In the ongoing series, Document Women highlights noteworthy news related to women and girls around the world. This post covers from December 11 to December 17.

The United States

This week, Claudine Gay became the first person of colour and the second woman to be named president of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

According to The Harvard Gazette, Gay was elected to the presidency on December 15 by the Harvard Corporation, the University’s main governing board, with the consent of the University’s Board of Overseers. She’s set to step into the new role on July 1, 2023.

Read more here.

Iran

This week, Iran became the first member state to be expelled from the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Twenty-nine member states voted in favour of the action, eight states—including Nigeria voted against it, and at least sixteen member states abstained.

Read more here.

Spain

Spanish lawmakers approved a bill that would grant paid medical leave to women who suffer from severe period pain. Under the new legislation, workers experiencing period pain are entitled as much time off as they need, with the state’s social security system paying.

Menstrual leave is currently offered only in a small number of countries across the globe, among them Japan, Indonesia and Zambia.

The bill will now go to the Senate and, if changed, will return to the lower house for another vote before becoming law.

Read more here.

Liberia

Women and girls in Liberia are still being forced to undergo female genital mutilation procedures despite a newly imposed nationwide ban, human rights groups say.

In October, there was outrage after an 11-year-old girl was hospitalised for several days in the northern county of Margibi after bleeding heavily during an FGM procedure.

Read more here.

Europe

This week, a statement released after deliberations by European Parliament and European Union negotiators disclosed that companies with at least 100 staff would have to provide insight into potential gender pay gaps to make it easy to compare employee salaries

Across the EU, women earn 13 per cent less than their male counterparts, according to data published by Eurostat.

Read more here.