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Reproductive health problems are one of the major causes of death among women in villages surrounding Islamabad, according to a survey conducted by DAMAAN Development Organization. The findings revealed that little girls in these areas are regularly subjected to abuse, made pregnant out of wedlock, and are not taken to a clinic for a check-up. High rates of child abuse were reported around the Bari Imam shrine. Local people said that displaced women from various parts of the country work as prostitutes in and around these villages.

There were hordes of placards with hard hitting messages and slogan-shouting at Delhi’s first Slut Walk or Besharmi Morcha. Sunday morning saw hundreds of protesters, of all age groups, marching from Free Church via YWCA and back to Jantar Mantar in central Delhi. Slogans such as ‘Chhed Chhad par rok lagao’ (put an end to eve teasing), were heard. ‘The march aims to reclaim words like slut and fight against victim blaming,’ said Umang Sabharwal, 19, chief organiser of the event.

Two women Savita, 25 and Veena, 20, tied the knot in Gurgaon court on July 22, but the move invited the wrath of their native villagers, who threatened to kill them. Although homosexuality has been given the legal nod in India, and consensual sex between two adults of the same gender is no longer considered a criminal act, that is where the road to gay relationships ends. There is still no legal sanction to allow a gay relationship to progress further and culminate in marriage. And this, feel gay couples and activists in the capital, needs to change.

Individualland (IL) Pakistan, in collaboration with the Aurat Publication and Information Service Foundation, held the first of its series of workshops in Islamabad from July 25 to July 27. The focus was on creating awareness among media authorities on gender equity in nine districts of Pakistan. The workshops were held under the USAID and The Asia Foundation’s joint venture, Gender Equity Programme (GEP). Media personnel belonging to print and electronic media participated in the sensitisation sessions.

Indonesia’s self-appointed morality police, the Islamic Defenders Front, have launched raids against the country’s largest prostitution complex, an area also popular for its restaurants and bars. Members of the group (which has often been accused of stand-over tactics) demanded that brothel owners close for Ramadan.