Women's News: The last maternity hospital in Rafah

Hello, Happy Friday, and an early Happy Mother’s Day to moms of all kinds. To those for whom the holiday is a tender time, I’ll be thinking of you.

Here’s what’s on the rise this week:

World

• The last operating maternity hospital in Rafah announced it can no longer accept new patients due to staffing and supply shortages, leaving many pregnant women in limbo.

  • With the Israel-Hamas war arriving this week on the southern Gaza city’s outskirts, aid crossings have become impossible. 

  • So far, over 100,000 people have fled the city after Israeli forces called for evacuation amid airstrikes and growing threats of a ground offensive. 

• Employers in Japan have made major strides to uproot a traditionally male-dominated workplace culture, including flexible hours, limits to after-work events, and classes to teach male employees how to take on childcare responsibilities.

  • But with women still handling three-quarters of the chores in the average household, many struggle to balance work and home obligations.

• Women and children made up two-thirds of the Rohingya refugees fleeing to safety by boat last year, according to a new report by The Associated Press. Even as they escaped violence in Bangladesh and Myanmar, women and girls faced risks of sexual assault and torture at sea.

U.S.

• The current Miss USA, Noelia Voigt, resigned from the title this week, becoming the first pageant winner ever to step down voluntarily. She cited mental health as the reason, but eagle-eyed observers spotted a potential hidden message in her resignation letter—together, the first letters of each sentence spelled the phrase, “I am silenced.”

  • Miss Teen USA abdicated her position two days later, saying that her values no longer aligned with the organization. 

  • Social Media Director Claudia Michelle also stepped down, sharing on Instagram that “the way current management speaks about their titleholders is unprofessional and inappropriate." 

  • Some sources say the three resignations were a coordinated response to bullying by the Miss USA organization.

• Stormy Daniels was on the stand again yesterday in the Trump hush money trial, where she faced harsh questions from the former president’s defense team about her truthfulness and motivations. 

  • Journalists say Daniels responded handily. When Trump’s attorney suggested that she had made up the sexual encounter, Daniels replied that, if that were the case, she “would have written it to be a lot better.”

  • Madeleine Westerhout, Trump’s former White House executive assistant, also took the stand. Her testimony is expected to continue today.

• The Boy Scouts of America will change its name to Scouting America. The move is a continued attempt to underscore that all American youth are welcome, five years after the organization opened its programming to girls.

Business and Tech

• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is the government body that insures deposits at U.S. banks, keeping money safe if the bank fails, but a new inquiry revealed that the organization is less than safe for its women employees. On Tuesday, a report described a workplace culture full of sexual harassment, patriarchal structures, discrimination, and abuse of women and other minority employees.

• Actress, writer, and producer Issa Rae is working hard to diversify Hollywood and the creator economy. On top of launching a new company to connect brands with diverse creators, she signed up to mentor aspiring filmmakers in a partnership with Tubi. 

• A new survey found that women are less satisfied with their jobs than men for the seventh year in a row. Given the gender pay gap, disproportionate unpaid labor, and post-MeToo awareness of sexual harassment in the workplace, the result is perhaps less than surprising.

Healthcare

• The American Cancer Society announced a massive study to understand how racism, health history, and lifestyle can impact cancer risks in Black women, whose health outcomes are statistically worse than those of White women. 

• Meanwhile, health officials and doctors in Alabama are trying to eliminate cervical cancer in the next decade. By sending healthcare professionals into rural areas to perform HPV vaccinations and Pap smears, the state hopes to lead a national charge to eradicate the largely preventable cancer.

• Have you heard of postnatal retreats? Borrowed from Korea, they’re a growing U.S. phenomenon in which new parents stay in a luxurious treatment center and receive services like lactation consulting to ease the transition into parenthood. But with a price tag of roughly $1,000 per night, critics say the retreats are out of reach for most moms.

Sports

• The WNBA regular season starts on Tuesday, and this year’s players will travel more comfortably—the league commissioner announced a full-time charter flight program for all games, the latest “bet” on women’s sports. 

• Everyone wants to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup. This week, Brazil topped a joint bid from Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany. The winner will be announced on May 17.

• After announcing her retirement from professional sports in April, WNBA star Candace Parker is taking on a new role as president of women’s basketball at Adidas. 

Culture

• In an Australian modern art museum, an installment called the “Ladies Lounge” is intended to show men what it’s like to be excluded—the space, which is only accessible to women, features some of the museum’s highest-profile art, including a piece by Picasso. 

  • Now, facing legal action that would require the Lounge to admit men, the artist is installing a toilet so the installment can be classified as a ladies’ restroom and continue disallowing male visitors.

• Taylor Swift is in Paris kicking off the European leg of her Eras Tour, and data suggests the concert will bring five times as many American travelers to the City of Love as the Olympics. 

• Amy Poehler released a satirical podcast called “Women Talkin’ ‘Bout Murder,” in which she and two other women improvise true crime stories. 

Further Reading