come, and more info can be found about them are in the link below.
Story by @badfeminist21
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