Women

In Oakland, a center works to protect Cambodian girls from sexual exploitation

CERI is a non-profit organization that provides mental health and social services to refugee and immigrant families, mostly Cambodians. All of the girls in its support group have parents who are Cambodian refugees, and they all live in high crime neighborhoods in the East Bay. Many of them know other girls—friends, former classmates—who have become involved in “the life,” a term for the underground world of prostitution.

Oakland women’s group to kick off new campaign on World AIDS Day

The U.S. Positive Women’s Network (PWN), a project of Oakland-based Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Disease (WORLD), will kick off its “Count Us In!” campaign tomorrow with a march to Oakland City Hall, followed by a press conference. The campaign seeks to uphold the rights of HIV-positive women despite healthcare changes threatening to limit or eliminate many services and programs dedicated to women.

Oakland biking group Fix Without Dix puts on a heated alley cat race

For the past five years, Fix Without Dix (FWOD), an Oakland-based biking group for girls and transgendered people, has hosted Wednesday night social bike rides throughout the city. Sunday’s race, dubbed “The Tumbleweed Race,” was their first foray into hosting co-ed races, but certainly wasn’t their first time hosting an alley cat race.

Top derby girls roll through Oakland at weekend tournament

Roller derby girls from around the country competed in a tournament in Oakland this weekend that was hosted by the Bay Area Derby Girls. During the round robin style tournament, all-star teams from four states faced off for three days of skating mayhem and bruising competition.

Mothers gather to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week

Health workers, government officials, including Vice Mayor Desley Brooks, and dozens of mothers and their children gathered in front of Oakland City Hall Thursday afternoon to celebrate 2011 World Breastfeeding Week.

Concert pays tribute to ‘Wild Women’ of jazz

Combine two parts jazz music with one part history and a dash of visual stimulation. Toss it together and you have a Bay Area vocalist’s multimedia performance, paying tribute to female singers and songwriters of the Tin Pan Alley era.