Higher Sex Ratio Among Tribal, SC Groups: Census

The Hindu - New Delhi, India, 10/31/2013

Newly released census data shows that despite having lower literacy rates than those more socially and economically privileged, scheduled caste households have higher sex ratios, and tribals the highest of all. While the commonly held belief is that education will improve attitudes to female children, the data shows that India’s least educated social groups are those with better sex ratios. It is a little unnerving though that better sex ratios among tribals could reflect a combination of positive and negative factors; cultural gender parity as well as lack of access to pre-natal diagnostic technology.

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Xi Stresses Gender Equality

People’s Daily - Beijing, China, 10/31/2013

At a recently held meeting with the newly elected leadership of the All-China Women`s Federation, Chinese President Xi Jinping underlined the importance of gender equality, calling for more importance to be given to the role of women in order to help achieve China’s growth. Xi called for the process of China`s development to be integrated with promotion of gender equality, which will ensure women to exercise their rights of democracy in accordance with law, take part in economic and social development and share the fruits of reform.

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Supporting Gender Equality

The Star, Malaysia, 10/30/2013

The recently published UN Women Annual Report 2012-2013 puts forward a very perceptive and broad-based plan for gender equality and female empowerment. While Malaysia has taken many legal and administrative strides towards the removal of discrimination against women, there are some unmet challenges. Among them are, bias against women is evident in some citizenship provisions, personal laws, lower rate of female representation in public offices and unequal work pay.

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NGOs See Gap in Rights Record

The Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia, 10/29/2013

A group of NGOs in Cambodia including the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, in cooperation with the Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS and the Sexual Right Initiative have condemned rampant abuses of sexual and reproductive health rights in Cambodia recently, just days before the government submitted a human rights progress report to the United Nations. The report seeks to point out problems including heinous hate crimes committed against LGBT people, including gangs forcing sex on transgender individuals, families believing they can cure the ‘mental disease’ of homosexuality by throwing water on the victim and frequent discrimination encountered by HIV-positive women.

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Sex Education a ‘Big Challenge’

The Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia, 10/28/2013

Sexuality Education in Cambodia continues to remain a much silenced issue. Though sexual health education has been a part of the national curriculum since 1998 when HIV and AIDS prevention was taught under the umbrella of health education, the subject is still rare in the classroom. Educators insist that implementing a successful sexual health curriculum has become doubly important in the wake of a United Nations report released last month that found shockingly high rates of sexual abuse, particularly among youth. This has led educators and officials to assert further that the classroom can be an integral first step in undermining unequal gender relations that contribute to sexual violence.

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Tens of Thousands Join in LGBT Pride Parade in Taipei

The China Post - Taipei, Taiwan, 10/27/2013

Tens of thousands of gay rights supporters on October 26, 2013 took to the streets in Taipei for the LGBT Pride Parade, the largest such event in Asia calling for an end to discrimination against people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The organizers said the parade was aimed at renewing the appeal of the first Taiwan LGBT Pride Parade, Make LGBT Visible. The participation was similar to last year, when the parade attracted a record 65,000 people, according to the organizers.

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RI Lags Behind Laos, Vietnam on Gender Gap Index

The Jakarta Post - Jakarta, Indonesia, 10/27/2013

The Swiss-based World Economic Forum (WEF) released on October 25, 2013 its annual Global Gender Gap (GGG) Report 2013 - a report that measured the extent of gender inequality in four broad areas, namely economic participation and opportunities, educational attainment, political empowerment, and health and survival. The study covered 93 percent of the global population or 136 countries, including Indonesia, on all continents. Indonesia ranked 95th on the list of 136 countries - below the Philippines, Cuba, Lesotho, Mozambique, the poorest country Malawi, Sri Lanka, Laos, Vietnam and Armenia.

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Workshop on State of Family Planning Conducted

Daily Times - Karachi, Pakistan, 10/27/2013

A workshop on the in-depth study on the state of family planning was conducted on October 26, 2013 by Pathfinder International, an international organisation working in Pakistan and reproductive health in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). According to the study, the targets and goals related to family planning have not been achieved due to lack of clear policies, planning, a governance mechanism and limited coordination among relevant stakeholders.

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UN Criticises India`s Health Policy on Women

The Daily Mail, India, 10/26/2013

The Indian government has come under severe criticism in a UN-sponsored study for losing its focus on broader sexual and reproductive health of women while attempting to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Condemning the health system, the review paper says India has lost its focus on broader sexual and reproductive health and rights agenda of expanding the package of services including safe abortion through the primary health centres (PHCs), provision of adolescent friendly services, and promotion of gender equity, in the single minded pursuit of increasing institutional deliveries.

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India’s Gender Gap Record Among the World’s Worst

The Times of India - Mumbai, India, 10/26/2013

A plummeting child sex ratio is largely to blame for India`s poor performance in the 2013 Global Gender Gap Index released by the World Economic Forum. India ranked a lowly 101st of 136 countries, indicating huge disparity in access of women to economic, political, educational and healthcare opportunities and their participation in such services.

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