Good morning!
Welcome back to Solidaritas! This is the first issue for 2022. I hope you are all well and had a refreshing break. Iâve been back at work since 10 January but decided to take an extended month off from the newsletter.
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Take care,
Kate
Afghanistan
Two womenâs activists, who previously ran provincial branches of the ministry of womenâs affairs, are now in hiding. Their former offices have been taken over by the Talibanâs ministry for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice.
The Taliban have raided the home of a womenâs rights activist, arresting her and her three sisters in Kabul apparently in response to a recent protest.
Five Afghan women have been sending the BBC daily diaries, which provide a portrait of their rapidly changing lives.
Australia
Indigenous Australians make up almost 30% of hospitalisations due to domestic violence.
These Barefoot Ballerinas are learning more than just dance moves in a remote Cape York community.
A survey of 10,000 women found that when their partners lost work, women were more likely to experience violence for the first time, and for existing violence to escalate.
Bangladesh
How climate-resilient farming is empowering women in Bangladesh.
China
What is really behind Chinaâs attempts at censoring tennis player Peng Shuai, who alleged she was sexually abused?
Yihuang county in Jiangxi province is encouraging women to marry unemployed men, with offers of special training and treatment for potential husbands.
When Chinaâs National Peopleâs Congress publishes a draft law on its website, only a few hundred citizens usually submit feedback. But this time:
A revision of Chinaâs Womenâs Rights and Interests Protection Law has turned into a massive gender issues battleground. Feminists and their opponents, who for years have fiercely debated male privilege and the changing role of women in Chinese society on social media, have both urged their followers to submit amendments to the law.
Responding to those calls, over 80,000 people suggested more than 390,000 changes between Dec. 24 and Saturday, when the comment period for the law closes and lawmakers will consider further revisions.
Fiji
Climate change is threatening the livelihoods of Fiji's fisherwomen.
India
Political parties across India have promised a host of new social programs exclusively for women. Is it politics or progress?
An âauctionâ website that alleged to âsell offâ Muslim women has now led to arrests. More than 100 Muslim women, including journalists, academics, activists, scholars and artists, were listed on the website, where they were to be âsoldâ as servants for negligible sums.
Indonesia
An Indonesian woman has been flogged 100 times in Aceh for adultery, while her male partner received just 15 lashes. The women was more heavily punished because she confessed.
Novia Widyasariâs suicide after she was raped and forced to abort the pregnancy went viral on social media, leading to more calls for reform in Indonesia.
When 13-year-old Yuyun was killed in 2016 by a group of young men, the nation was outraged. Her mother is still dealing with the grief.
Japan
A brief history of feminism in Japan.
In polls, Japanese citizens consistently say they would be happy with a female emperor or an emperor descended from the female line. But Japanese imperial household law forbids this â and despite succession in the male line hanging by a thread, it doesnât look like itâs changing anytime soon.
Laos
A total of 108 people were reported as victims of human trafficking in Laos in 2021, marking a significant drop from the 142 figure recorded in 2020.
Marshall Islands
The teenage birth rate in Marshall Islands is the second highest in the Pacific, and has remained virtually the same over the past five years.
Mongolia
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, social norms in Mongolia have long dictated that women shoulder the heavier burden of childcare and domestic work. COVID-19 has not only laid bare this reality, but has exacerbated it.
Nepal
Over 90% of employed Nepali women are working in the informal sector, new information shows.
Pakistan
âFor the first time, I felt freeâ: Pakistanâs first women-led livestock market.
A new law that increases protections for women at work has passed Pakistanâs parliament; it expands on existing legislation from 2010. The new law, which was enacted earlier this month, specifically confers protection to students, domestic workers, and employees in informal workplaces.
Ayesha Malik has been sworn in as Pakistanâs first female Supreme Court judge.
The Philippines
The Philippines has finally banned child marriage for all children, regardless of religion. Muslim minors were previously permitted to marry.
South Korea
Despite being the worldâs 10th largest economy, South Korea remains a male-dominated society:
The fuel for anti-feminist backlash partly lies with the historical and cultural dimensions of gender discrimination in South Korea. Current gender inequality stems from deep-rooted patriarchal ideologies and practices, most notably Confucian ideals. South Koreaâs industrialisation exacerbated the clear division of labour, with the man as the breadwinner and the woman as a housewife. Now, pro-natalist policies and a push towards biased traditional practices attempt to solve a continuously declining birth rate problem.
Who are Koreaâs Pong Pong ladies? Supposedly, theyâre women who marry vulnerable inexperienced men and exploit them, but really, it seems itâs all part of the backlash to feminism.