Good afternoon!
This fortnight, we take a look at the impact of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis on female garment workers, how crucial women-run hospitals are to Afghanistan’s healthcare, and why major political parties aren’t running female candidates in winnable seats in the upcoming Australian federal election.
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Afghanistan
Few places in Afghanistan are run by women, but several female-run hospitals in Kabul are the exception, where:
… a different reality exists: here, women save lives on a daily basis, offer marriage advice, care for and adopt abandoned children. Many of the doctors and nurses working here have raised children and often remain their family’s sole financial supporters. And they all agree: things work better when women run the show.
The Taliban has issued yet another decree imposing further restrictions on Afghan women, criminalising their clothing:
The decree is the first for this regime where criminal punishment is assigned for violation of the dress code for women.
The Taliban’s recently reinstated Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice announced on Saturday that it is “required for all respectable Afghan women to wear a hijab”, or headscarf.
The ministry, in a statement, identified the chadori (the blue-coloured Afghan burqa or full-body veil) as the “best hijab” of choice.
The Guardian’s view of the current situation facing women in Afghanistan: the Taliban are ‘turning the screws’, intensifying repression and suffering.
Australia
Australia will be holding a federal election this Saturday, and female voters are increasingly hostile towards current prime minister Scott Morrison, for a whole range of reasons.
Speaking of the election: just two out of every ten female candidates from the two major parties are running in seats considered ‘winnable’. Safe seats are being saved for the men.
Millions of Australians will be now entitled to 10 days’ paid domestic violence leave under a landmark decision by the Fair Work Commission.
Bangladesh
Around 79% of women migrants have found themselves out of work since returning to the country.
The right to abortion remains controversial in Bangladesh:
Bangladesh does not recognize abortion as a reproductive right of women. Instead, women might face punishment for "voluntary miscarriage". The menstrual regulation procedure and menstrual regulation with medication (MRM) give the option to women to get rid of unplanned pregnancies. However, the existing laws do not permit women to opt for abortion.
Cambodia
The number of women travelling from Cambodia to China for forced or arranged marriages has surged since 2016 and experienced a further spike since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gender-based violence continues to rise in the country, “daily” according to activists.
China
The Chinese government’s desire for more births is up against an increasingly feminist populace:
“Every word screams ‘leave the workplace, women,'” wrote [one] internet user.
Hong Kong
One in six people in Hong Kong have suffered online sexual harassment while one in eight experienced it in the workplace, according to a survey by Hong Kong’s Equal Opportunities Commission.
India
The National Family Health Survey has been released and there are some very interesting findings: only 32% of married women aged 15-49 in India are employed. The same statistic is 98% for men. On violence, nearly 1 in 3 Indian women aged 18-49 have suffered some form of spousal abuse, and around 6% have suffered sexual violence.
How prevalent is the practice of purdah (seclusion of women)? Turns out analysis shows that it’s a problem in both Muslim and Hindu communities.
Japan
Japan's financial services watchdog is introducing a new regulation designed to encourage companies to employ more women in senior management positions.
Malaysia
The worrying case of a young rape victim charged with murdering her baby:
In February, a 15-year-old girl was charged with killing her newborn after giving birth alone in a house in the eastern Malaysian state of Terengganu.
The baby was found to have injuries on its body, including what looked to be a stab wound. When the police arrested the girl, she told them she had been raped by a man in his twenties. A week later, she was charged with murder.
Mongolia
A profile of 29-year-old Bolor-Erdene Battsengel, Mongolia’s youngest parliamentarian and the current Minister for Digital Development.
Myanmar
The military takeover upended the hopes and basic rights of the people of Myanmar, and the situation has been particularly bad for women, with large numbers of reports of violent arrests and sexual abuse by military and security forces.
Nepal
Last week, Nepal went to the polls for local governments for just the second time. Many women ran, but few ran for mayoral positions: almost all ran for deputy mayor alongside male mayoral candidates. What’s the story? The Diplomat also takes a look at the topic.
More young Nepali women are choosing not to marry.
Pakistan
Harassment and crime have long kept Pakistani women out of buses – and out of universities and the labor market. Now, the public bus company in the city of Peshawar has invested heavily in making their buses clean, safe, and welcoming for women. And it’s working.
That said, the Pakistan Human Rights Ministry stated that over 14,456 Pakistani women were assaulted in the country in the last four years. Just four percent of the rape cases reported resulted in convictions.
What it’s like to be a female rapper in Pakistan:
Afraid of angering her family, [Eva B] would sneak to music studios to record full tracks with the help of other emerging artists in her neighbourhood, under the pretext of studying.
But when word reached her brother, she received a backlash from her family who considered the genre indecent for a young girl and who feared she would struggle to marry in deeply conservative Pakistan.
"Later they realized that I was quite persistent, so they surrendered. They realised I couldn't be stopped," she laughed, adding that her mother now supports her in the studio and on set.
Papua New Guinea
How social innovation can help combat GBV in PNG.
Papua New Guinea will see its next elections over two weeks of voting on 9–22 July. Historically, elections in PNG have been fraught with violence and fraud, the political landscape dominated by male politicians practising what is often called “big man” politics. On the latter score, at least, this year promises to be little different.
Meet Rosie Johnson. She’s a magistrate in PNG. She was also the victim of family violence.
Regional
As the United States Supreme Court appears on the verge of possibly overturning the landmark ruling that gave women the constitutional right to access abortions, courts in many other parts of the world have been moving in the opposite direction.
How to support women-owned businesses in the midst of climate change and COVID-19 in the Pacific.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is taking a heavy toll on low-paid female garment workers who work in factories sewing clothes for Western markets:
"I have never seen anything like this in my 20-year career," said one factory owner, who employs 20 women to make vests and slips, some of whom have been on his payroll for more than a decade.
Now Anthony - not his real name - says he is leaving the rag trade, hit by rolling power cuts, soaring costs for raw materials, shrinking orders and a labour shortfall: a fistful of problems for an island that depends on exports for income.
"The game is over," said Anthony, whose small textile operation in Moronthuduwa lies close to Sri Lanka's main city of Colombo. "I am compelled to close my factory."
South Korea
New president Yoon Suk-yeol needs to change the way South Korea treats women, argues Amnesty.
A huge jump in the number of women accessing egg freezing services is leading to questions over the costs of raising children in South Korea.
Vietnam
New Mandala takes a look at the women entrepreneurs of early modern Vietnam.