Good afternoon!
We’re well on our way into winter in Canberra. Days are (mostly) sunny but nights are cool and the mornings crisp and sometimes foggy. The header image I took in my street the other week. It’s not black and white but rather fog.
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In solidarity,
Kate
Afghanistan
Women’s public space continues to shrink under the Taliban:
As a 35-year-old university lecturer, Nazifa regularly took the local minivan, a popular means of transport in the Afghan capital, Kabul, for her daily commute from home to the university and back. As a native of the city, she was very familiar with the highways, streets and back alleys, and rarely ever felt uncomfortable travelling by herself.
That was until last week, when the minivan that Nazifa, who requested her name be changed, was travelling in was stopped by a Taliban guard.
“I was on my way home along with another female colleague when a Taliban stopped our vehicle and asked us where our mahram [male guardian] was. When we told him we did not have one, he was furious,” she told Al Jazeera. “He made the driver drop us back to where we were picked from, instructing him not to take female passengers without mahrams.”
Australia
The first 'MasterChef' wasn't televised — and it celebrated overlooked women.
China
Marriage is on the rocks in China as women rethink their options, with the lowest number of couples tying the knot in 2021 since records began in 1986.
Just 8% of the CCP’s leadership is women.
Fiji
The Fiji Women's Crisis Centre is questioning the government's stance on violence against women after the attorney general defended the participation of convicted rapists in national rugby sevens tournaments.
Hong Kong
A Hong Kong TV series has sparked controversy over the use of brownface after one of its actors darkened her skin with makeup to play a Filipina domestic worker.
India
On women drivers of electric rickshaws in Delhi.
Indonesia
The Draft Bill on the Elimination of Sexual Violence has finally passed parliament.
How better data helped women’s rights activists to change the law and prohibit child marriage.
Indonesia will host the 2022 G20 Summit, and it wants to put women at the heart of global economic recovery.
Japan
Female-led tech startups are turning to women’s health issues, such as periods and contraception.
Malaysia
Contrary to Indonesia, Malaysia’s government says it has no plans to ban child marriage, claiming that social change will be more effective than legislation in ending the practice.
Nepal
Five years of local governance in Nepal have brought several positive changes, including for women and marginalised communities. Women now hold 41% of local government office positions. Men still dominate mayoral positions, however, with 98% of mayors male.
What happens to the women left behind when their husbands go overseas to work?
New Zealand
In New Zealand rugby, women are still viewed as tourists to the game, a footnote to the men.
How New Zealand’s female politicians are battling the rising tide of misogyny:
In January 2020, a New Zealand man sent two emails to prime minister Jacinda Ardern: one threatening to “personally wipe [her] off this fucking planet” and another saying he would blow her head off. It was the violent culmination of 88 lengthy emails sent over a four month period to government officials in which he referred to them as criminals and terrorists.
Last week, the man, Michael Cruickshank, 56, was unapologetic as he was sentenced to one year in prison for threatening to kill the prime minister.
Pakistan
Five trans women were murdered in March and another eight injured. Trans women are now speaking up and demanding justice.
Dr Summaiya Syed is trying to take rapists to court:
Dr Summaiya is motivated by the prospect of an investigation. “I cannot sit still until a case is solved.”
Each case, she says, is like a puzzle, one that requires not just a close study of the textbooks, but good instincts. In one case, for instance, a girl was brought in by her father as he said she had been raped by their neighbour. “I felt suspicious about why the mother was not with the child at this traumatic time,” Dr Summaiya explains. She asked for the father’s blood sample.
The cells from the girl’s vaginal swabs matched with the father’s blood sample. He had lied about the neighbour to cover up for sexually assaulting his child. “These puzzles don’t bring me down, they wake me up,” she says.
Papua New Guinea
PNG heads to the polls in June. No women currently hold office there, however, so will women get a look in this time? Four women have been nominated by one of Papua New Guinea’s most influential political figures, Sir Peter Ipatas, to run on the People’s party ticket - The Guardian meets some of them here. The Lowy Institute also has a podcast episode that speaks to expert Therese Meki on the barriers to women entering politics in PNG.
Defending women accused of sorcery has become a life-threatening occupation.
The Philippines
Fake news has emerged purporting to connect sexually explicit material to the daughter of Leni Robredo, the only female presidential candidate in the Philippines' upcoming national election.
Rappler explains why election candidates with women-centric platforms are important.
Regional
More than 60% of Pasifika women who want to avoid or delay pregnancy are unable to do so. The ABC explores why.
Singapore
Singapore will finally allow women to freeze their eggs, with women aged 21 to 35 permitted to undertake the procedure. But strict rules and high prices are likely to mean that the change will have little uptake.
A new White Paper on Women’s Development proposes 25 action plans to be implemented over 10 years.
South Korea
Are women really traveling to South Korea just to find boyfriends? It appears some are.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan feminists are seeking an urgent, comprehensive response to the country’s worsening economic crisis, prescribing specific measures to address the needs of poor and vulnerable communities most affected by the pandemic.
Thailand
The now-former deputy leader of the Democrat Party has been accused of multiple instances of sexual assault, indecency, and harassment.
Female rapper Danupha “Milli” Khanatheerakul has become the first Thai artist to perform at Coachella.
Timor-Leste
Juliana was 16 when she was kidnapped as a ‘war bride’ and taken to Indonesia. She escaped two decades later, returning to Timor.
Tonga
Domestic violence cases rise in wake of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruption, as women call for a power shift in humanitarian responses.