Solidaritas #43
Hospital birth rates fall in Nepal during COVID-19, and an assassination attempt against a female Afghan peace negotiator.
It’s been a very rainy fortnight here in Canberra, which is quite unusual for us. I’ve been spending a lot of time indoors, trying to wrap my head around the world and figure out what comes next (for me, for everyone). It’s Indonesian Independence Day today and I miss Indonesia very much. I hope you are all well, wherever you are.
For any editors out there reading this: I’m also available for freelance work on Indonesia and Australia right now! Gender and sexuality, human rights, environment, politics… Hit me up.
Also a quick fundraising effort shout out: Rinjani Women Adventures is a women-run guide company that leads hikers up Mt Rinjani in Lombok, Indonesia. Obviously they’ve been hit hard by COVID-19 with basically all their trips evaporating, so please donate if you can.
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
It’s all about peace talks this fortnight: Roya Rahmani wrote in Foreign Policy that women need to be centred in negotiations and any agreements that arise from them; negotiator Fawzia Koofi was reportedly shot in the arm during an assassination attempt; and Afghan women are speaking up about what they’re not willing to forgo for peace.
Australia
Australian men are reportedly increasingly using partner visas to control and threaten their foreign partners.
Indigenous female former prisoners are speaking out.
Queensland has become the first Australian state to ban gay conversion therapy.
Australia is currently experiencing a critical shortage of antidepressants, contraceptives, and HRT drugs.
Burma
The Burmese military will conduct an internal investigation into allegations that soldiers raped multiple women in Rakhine State.
Cambodia
A high-ranking Cambodian police official has been suspended from duties after four junior officers accused him of making them perform sex acts at work under the threat of blocking their progress in the police force.
China
Blind women in China are often encouraged to becoming masseuses because it is believed they are extra sensitive to touch. In reality, once entering the industry, they are vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse.
Hong Kong
Meet 23-year-old democracy activist Agnes Chow, whose supporters have nicknamed her “the real Mulan”.
India
Did men do more housework during COVID-19 lockdowns? Preliminary data shows, surprisingly, they did.
What’s it like being a woman in Modi’s ‘New India’?
Indonesia
75 years after independence, Dina Afrianty examines how women are faring in Indonesia.
Japan
Satsuko Thurlow survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and went on to dedicate her life to peace and nuclear disarmament.
Nepal
Advocates around the world have been highlighting the risk of COVID-19 to maternal health services since the pandemic began. Now, the first data has emerged and it appears to support these claims: the number of women giving birth in hospitals in Nepal has fallen by half.
Quarantine for Nepali migrant women returning home has been criticised as being unsafe. A women was gang raped in June while quarantining at an empty school, for example. Women for Human Rights has now set up a women-only quarantine centre for returning migrant workers.
New Zealand
11,000 New Zealanders lost their jobs between April and June; disconcertingly, over 10,000 of them were women.
Kiwi women are living longer than men but still earning less, putting retired women in positions of serious financial difficulty.
North Korea
Kim Jong-un has demanded that Japan apologise and pay reparations for the Korean women who were forced to become sex slaves during World War II. Probably the only time I’ll ever agree with Kim Jong-un!
Pakistan
Tinder is helping Pakistani women take more control of their sexuality.
Papua New Guinea
Facebook users in PNG say FB has repeatedly failed to remove explicit and child abuse content. One image of a naked young girl was shared to a public PNG FB page with more than 6,000 followers, leading to accusations that the company is not doing enough to stop abusive and harmful content in local languages.
A record number of women candidates are contesting polls in Bougainville this month. Whoever wins the general election will lead independence talks between PNG and Bouganville, which overwhelmingly voted to leave PNG in a 2019 referendum.
A short look at social media and intimate partner violence in PNG from DevPolicy.
The Philippines
A really interesting piece from BirdLife on the Philippines’ female forest defenders.
Regional
ASEAN has the world’s highest percentage of female prisoners. 80% of them are in jail on drug-related charges.
South Korea
South Korean authorities often encourage men to marry foreign women. Sadly, these women - mostly from Southeast Asia - often end up becoming victims of domestic violence.
High profile cases of sexual abuse and harassment continue to be revealed in South Korea. Will justice be served?
President Moon Jae-in has promised to do more to highlight the plight of World War II-era sex slaves.
Ryu Ho-jeong is 28 and the youngest member of South Korea’s national assembly. She was recently criticised for wearing a brightly coloured short dress to work. Yes, you read that correctly.
Taiwan
Another great article on Taiwan’s Digital Minister, Audrey Tang, this time from WIRED.
Thailand
Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul is one of the young women leading recent protests in Thailand. She and other protesters are demanding wide-reaching changes to the constitution and how the monarchy can use its power.
Thailand was the first Southeast Asian nation to give women the vote. Now it’s set to be the first to give legal recognition to same-sex unions.
Tonga
Domestic violence has risen dramatically in the last six months in Tonga, with 537 police reports being made. Only 99 cases have been prosecuted, however.