Solidaritas #138
Gender equality remains omnipresent in South Korea's June election
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 Indonesia: it says ‘Ratify the Draft Law on the Elimination of Sexual Violence’.
If you like Solidaritas, I’d be thrilled if you chose to support this newsletter by becoming a free or paid subscriber (just US$/5month!):
In solidarity,
- Kate
Australia
The re-elected Labor Party government has achieved a striking gender equality milestone following its election for a second term: for the first time in Australian history, there will be more women than men in federal cabinet. So, is the job done?
New research based on interviews with 80 female prisoners in Western Australia reveals most of these women were ‘criminalised’ by circumstances outside their control - including family violence - before they became offenders. Researchers describe this as a vicious cycle pushing women into prison.
Bangladesh
China’s embassy in Bangladesh has warned its citizens to avoid the “misguided notion” of “buying a foreign wife” through online matchmaking scams. It said that individuals involved in illegal marriages risked being arrested for human trafficking.
India
Banu Mushtaq’s book ‘Heart Lamp’ is a collection of short stories, translated by Deepa Bhasthi, that shines a light on the lives of Muslim women in rural India. It has now won the Booker Prize. It is the first time that the prize has been won by a book translated from Kannada, a language of south India spoken by between 50 and 80 million people.
How the Women’s Premier League cricket is powering India’s sporting revolution.
Japan
Impact’s ‘The Evidence’ newsletter takes a look at who gets to flourish, with a focus on Japan, where women report flourishing significantly more than men:
The countries with the largest gender gaps in reported wellbeing are Brazil and Japan. In Japan, women report flourishing significantly more than men. In Brazil, the opposite is true. So what might explain the striking gender differences in Brazil and Japan?
I spoke to researchers based in each country to try to understand the roots of these differences – are they due to cultural norms, psychological factors, economic inequality, or something else?
Malaysia
ASEAN’s first Women’s Economic Empowerment Centre (AWES) will be established in Kuala Lumpur.
Myanmar
Myanmar’s junta has intensified restrictions on free expression since the military coup in 2021. Last year, the junta jailed at least 10 writers for their expression, but, for many, despite the risks, writing remains a tool to resist the violence of the dictatorship. In Women’s Voices from the Revolution—an anthology published by ALTSEAN-Burma that features 40 pieces by participants of their Women Writers Workshops—Myanmar women showcase how literature can be harnessed as a powerful tool for restoration and healing.
The Philippines
Despite lingering taboos, more Filipina women are choosing to be child-free.
South Korea
South Korea heads to the polls on 3 June, and gender equality is a major issue. But although women took the lead in the protests against South Korea’s last president, the men running to replace him are saying little about the discrimination women face:
Young South Korean women are often dismissed by men as apolitical, but they were prominent in the movement to impeach former President Yoon Suk Yeol, whom they accused of encouraging contempt and even hatred for them. They were among the first to take to the streets to condemn Mr. Yoon’s short-lived imposition of martial law in December, enlivening large rallies with K-pop songs and glow sticks.
But as South Korea prepares to elect Mr. Yoon’s replacement on June 3, many women say their priorities — making the country safer and fairer for them — are taking a back seat, and not for the first time.
Vanuatu
Motarilavoa Hilda Lini, a pioneering Ni-Vanuatu politician, has died. Lini was the first woman to be elected to parliament in 1987 and went on to become the country's first female minister in 1991.