Solidaritas #54
Rape allegations rock Aus parliament, and Nepal proposes women must get male guardian's permission to travel overseas
Good morning!
I hope you are doing okay, wherever you are in the world and whatever it is you’re going through right now.
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- Kate
Afghanistan
Has the US learnt anything about how to best support Afghan women?
In most countries, more men than women experience tuberculosis. Not in Afghanistan, where women make up the majority of TB sufferers.
Australia
Australia’s currently biggest political scandal continues. A fourth woman has made an allegation about the man accused of raping former staffer Brittany Higgins inside Parliament House, plus rape allegations have been made against a senior government minister (the rape occurred in 1988 when they were teenagers). The woman who made the allegations sadly committed suicide last year, making police investigations difficult if not impossible. Two thirds of Australians now believe the government is more interested in protecting itself than in protecting women.
A woman a week is killed in Australia. Has the federal government just accepted that GBV is a part of life?
A Melbourne ashram ‘guru’ has been accused of sexually abusing multiple women.
A petition signed by hundreds of women alleging they were harassed or abused while at high school has led to new calls for better sex education for teenagers.
How do we change the workplace culture of sexual harassment?
An increasing number of Australian women are choosing to enter vocational trades such as construction.
Bangladesh
A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced Saudi woman Ayesha al-Jizani to death for killing her Bangladeshi domestic worker, Abiron Begum, in March 2019.
Burma
Meet some of the amazing women leading the anti-coup protests.
China
A Beijing divorce court has delivered a landmark ruling, ordering a man to compensate his wife for the housework she did during their marriage. The woman will receive 50,000 yuan (US$7,700) for five years of unpaid labour.
Men in China are allowed to freeze their sperm, yet women cannot freeze their eggs. What gives?
A think tank has proposed that ‘leftover’ urban women be married off to rural men to help solve China’s marriage problems. What could possibly go wrong? /sarcasm.
Fiji
Gender-based violence has surged in Fiji since the pandemic lockdown began. One hotline experienced a 300% increase in calls for help.
India
Journalist Priya Ramani accused a government minister of sexual harassment, so he took her to court for defamation. She’s now been acquitted of all charges.
Uttarakhand becomes first Indian state to give co-ownership rights to women in their husband’s ancestral property.
Inspired by the ongoing farmers’ protests, India’s women farmers are taking the opportunity to resume voicing their own demands.
90% of survey respondents claim they have felt discriminated against based on their looks during arranged marriage matchmaking processes.
Only 7% of urban women have paid jobs.
Indonesia
The government wants to cut Indonesia’s total fertility rate from 2.26 to just 2.1.
Japan
Female suicide rates increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party wants more women to attend its meetings. The only catch? They’re not allowed to talk.
Nepal
The Nepali Department of Immigration is proposing that all Nepali women under the age of 40 would have to get permission from their male ‘guardian’ to travel overseas. They claim it’s to reduce exploitation and forced labour. Sure…
New Zealand
The Mana Wahine Kaupapa Inquiry hearings began in early February, investigating claims regarding violations of the crown that have led to injustices against Māori women across social, physical, spiritual, economic, political and cultural dimensions.
Pakistan
Four women running women’s vocational training workshops were killed in a gun attack in North Waziristan.
Regional
A Singaporean woman has pleaded guilty to culpable homicide for the torture, starving, and killing of Piang Ngaih Don, the 24-year-old Burmese domestic worker she employed.
WRI on five lessons for securing women’s collective land rights.
South Korea needs to acknowledge and deal with allegations of sexual violence against Vietnamese women during the Vietnam War.
Vietnamese authorities have reportedly rescued several babies who were to be trafficked to China.
South Korea
COVID-19 has had a disproportionate effect on South Korea’s women, widening the country’s already large gender gap.
Could Seoul soon elect its first female mayor?
North Korean defector, Jang Jin-sung, author of “Dear Leader” and now in South Korea, has been accused of sexual assault by two women, including a fellow defector. He has threatened to sue for defamation.
Timor-Leste
Xanana Gusmao’s recent contrived jovial participation in the birthday celebrations of self-professed paedophile and defrocked foreign priest Richard Daschbach has shocked many of his supporters.
Tonga
Tongan women in NZ talk about the importance of making ngatu, or bark cloth.
