Solidaritas #116
Solomon Islands elects three women to national parliament, and Australia protests GBV
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 Mt Merapi, one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, located near the city of Yogyakarta. I was fortunate to finally be able to go back to Indonesia in mid-April, and this was the view I woke up to every morning.
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
A new documentary film highlights Afghan women’s immense bravery in engaging in peace talks with the Taliban.
Married at 10, abused and forced to flee without her children, and now in exile in Iran, 26-year-old Afghan Mahtab Eftekhar describes facing motherhood at 12 and explains why seeking justice for other women means she no longer fears death.
Australia
There was a 30% increase in the number of women killed by their intimate partners in 2021. And with over 30 women killed by men in Australia so far this year, a series of protests have been held across the country, including in Canberra, where the Prime Minister addressed the crowd. This morning, the nation's leaders are meeting virtually to discuss the national crisis of male violence against women. ABC takes a look at what survivors want.
The family of murdered woman Molly Ticehurst is calling for 'Molly's Law' to monitor alleged domestic violence offenders released on bail.
Bangladesh
After the trauma of losing their spouses to the Sundarbans’ great predator - the tiger - widowed women are often cast out by their superstitious communities. But they are coming together to rebuild their lives:
In the Sundarbans, on the southern coast of Bangladesh, an estimated 300 people and 46 tigers have been killed in human-tiger conflict since 2000… But it is not only tigers that face an existential threat. More than 3.5 million people live on the edge of the Sundarbans, eking out an existence by fishing, collecting honey or wood, and subsistence farming. More than 40% of households are below the poverty line, but the climate emergency has made life here even harder…
As a result, desperate villagers are often left with little choice but to venture deeper into the forest, making them more vulnerable to tiger attacks. The intensive exploitation of the forest is also forcing tigers to leave the forest in search of food, targeting livestock and humans.
Cambodia
New research has linked prenatal exposure to deforestation in Cambodia to child stunting and anemia among women.
China
After decades of forcing Chinese couples to limit themselves to just one child, Beijing has now reversed course and is urging people to have more babies. But the population is still in decline: In 2014, 14.6 million babies were born in China, but last year, it was only nine million.
Xiaohongshu - what we might refer to as ‘China’s Instagram’ - has become the go-to platform for young women to discuss everything from careers and fashion to domestic violence. But some posts on controversial topics such as egg freezing are still being deleted.
Fiji
An average of 6 women have been killed every year for the past 10 years in Fiji from ongoing cases of domestic violence.
Hong Kong
Transgender activist Harry Tse recently received a new ID card reflecting his gender change, after a years-long legal battle to change the document. Previously, Tse was not able to make the change because he did not undergo full gender-affirmation surgery.
India
By offering women norm-compliant ways to engage with politics, Narenda Modi’s ruling BJP has reversed its historic disadvantage with women.
Meanwhile, a new report has found that there are more than 150 labour laws that restrict women’s workforce participation in India.
Only 33% of Indian women were active in the labour market, compared with around 50% of women globally and 37% in neighbouring Bangladesh. Can women-only factories help more Indian women into work? Electric-scooter manufacturer Ola is trying to find out.
Japan
A major change in Japanese law will allow divorced parents to share custody of children. Related: Japan is the only country in the world where it is illegal for spouses to use different surnames.
Myanmar
Young people are fleeing the country or hastily arranging shotgun weddings to avoid conscription.
North Korea
How Kim Jong Un is using the rise of women to maintain his grip on power.
Papua New Guinea
In some parts of Highlands PNG, law enforcement and health officials say they are being confronted with more sorcery accusation-related violence (SARV) cases than they are used to, and fear that belief in sorcery is spreading closer to village centres. Women are particularly frequently accused of sorcery, and are often violently attacked, leaving them physically disabled.
The Philippines
Filipino migrant workers in Poland allege they have experienced wage theft, salary deductions, and passport confiscation.
Regional
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans in Pakistan face forcible deportation even after they were officially registered – including women, journalists and others especially vulnerable to repression by the Taliban.
Solomon Islands
Last month’s election has resulted in the election of five women at the provincial level and three at the national parliament. (audio)
Sri Lanka
Thousands of rural women in Sri Lanka are trapped in debt cycles, with some even being encouraged by lenders to engage in sex to pay off their debts.
Vietnam
Vietnam has become the third country in the Association of South East Asian Nations to adopt a national action plan for the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, promoting meaningful inclusion of women in peace and security decision-making.