Solidaritas #67
This fortnight's good news: The Philippines raises the age of consent from 12 to 16
Good afternoon!
The sun is shining, the flowers are blossoming, the cat is yowling at the back door because he wants to be outside…. ah, spring.
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Take care,
Kate
Afghanistan
What it’s like to give birth under the Taliban.
More than 220 female judges are in hiding due to fear of retribution from both the people they prosecuted and the Taliban.
Female martial arts practitioners and other sportswomen are now forced to exercise and practice in private.
Salima Mazani was one of only three female district governors when the Taliban resumed power, and an outspoken one at that. She speaks about how she escaped.
Australia
Australian women have long been under-represented in parliament. Although the country was the first in the world to give women the right to stand for election, Australia currently ranks 56th in the world for female representation. The Conversation explores why this is the case.
Bangladesh
New research shows the vast majority of Bangladeshi women have never used a computer or the internet: 96% of rural women and 87% of urban women in Bangladesh have never used a computer, while 87% and 77% respectively have never used the Internet.
Bhutan
A woman has filed a complaint over sexual harassment at the Bhutan Power Company. The complaint took one week to reach the CEO and no inspection has begun yet.
China
ABC Australia explores the differences in opinions and approaches within the Chinese feminist movement.
Historically, abortions have been available on demand in China. Now, faced with demographic problems, the Chinese government wants to reduce “not medically necessary” abortions.
Fiji
72% of Fijian women have experience some form of gender-based violence in their lifetimes.
India
The recent appointments of three female judges to the top court, and reports that one of them - Justice BV Nagarathna - could one day become India's first female chief justice, is being hailed as an historic moment.
Women’s rights icon Kamla Bhasin has passed away.
Japan
Japan is one of only 11 countries that require married women to gain consent from their husbands for abortions, and women’s health campaigners are urging the government to change the law.
Malaysia
Officials are considering banning transgender people from entering mosques and other religious compounds.
57% of Malaysian women have experienced verbal street harassment, a new survey shows.
Myanmar
In Sagaing, conflict between local groups and the government is creating new dangers for women:
Thandar Aye, a women’s rights activist who works in the Sagaing region and neighbouring Chin State, told Al Jazeera that soldiers commonly harass women verbally…
Women in the region avoid leaving their homes even during the day due to concern that soldiers could sexually assault them. “Women cannot go out freely,” she said. “Most women are just staying inside their houses and facing food shortages.”
Nepal
Women are calling for the government to scrap taxes on menstrual hygiene products.
Pakistan
Pakistan’s struggle for civil liberties is being spearheaded by women.
A court has sentenced to death a female private school principal from Lahore for committing blasphemy after she allegedly insulted the Prophet Muhammad.
Papua New Guinea
Political parties need to do more to get women elected in PNG.
How can PNG’s private sector play a role to reduce family and sexual violence?
The Philippines
The age of sexual consent will be raised from 12 to 16, after senators approved the bill’s final reading.
NPR goes back to follow up with several World War II sex slaves they originally spoke to in 2019 to see how they’ve been going.
The creation of an all-female unit of Coast Guard radio operators may look good, but does little to address the security challenges in the South China Sea.
Regional
Thai authorities have arrested Nur Sajat, a Malaysian transgender woman wanted back home for “dressing as a woman” at a mosque:
Cosmetics entrepreneur Nur Sajat Kamaruzzaman fell afoul of Malaysian religious police in February after she failed to show up for a Sharia court hearing over a case that was brought against her for dressing up in traditional Muslim women’s clothes at a gathering at a local mosque in 2018.
Despite greater rhetorical support for women’s role in Pacific policing, institutional resistance has proven to be a major roadblock.
Singapore
A weird piece in The Straits Times argues that police and laywers need to know the personal sexual history of rape victims because it.. helps them understand the case? Idk.
Vietnam
Meet Tranh Nguyen, a young woman tackling Vietnam’s illegal wildlife trade.