Solidaritas #130
In Bangladesh, Islamic groups force the cancellation of women’s football matches
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 week’s header image is of three women looking at the candidate list and preparing to vote in Jakarta, back in the presidential election in 2019.
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In solidarity,
- Kate
Afghanistan
The ICC chief prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for Taliban leaders over the persecution of women.
Women cricketers from Afghanistan have played an historic match in Melbourne against the Cricket Without Borders team. More than 20 members of the Afghanistan national team have been in Australia since 2021.
From a tiny television studio in Paris, 4,500 miles from Kabul, Begum TV beams a raft of programmes geared towards women and presented by female hosts 24 hours a day into homes across Afghanistan, even as women are being steadily erased from public life in the country.
Australia
Has sexual assault has effectively been decriminalised in Australia?
The numbers tell the story – Australia’s criminal justice system is failing victim-survivors of sexual assault.
While one in five women over the age of 15 has been sexually assaulted in their lifetime, almost 90% will not report to police. Of the women who do make a report, only a quarter will see their perpetrator charged. And even fewer will see their perpetrator plead guilty or be convicted. From decade to decade, the numbers don’t shift. …
After the #MeToo movement revealed the staggering prevalence of sexual violence, after the March4Justice women’s marches that swept across Australia in 2021, the reality is that justice for victims remains elusive within the criminal justice system.
Older women are being killed by family members in a hidden crisis. Fourteen women over the age of 55 were allegedly killed in domestic violence-related homicides in Australia last year.
Staying with older women: a growing number of women over 60 are hitting the road and enjoying the solo travelling life.
Bangladesh
A series of troubling incidents has seen Islamic groups threaten violence to force the cancellation of women’s football matches and store openings featuring Bangladeshi actresses. Al Jazeera has also covered the events.
Bhutan
A Mongabay report includes coverage from a Bhutanese fellow on how women experience climate change in Bhutan differently to men.
Cambodia
Cambodia will develop its first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.
China
An alleged victim of a Chinese PhD student who is accused of drugging and raping 10 women told police officers she felt "disgusting" after waking up at his south London flat, a trial has heard.
Sex toy stores in Chinese malls are challenging taboos around desire and pleasure.
Hong Kong
Meet three of Hong Kong’s top female chefs.
India
How 'blood money' could save an Indian nurse convicted of murder in Yemen.
On the need to better recognise the role of women in the making of the Indian republic.
The BJP is likely to have a higher representation of women in its organisational structures as it prepares for the implementation of the law reserving one-third of Lok Sabha and state assembly seats for women.
Rukmini Sen asks: why has the Indian public normalised hate speech against women in politics?
The Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched a new anti-child marriage campaign, aiming to reduce prevalence to below 5% by 2029.
Indonesia
Indonesia’s proposed social media restrictions risk alienating young users, particularly women, by cutting them off from vital online communities that shape their identities and provide support.
Japan
Japan’s elderly women are so lonely and struggling that some are choosing to go to jail instead.
Japan has hit back at CEDAW over its recommendation to revise the Imperial House Law. CEDAW recommended Japan revise the Law, which allows only male descendants from the paternal line of the imperial family to become emperor. Japan has now denied CEDAW access to the country's voluntary contributions to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Mongolia
Sukhjargalmaa Dugersuren, Head of the National Gender Experts’ Group at the National Committee on Gender Equality of Mongolia, shares some important observations about the social and economic situation in Mongolia, the role of women in society and culture, and the challenges they face amid global climate change.
Myanmar
Myanmar’s junta has started the process of drafting women for military service by registering women from Yangon.
Regional
What Australia could learn from the Philippines about dignity in women’s prisons.
Samoa
Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, Samoa’s first female Prime Minister, emerged from Parliament on 21 January 2025 with her leadership intact, despite deep divisions within the ruling FAST Party and significant political upheaval.
South Korea
South Korea has the world’s lowest fertility rates, but an uptick in pandemic-postponed marriages has sparked optimism for family growth.
How women are fighting back against deepfakes in South Korea.
The country’s first lady, Kim Keon-hee, has been accused of corruption and stock price manipulation; now she is being blamed for the political downfall of her husband, Yoon Suk-yeol.
Thailand
The law allowing same-sex marriage in Thailand has finally come into force! 🎉🎉 The Guardian has some beautiful pictures.
The British husband of a Thai woman whose body was found in the Yorkshire Dales more than 20 years ago has been arrested on suspicion of her murder.
Three Thai women have been rescued after being lured into a human-egg harvesting scheme operated by ‘Chinese gangsters’ in Georgia.
Vanuatu
Against all odds one woman has secured a seat in Vanuatu's 52-member parliament: Marie Louis Paulette Milne was one of only seven women among 216 election candidates. Her husband was formerly prime minister.
Vietnam
Vietnam’s birthrate in 2024 has fallen to an estimated 1.91 children per woman, the lowest in the country's history, marking a significant departure from the traditional belief that the Year of the Dragon, considered auspicious, would lead to a rise in births.
Are government connections protecting perpetrators of sexual assault?