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 mung bean cakes being sold by a street vendor in Bangkok, in the shape of roses and tiny vegetables. I could eat these all day.
If you like Solidaritas, I’d be thrilled if you chose to support the newsletter by becoming a paid subscriber for just US$5 a month:
In solidarity,
- Kate
Afghanistan
The Taliban is reportedly finalising a plan to block access to Facebook in Afghanistan. Many Afghans rely on Facebook for unfiltered information and, particularly for women and girls, to continue their pursuit of an education denied to them by the Taliban.
Australia
Six people, including five women, were killed at a shopping mall in Sydney by a man with a knife. Police are investigating whether he specifically targeted women, as witnesses say the man avoided other men and went after women.
Big news: a federal judge has found that, on balance of probabilities, Bruce Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.
Patients are struggling to access non-hormonal copper IUDs amid confusion over supply.
Why are there so few women in positions of political leadership in Australia?
Bangladesh
As rising sea levels and extreme weather contaminate drinking water sources, doctors are seeing alarming numbers of pregnant Bangladeshi women with serious health problems including pre-eclampsia.
China
Disparity between men and women in China more than doubled in terms of hours worked and widened by nearly 30 per cent in terms of pay in 2020, new research shows.
Almost two-thirds of outbound Chinese travellers are women, with the majority aged under 30.
Fashion retailer Shein is facing a boycott among Muslim women amid allegations of Uyghur forced labor.
Hong Kong
How does the Hong Kong National Security Law further complicate women’s rights advocacy?
India
How are women faring in the Modi years? Well, more girls are in high school, more women are accessing maternal healthcare, but few women are in the labourforce, and many of those who are working are engaged in low-quality poorly paid work.
A photo essay on Indian women being trained to fly fertiliser-spraying aircraft under a government-backed program.
Indonesia
A photo essay of bajaj (tuk tuk/autorickshaw) driver and single mother, Ekawati, at work in Jakarta.
Trans women face unique challenges as the climate changes, encountering additional difficulties in earning a living.
Japan
Japanese law is finally set to allow joint custody of children, but some parents worry nothing will change in practice.
Laos
A 30-second video, shot in an undisclosed location in Laos, went viral late last month after it was posted to Facebook, highlighting the dangers facing Hmong women, who are often targeted for trafficking.
South Korea
South Korea went to the polls, and the gender gap between men and women appears to have held:
Compared to democracies with longer histories, South Korea's political gender divide is a relatively recent phenomenon. But it has progressed fast.
Polling expert Jeong Han-wool, who heads the firm Research Institute of Korean People, first noticed the rift during the preceding administration of liberal President Moon Jae-in, who vowed to become a "feminist president."
"Conservative attitudes started to appear, especially among men in their 20s, first over gender issues. And then they proceeded to anti-Democratic Party, anti-liberal positions," he says.
Jeong attributes the divergence of opinions on gender issues to South Korea's rapid political and social development.
Thailand
Thailand is set to enshrine marriage rights for people of any gender, in what will be a first for any Southeast Asian nation. Some LGBTIQ+ activists are worried about discrimination, though, and say the law could be strengthened.
Vietnam
Truong My Lan, the woman behind Vietnam’s largest ever fraud case, has been sentenced to death, after she was convicted of taking out US$44 billion in loans from the Saigon Commercial Bank. She is one of very few women in Vietnam to ever be sentenced to death for a white collar crime.