Solidaritas #42
#MeToo in the Maldives, women's T10 cricket in Fiji, and a pro-democracy couple protests (and gets arrested) together in Hong Kong
It’s August. How is everyone feeling? I hope you are all doing okay. A special shout-out to people in lockdown or who are separated from their loved ones. We’ll get through this.
I’d like to make a newsletter recommendation this week: my Twitter buddy Ian Morse has just launched a newsletter about clean energy and making sure that dirty mining doesn’t ruin it. It’s called Green Rocks and it’s pretty fascinating. His latest post is about the Ecosocial Pact from the Global South, which is a sort of Global South Green New Deal. Give it a read!
As always, if you’re enjoying Solidaritas, paid subscriptions are available for US$5/month or much much cheaper at US$40/year. Thank you so much for your support!
-Kate
Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, women are often referred to as the mother, daughter or sister of the eldest male in the family. Saying a woman’s name in public is generally considered inappropriate. But now, the “Where is My Name?” campaign aims to change this.
Women taking up leadership roles in government offices and law enforcement agencies in Afghanistan are still facing daily abuse, harassment, and physical attacks.
Young Afghans, especially women, are fighting to change the way the country talks about life, death, and freedom.
Australia
For at least two years, sexual assault complaints were being sent to an unmonitored Western Australia Police Force email address, WA Today reveals.
Melbourne University has announced it will not be taking any action against an Indonesian student on an Australian Government scholarship who was accused of sexually assaulting tens of women in both Australia and Indonesia.
Homelessness is a growing problem for older Australian women.
Bangladesh
The Asian University for Women runs a free degree program called Pathways to Promise, aiming to support women to become industry leaders and reform worker’s rights in sectors like garment factories and tea plantations.
Cambodia
Cambodian women are becoming more involved in pro-democracy activism. Sok Bolima’s husband was arrested for sharing COVID-19 information on Facebook, so she has been standing outside court houses and embassies every Friday since, hoping that someone will help her and her husband. "I say it again and again, I will resist until I die in front of the court,” she told ABC.
A new law may ban ‘offensive’ clothing in Cambodia, in what the government claims is a move to protect traditions. Understandably, human rights activists are worried that the law will be used to crack down on freedom of expression.
China
Many of the world’s biggest fashion brands are complicit in the forced labour of Uighur people in Xinjiang, says a coalition of more than 180 human rights groups.
Also on Xinjiang: Uighur women in exile are beginning to speak out about how they were subjected to forced sterilisation.
Fiji
Fiji recently started its own short-form T10 cricket competition for women’s teams, the Women’s Bula Bash League.
Also in sport, a former rugby star was sentenced in 2018 to eight years prison (six years non-parole period) for raping a young woman. Last week, he was reportedly seen in public, training with a rugby team. Activists are asking why he is receiving preferential treatment.
Hong Kong
Young couple Elaine To and Henry Tong are both active in the Hong Kong pro-democracy protest movement. This is the story of how they handled their arrests and prepared to be separated.
India
India’s girls are struggling to continue their education during the pandemic. There is a huge gender gap in access to technology, for starters, not to mention the rural/urban divide and income inequality. Further complicating is that many parents don’t want their daughters using technology. Sarita Santoshini takes a really good look at the situation for Foreign Policy.
Meet the women behind Oruma, Kerala’s first canteen run by trans women.
India’s female labour force participation rate is the lowest in South Asia, and it’s continuing to fall. In 1990, 30% of Indian women worked outside the home. Now, it’s just 20% (and that’s before COVID-19…).
Indonesia
The prolonged violence and inequality in Indonesia's easternmost provinces are taking a particularly hard toll on women, increasing the risk of them becoming victims of domestic violence and hampering their empowerment, Papuan rights activists say. (Disclaimer: The organisation I am involved with arranged this webinar.)
Sexual abuse victims of the Catholic Church in Indonesia , as with many victims around the world, are yet to see justice for the crimes committed against them.
Bride kidnapping in Sumba is a long-held local tradition, but slowly, people are begining to speak out against the practice, calling for its abolition.
Two women in Aceh were publicly whipped for online prostitution.
Japan
Schools across Japan closed in April and May due to COVID-19, and a survey has revealed that women disproportionately took on the burden of housework and childcare. 78% of women said they had reduced their free time, compared to just 47% of men.
The Maldives
“I Was Sexually Harassed By a Senior Advisor to the Maldives President. This is My Story.” A very brave journalist speaks out.
Nepal
An absolutely horrific story of how 17 Nepali women were tricked, abused, and exploited by a Bangladeshi man in the UAE while on their way to jobs in Kuwait and Iraq. A complex tale that doesn’t seem to have been resolved yet - three of the women escaped but the others are believed to be still being held captive.
And in a similar story, 41 Nepali women have been rescued and returned from India during the pandemic, showing that even COVID-19 has not stopped traffickers.
North Korea
North Korean defectors who are forcibly returned face the risk of torture and sexual abuse.
An 18-year-old man has been arrested after he stabbed and killed his stepfather for repeatedly raping his sister and beating his mother. Hopefully the judges will be compassionate and take the situation into account.
Pakistan
Young women are becoming involved in the fight for justice for those who have been disappeared by the government, the military, and insurgents.
Papua New Guinea
PNG is not safe for women: “a statement that spoke to the truth of how we as Papua New Guinean women feel on a daily basis living in a country that is beautiful but sadly not safe,” writes Geejay Milli.
Singapore
A National University of Singapore student who strangled his ex-girlfriend when she refused to get back together with him was sentenced to a short detention order for 12 days. The judge said the man was young and unlikely to re-offend; his victim was predictably unimpressed with the sentence. (via Kirsten Han’s we, the citizens)
Taiwan
Taiwan’s only museum dedicated to former sex slaves of the Japanese armed forces will close in November due to financial difficulties.
Vietnam
A rare piece of good news: rates of human trafficking in Vietnam have fallen 31% year-on-year for the first six months of 2020.