Solidaritas #109
Women firefighters join the Bangladesh Fire Service for the first time in history
Good morning!
Solidaritas is a fortnightly newsletter about women’s rights, feminism, and gender in Asia and the Pacific, covering the entirety of this huge region: from Afghanistan and Pakistan in the west to Kiribati and Cook Islands in the east.
This issue’s header image is of rice fields in Toraja, Indonesia, in 2016.
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This will be the last issue of Solidaritas for 2023. First issue for 2024 will be in mid-January. Merry Christmas for those who celebrate, happy new year, and have a great break!
In solidarity,
- Kate
Afghanistan
The Taliban regime is reportedly sending women to prison to stop the threat of gender-based violence, according to the UN.
Pregnant Afghan women who are eligible for resettlement in the UK have been told their babies may not survive unless they are urgently evacuated. The women, who worked for or are affiliated with the British Council, should be entitled to relocation through the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme. Despite Foreign Office and Home Office instructions to move to Pakistan and await relocation, they are stuck in hotels with limited access to medical care nearly two years after the scheme launched.
Meanwhile, other Afghan refugees are stuck in limbo on the US-Mexico border.
Australia
Victoria has achieved gender parity in its state parliament for the first time.
Australia should prioritise visas for women’s human rights defenders.
More women have been killed in Australia so far in 2024 than in 2022.
Bangladesh
Women firefighters have joined the Bangladesh Fire Service for the first time in the organization’s history, breaking a taboo over female employment in traditionally male-dominated workplaces.
Cambodia
Women tuk-tuk drivers are fighting prejudice and gender discrimination, one ride at a time.
India
Six months after they were stripped, paraded naked and allegedly gang raped by a mob in north-east India, two women, whose ordeal was made public in a viral video, talk to the BBC in their first face-to-face interview. They speak about living in hiding, their fight for justice and their call for a separate administration for their community.
As climate change threatens farms, families in India are using their gold jewelry to raise loans, putting women in an even more precarious position.
The Nagaland Assembly has unanimously passed a bill reserving one-third of seats in the urban local bodies for women.
Forced to leave her home and job, Budhini Manjhiyain, a tribal woman from the state of Jharkhand, spent her entire life in exile:
Manjhiyain, who died last month, was just 15 when she was ostracised by her tribe - the Santhals - for garlanding India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru 63 years ago. Under Santhal customs, exchanging garlands is akin to marriage.
Manjhiyain - and the hardships she endured - remained unknown to most, but her death has sparked renewed interest in the woman described by some as "Nehru's first tribal wife".
Japan
Japan has begun trial sales of morning-after pills without a prescription. Under the pilot, the pill is set to be available at 145 pharmacies. Until now these had only been available at a clinic or pharmacy with a doctor's prescription.
North Korea
The emergence of grassroots capitalism in North Korea provides a cautionary tale for patriarchal societies everywhere: underestimate women at your peril.
Activists say up to 600 North Korean defectors, believed to be mostly women, have not been heard from since their deportation from China.
Malaysia
The statistics department reported better gender equality overall in 2022, but noted a clear challenge faced in women’s political empowerment, which remains alarmingly low.
Myanmar
The number of women killed by junta troops since the coup in February 2021 has risen to at least 664 as the junta continues its brutal artillery, aerial and other heavy-handed attacks on civilians, the Burmese Women’s Union has said in a report.
Pakistan
A young Christian woman said this week she would rebuild her life and career after winning a year-long legal battle with her husband for contracting a second marriage, in what is a rare case in Pakistan of someone from her community being punished for polygamy.
On the eve of Pakistan’s press club elections starting this month, a growing network of women journalists is pushing for much needed reforms within the media industry to represent them more equitably. A new campaign launched by the Women’s Media Forum Pakistan is calling first on press clubs, unions, and media news outlets to genuinely commit to a ‘change agenda’ at all levels.
Regional
South Korea, Japan, and China share similar issues with entrenched gender norms regarding childcare and employment, which are being reflected in their plunging birthrates.
A South Korean court's ruling that ordered Japan to compensate 16 World War II-era sex slaves has been "finalized" because Tokyo did not appeal, Seoul's foreign ministry has said.
Not Asia-Pacific-specific, but a good read on why women hate the contraceptive pill.
South Korea
How Korean women are rejecting marriage while reimagining what family means in an increasingly lonely, ageing society.
Vanuatu
ActionAid’s Flora Vano attended at COP28 for the critical global climate negotiations, representing women and Pacific communities. She shares her experiences from the first week.