Solidaritas #141
South Korea's new PM faces massive structural gender inequality challenges
Good afternoon!
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.
Thanks for your patience! I took a break last month while I went on holiday for two weeks.
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I’ve decided I’m going to be changing this newsletter into a paid only newsletter. This means, as of 1 September, you will only be able to read the full newsletter if you subscribe. However, citizens of Asian and Pacific nations will still be able to receive the newsletter for free - just respond to this newsletter via email (just click ‘reply’) and I’ll add you as a subscriber.
In solidarity,
- Kate
Afghanistan
What does Afghanistan’s future look like without women?
With girls banned from high schools and universities, a free educational radio service called Radio Begum somehow continues thanks to a group of brave women and men.
More than 1.8 million Afghans have been forced to return to Afghanistan this year from Pakistan, Iran, and Turkiye.
Aotearoa New Zealand
A recent poll found that young women are significantly more likely to identify as ‘left-wing’ or ‘progressive’ than their male peers, and, compared to older cohorts, the gap between young men and women is significantly wider.
Australia
Australia has climbed from 24th to 13th place in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report. It’s the country’s highest-ever ranking.
A new study has found that Australia’s gender earnings gap could be halved if the long hours often worked by men were reined in.
A mass recruitment campaign has been launched by University of Sydney to encourage more women academics to engineering, where less than one in five of the faculty’s academics are women.
Australia’s 48th parliament has a record 112 women members. Ten of those women are independents.
Bangladesh
Five female activists talk about their lives since former PM Sheikh Hasina was ousted, and discuss how the country can secure lasting change for women’s rights.
In coastal Bangladesh, natural disasters take twice the toll on women.
US-imposed tariffs will significantly impact garment factory workers in South Asia, two-thirds of whom are women.
China
China's government will offer cash subsidies to parents with children under the age of three, following three years of population decline.
A Chinese Telegram group with hundreds of thousands of male members has been uncovered as sharing photos of women taken without their consent, including sexual photos.
India
Meet the community health workers protecting pregnant women from dangerous heat in Delhi.
Embedded in India’s economic success is an ongoing contradiction: persistent gender inequality that undermines both the sustainability and inclusiveness of growth.
Indonesia
Indonesian authorities have arrested 285 people for suspected drug trafficking, with investigators particularly warning women to be more vigilant when forming relationships "in the real world and in cyberspace".
Japan
A record 42 women have been elected to Japan’s upper house, representing an impressive one-third of all seats.
Are grandmothers-for-hire an answer to Japan’s loneliness epidemic?:
Grandmother-for-hire services allow people to experience what it is like to have an older woman care for them in a maternal way, for as little as $60 a visit. They also provide a work opportunity in a society that usually does not value the skills and experience of older women.
Ms Kaji said she wanted to find a job to keep her busy after her dog died. The only option she could find for a woman at her age was to be a cleaner.
That was until her daughter came across a company that hired older women to play the role of grandmother for strangers.
Laos
Japan’s embassy in Laos and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a rare and unusually direct advisory, warning Japanese men against “buying sex from children” in Laos.
Malaysia
Systemic challenges continue to face women in accessing menstrual care in Malaysia, including inadequate education, social discrimination, and even misdiagnoses at health facilities. One academic says it’s so bad, that:
… some girls in rural areas would rather get pregnant than deal with menstruation due to the cost and stigma.
Myanmar
Myanmar military courts have sentenced a dozen individuals — including five Chinese nationals — to life in prison for multiple cases of trafficking Myanmar women into forced marriages in China.
Pakistan
Nine men, including the victim’s father and ex-husband, have been arrested for the murder of an 18-year-old woman in Rawalpindi after a council of elders ordered her death.
Papua New Guinea
A new archaelogical study about PNG sea trade discovered a fascinating gender difference: while men traded wares, women traded knowledge.
South Korea
South Korea has a new president, and many women were hopeful that he would help the country finally tackle gender inequality. Two months into his leadership, however, huge structural issues remain.