Good morning!
It’s been a strange ol’ summer here in Canberra this year - rainy and cool most of the time, with barely a handful of days hitting the usual summer temperatures of 32C+. Soon the leaves will turn, though, and we’ll hit autumn.
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Take care,
Kate
Afghanistan
Afghan women are accusing the Taliban of using a pregnant New Zealand journalist as a publicity tool, saying they wouldn’t be offered the same rights.
The Taliban have reportedly detained 29 women and their families in Kabul. Meanwhile, four female activists who went missing several weeks ago after participating in rallies have been released.
Australia
How will Victoria’s sex work decriminalisation bill work and will it make the industry safer?
Sexual violence and harassment has been revealed to be rampant in the mining industry. In a report released by Rio Tinto, the company revealed that women who work for it reported 21 incidents of rape, attempted rape or sexual assaults over the past five years.
Bangladesh
In Kawapara village, a food bank called Musti Chal (“a fistful of rice”) helps the predominantly Indigenous and landless local villagers stay afloat. Now, it will also allow local women to make small investments and become self-sufficient:
The food bank is now run by 30 women. They set aside a fistful of rice from their cooking every day. After a week, they collect all the spare rice and sell some of it. They save the money they have earned and after some time invest it together into small projects like fish farming and domestic animals, which generate further income.
Bhutan
Women face significant social challenges in achieving leadership positions in Bhutan. So what is one local women’s organisation doing in response?
Cambodia
A former U.S. Marine captain, convicted of traveling to Cambodia to have sex with children, was sentenced by a U.S. court to 210 years in federal prison.
China
Grappling with a population crisis and plunging birth rate, China is embracing a pronatalist policy that could see it lift highly restrictive and controversial policies on women donating and freezing their eggs.
Authorities in Jiangsu detained two women who traveled to the home village of a woman found chained in an outbuilding, sparking a wave of public outrage online over rampant human trafficking. Author Geling Yan published an angry poem about the situation, only to be censored by Weibo.
Hong Kong
A woman who was allegedly harassed and followed home by a HK police officer has urged others who might have experienced same behaviour to report it. The 26-year-old officer has been suspended pending an investigation.
India
The pioneering team at Khabar Lahariya, an all-women, rural news organisation in northern India, say they are ecstatic after a documentary film on their crusading reporting, especially around the hardships faced by lower caste communities, won an Oscar nomination on Tuesday.
In January, a college in Karnataka banned female students from wearing the hijab, saying it was not part of the uniform. Pro- and anti-ban protests are now spreading across the state, with hijab-wearing girls and women feeling the brunt of Hindu nationalists’ anger.
Indian law states that husbands cannot be prosecuted for raping their wives. Now, the exemption is being reviewed by the High Court.
Indonesia
How could a cervical cancer-free Indonesia be achieved?
Meet one of Indonesia’s most famous activists, Sumarsih:
Every Thursday for Maria Catarina Sumarsih begins the same: make breakfast for her husband and daughter, pray the Rosary, prepare the placards, grab her umbrella and head toward the palace, where for the last 15 years she has camped in the tropical heat, protesting the death of her son.
Japan
A government panel has recommended abolishing the current 100-day remarriage ban for women after a divorce, in line with scrapping a century-old Civil Code provision that determines legal paternity.
Laos
More than a dozen Lao women have been rescued by police from the Chinese-run Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in northwestern Laos where they were being held against their will and, in some cases, forced to work as prostitutes.
Malaysia
Women’s groups are demanding that deputy women’s minister Siti Zailah step down for normalising domestic violence, after she said that husbands should use a “gentle but firm physical touch” to reprimand their wives.
Myanmar
Women remain on the frontlines of the anti-coup protests.
Nepal
Gender-based discrimination continues unabated in Nepal, says the national human rights commission.
North Korea
The North Korean government is trying to encourage young women to move to the countryside to help improve the country’s dire agricultural situation. The women are reportedly not impressed, saying they’d “rather die than marry a farmer”.
Pakistan
Waseem Azeem was sentenced to life in prison in 2019 for strangling his sister Qandeel Baloch, a model on social media. This week, he was acquitted of murder after his parents pardoned him under Islamic law.
Papua New Guinea
Part one of a series on women and elections in PNG.
Village birth attendants play a critical role in assisting PNG women to give birth. So why are they so overlooked?
South Korea
In South Korea, gender equality and feminism have become politicized and polarizing issues leading up to the March 9 presidential election, with young voters increasingly split along gender lines.
Sri Lanka
Years after an explosion of #MeToo accusations centered on the media industry, it appears the movement has not had any lasting effects in Sri Lanka.
Taiwan
Chen Wen-min, Taiwan's first female director, has passed away at age 103.
Thailand
Spy cameras have been found in the women's bathrooms at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok.
Timor-Leste
Massive oil revenues have failed to overcome the problem of widespread stunting in children.
Vietnam
Women coffee growers are working to boost climate mitigation through agroforestry.