Solidaritas #39
International birth control supply chain struggles in the face of COVID-19 lockdowns
It’s cold and windy here in Canberra this weekend. I hope you’re somewhere warm.
As always, if you’re enjoying Solidaritas, paid subscriptions are available for US$5/month or much much cheaper at US$40/year. Have a lovely weekend.
Afghanistan
When lockdown closed these women’s street food selling businesses, they quickly adapted their carts into mini disinfection units to tackle COVID-19.
Australia
Aboriginal community leaders are calling for answers after a baby girl died in Katherine, Northern Territory, after her mother was in police custody.
The Domestic Violence Resource Centre of Victoria (DVRCV) on reconciliation and family violence, and how we might go about healing the trauma.
The government temporarily introduced free childcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. They’re now controversially removing it and returning to the previous subsidy-based system.
Once again demonstrating that family violence is not a ‘poor people’s problem’, wealthy Sydney suburbs have been reporting alarming increases in cases. Relatedly, a new parliamentary inquiry will be held into domestic violence, announced just two weeks after a Senate inquiry was closed early.
1300 women with pelvic mesh devices won a seven-year legal battle against Johnson & Johnson last year, but they are yet to receive any compensation.
Female journalists say they feel “violated” by a sexist forum that posts personal images and lewd comments about women in the Australian media industry.
Bangladesh
Rubaiyat Hussein’s new film is called Made in Bangladesh. It’s a fictional look at factory workers and their attempts to unionise in response to dangerous working conditions. Sounds like one to look out for.
NPR also takes a look at Bangaldesh’s factory workers and how for many, hunger is a bigger threat than COVID-19.
Cambodia
A 30-year-old woman who makes bags for international brands was jailed for two months after expressing her fears about how her factory might lay off workers due to coronavirus. Initial charges laid against her that she had posted fake news and defamed the factory. She has been temporarily released from prison while her case is ongoing.
China
An academic has suggested that China can resolve its significant gender imbalance by allowing women to take multiple husbands.
Fiji
The price of sanitary products like pads has skyrocketed in Fiji and other Pacific Island nations, with international transportation interrupted due to COVID-19.
India
Women were already dropping out of the Indian labour force in high numbers in recent years. Now, coronavirus lockdowns and a looming economic slump threaten their status and wellbeing even further.
How are Kashmiri fisherwomen coping with climate change and development?
Indonesia
A man has killed his 16-year-old younger sister in South Sulawesi in what is being described as Indonesia’s ‘first honour killing’.
Japan
PM Shinzo Abe has long professed a pro-women policy referred to as ‘Womenomics’, but COVID-19 looks set to unravel much of the progress.
Malaysia
Malaysian Twitter has been ablaze with accusations of and discussions about sexual harassment over the last few days.
New Zealand
The NZ government has launched a new campaign about various ‘online harms’ like online bullying and porn called Keep It Real Online. It includes a quite amusing video where two porn stars turn up on a young boy’s doorstep to teach him about consent and how porn is different from real life relationships.
Papua New Guinea
Debbie Kaore, a gold-medal-winning athlete, released a video of herself being brutally beaten with a clothes iron by her then-partner. She did so to push forward the discussion about domestic violence in PNG, she says. Academics and activists believe that reported cases of VAW are just the tip of the iceberg.
The Philippines
Over 3,700 cases of violence against women were reported since many urban areas of the Philippines went into COVID-19 lockdown.
The dark side of the Philippines’ popular beauty pageants revealed: drugs, sex, and social isolation.
Regional
The coronavirus pandemic has showed that there are major problems with the international birth control supply chain, with many products such as condoms suddenly hard to find in many countries.
Singapore
A 35-year-old man described as the country’s most prolific upskirter has been jailed for two years and three months after secretly taking nearly 1,400 videos of women and children over 13 years using his mobile phone and other devices.
An interview with Nicole Lim, the woman behind Something Private, a Singaporean podcast about women’s sexual health.
Sri Lanka
There are now more women than men in Sri Lanka. But has this demographic change brought more recognition of women’s rights?
Sex workers are particularly struggling with the economic impact of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka.
South Korea
The criticism of the outsized role played by the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan continues.
Thailand
Two cases of sexual assault against school girls in northern Thailand are causing intense discussions around patriarchy and gender-based violence in the country. Even PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has vowed maximum punishment if the allegations are proven to be true.
Pro-choice groups are moving to have an entire section in the Criminal Code revoked in order to uphold the right to legal abortion as well as protect medical personnel from legal action.
Tonga
Tonga's Chief Justice has stated that sexual offences against minors are "alarmingly prevalent" in the country.
Vanuatu
What is the role of ni-Vanuatu women in post-disaster economic recovery? New research spoke to female market vendors to find out more.
Vietnam
Vietnam’s society is aging, and an increasing number of elderly people are finding themselves abandoned by their families as the financial and emotional burdens of looking after them become too heavy. Some elderly women are finding safe places to live in shelters run by nuns.