Solidaritas #136
Australian election: lack of serious commitment to ending 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 week’s header photo was taken in Melaka, Malaysia, about 10 years ago (!).
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In solidarity,
- Kate
Afghanistan
The Taliban have followed through on decrees aimed at erasing women from public life in the country and restricting their freedom of movement, the UN mission to the country said in its latest human rights report covering the first quarter of 2025.
Aotearoa/New Zealand
A populist party in New Zealand’s governing coalition has introduced a bill to parliament that if enacted would define women and men by their biology, preventing trans women and men being recognised by law.
Australia
Tomorrow is election day in Australia, so the two major parties have been talking up their plans to combat gender-based violence. While it’s great to see this level of attention, how do their commitments actually stack up? The Conservation and ABC both have analysis, with the following from GBV experts Kate Fitz-Gibbon and Hayley Boxall writing for The Conversation:
Neither represent a commitment to ending gender-based violence. They both propose a patchwork of largely reactive initiatives. These will fail to deliver holistic reform to prevent violence and to intervene early enough to meaningfully reduce it.
A new report shows two-thirds of young men in Australia are turning to masculinity influencers, and it's having an impact on their mental health. Of those who regularly engage, 27% feel "worthlessness" while watching the content.
Meanwhile, a Brisbane couple could face prosecution after they admitted to using a commercial surrogacy service to have a baby abroad. Commercial surrogacy arrangements are illegal in Australia, with Queensland residents also banned from doing it overseas.
The Australia Strategic Policy Institute discusses how Australia is advancing gender equality in the Indo-Pacific.
China
At China’s 2025 Two Sessions, women’s rights received minimal attention despite the government announcing a global summit on gender equality later in the year. While female representation in the National People’s Congress has increased slightly, actual advocacy is declining, with fewer gender-focused proposals and little in the way of new commitments.
The ever-growing list of government pro-natalist initiatives at local and national levels has so far failed to slow China’s demographic changes. For many men and women, marriage and child bearing remain too costly, despite new financial incentives.
Fiji
A call for action into the ongoing issue of domestic violence in Fiji has prompted an investigation after three people died and one woman was admitted to hospital. The ABC also has an audio discussion with Shamima Ali, the Coordinator for Fiji Women's Crisis Centre, here.
Hong Kong
In the past, women were not allowed to become lion dancers. The lion and dragon costumes were holy items. All-female troupe Kwok’s Girls are challenging the norm.
India
As climate change intensifies, millions of India’s home-based women workers face worsening heat, unsafe homes, and policy neglect—pushing their fragile livelihoods to the edge.
As India continues to evolve economically, the role of women in the workforce becomes more crucial than ever. But are its labour laws catching up to the reality of working women’s lives?
Indian startups continue to show significant gender disparity, with women holding only 7% of top executive roles across 121 unicorns.
Indonesia
How the revised Armed Forces Law could harm civic and women's rights.
Japan
Japanese law requires married couples to share a surname. But there are signs that things could be changing: a new survey found that a rising percentage of lawmakers – about 44% – back a system that would allow for dual surnames.
Professor Mari Miura compares gender gaps at the global level, and discusses efforts to address Japan’s gender gap in politics.
Malaysia
How night markets are a vital economic lifeline for women across Malaysia.
Pakistan
Women-only tours have become a runaway hit. (video)
The Philippines
The Philippines has achieved high levels of female representation in its national legislature, largely driven by dynastic succession of term-limited male politicians by wives, daughters and sisters. Research suggests women lawmakers are much more likely than male counterparts to back progressive legislation on gender issues, regardless of their dynastic status.
Regional
In India’s Jammu and Kashmir, police have begun deporting Pakistani nationals, many of whom have lived in India for over three decades — with homes, families, and no place to return to across the border. Many of them are Pakistani women who married Indian men but never applied for Indian citizenship.
Singapore
Women’s participation in the 2025 General Election has reached a new high, with 53 women candidates contesting, up from 40 in 2020.
South Korea
A South Korean court has ordered the Japanese government to pay compensation to the son of a former World War II sex slave over her treatment in military brothels.
Sri Lanka
Proposals to revise Sri Lanka’s abortion law fail to meet human rights:
The proposed amendment is far too narrow. Limiting access to abortion solely on the grounds of fatal fetal abnormalities does not address the broader reality of why women seek abortions, including cases of rape, incest, lack of access to contraception, economic hardship or simply the choice not to continue a pregnancy.