Sex Worker Abuse ‘On The Rise’ in Hong Kong And Most of The Alleged Abusers Are Police Officers

South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, 12/31/2016

Zi Teng, which offers support for prostitutes, received 615 reports of physical and verbal abuse relating to both police and clients in 2016, up from 225 in 2015. The most serious cases, concerning clients, included grievous bodily harm, rape, robbery and fraud. Police were reported on 490 occasions for a catalogue of alleged abuses, including 225 cases of arbitrary arrest, when sex workers were not told why they were being held, and 100 cases of excessive licence checks, when they were approached and questioned several times on the same day.

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India Opens First School for Transgender Pupils

The Indian Express - Kochi, India, 12/30/2016

India’s first transgender school opened in Kochi on December 30, 2016. The school, named Sahaj International, was inaugurated by transgender activist, writer and actor Kalki Subramaniam at Thrikkakara in Kerala’s Ernakulam district. This alternative learning centre works in collaboration with National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). The school, the first of its kind in the country, is expected to go a long way in ensuring equal opportunities for transgenders who have dropped out from school. The new learning centre will help them continue their education and appear for Class X and XII examinations.

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KP Govt Formally Launches First Population Policy

Daily Times - Peshawar, Pakistan, 12/30/2016

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government formally launched its population policy aimed at stabilising the population growth rate of the province, making efficient use of the available resources, setting population specific targets, objectives and an implementation frame work to control the highly unregulated population growth rate. Under the 18th constitutional amendment, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Government developed its first Population Policy which was approved by the provincial government in 2015. The proposed population policy advocates a holistic multi-sectoral approach to influence fertility, mortality and migration, as well as the size, structure and growth rates of the population are both a means to and outcomes of sustainable development.

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Minister Warns NGO Over Brick Kilns Report

The Cambodia Daily, Cambodia, 12/30/2016

In its research for ‘Build on Slavery,’ published on December 2, 2016, Licadho spent about three months visiting brick factories clustered around 11 different sites surrounding Phnom Penh that included more than 100 operators employing thousands of workers. The NGO said it found an entrenched practice of illegal debt bondage in which the owners secured loans to their employees with their labour and paid such low piecework rates that parents were pressured to put their children to work just to earn enough money to eat. It said there was no excuse for local authorities not to be aware of the widespread labour abuses, which were committed with impunity.

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Teen Pregnancy Rate Remains High in Yogyakarta

The Jakarta Post - Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 12/29/2016

The number of adolescents giving birth following premarital sex in Yogyakarta has remained high, reaching at least 720 from January to November 2016, data from an NGO concerned with sexual and reproductive rights showed. The director of the Yogyakarta chapter of the Indonesian Planned Parenthood Association (PKBI), Gama Triono, said that although the number of teen pregnancy cases might not be as high as in the previous year, 1,078, 2016’s figure was alarming.

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Nigeria’s Sultan of Sokoto Rejects Gender Equality Bill

BBC, Nigeria, 12/28/2016

Nigeria’s most senior Muslim cleric has rejected a new gender equality bill, which proposes that women and men inherit an equal share. The Sultan of Sokoto, Mohamed Sa’ad Abubakar, said Muslims would not accept the violation of Islamic law guaranteeing men a greater share. Nigeria’s main Christian body has welcomed the bill, saying its religion permitted equal inheritance. Activists have pushed for the bill to end discrimination against women. Nigeria is a deeply religious society with roughly the same number of Christians and Muslims.

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Ilocos’ Gay Parade Affirms Pledge to HIV-AIDS Awareness

The Manila Times - Pasuquin, Philippines, 12/28/2016

With red ribbons pinned on their colourful gowns, members of the gay community gathered for the annual Sunflower Festival as they sought to raise awareness and support for those living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV and AIDS) in the country. Dubbed as the oldest gay pride celebration in Asia, the Sunflower Festival has been held annually since 1975, highlighting the creativity and fostering pride, camaraderie and acceptance of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.

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Gay Rights Groups Brave Abuse, Violence to Fight HIV in Cameroon

Reuters, Cameroon, 12/27/2016

Cameroon’s national AIDS control committee has been working towards increasing healthcare access for the country’s LGBT community in an effort to fight against HIV and AIDS. However, these efforts have had the unintended impact of simultaneously increasing stigma and harassment for these marginalised populations due to popular perception that increased healthcare access will lead to the legalisation of homosexuality. Since hospitals and state programmes (which should be providing resources and medical care) are not safe environments for LGBT people, the AIDS committee has enlisted the help of local groups to provide access to LGBT-friendly health services.

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Transgender Group Leader Calls For End to ‘Guru’ Custom, Receives Backlash from Community

Daily Pakistan - Lahore, Pakistan, 12/26/2016

Nadeem Kashish, the President of the Shemale Association for Fundamental Rights, has called for an end to the culture of ‘gurus’, the leaders of transgender groups who take unwanted children into their care. Abundantly prevalent in the hijra community, the guru concept stipulates that transgender units are run by a leader, who fosters unwanted children after they’re thrown out by their families. The guru keeps these kids in their care, guides them in life, and provides food and shelter. Nadeem says that, far from acting as guardians, the gurus encourage young transgender people to take up sex work.

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Gender Gap in Civil Service Closing Fast: RCSC

Kuensel, Bhutan, 12/26/2016

The number of women in the civil service over the past 20 years, according to the annual report of the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC), has more than quadrupled from 2,180 to 9,511. Twenty years back, only 16 percent of the civil servants were female. ‘Overall, the gender gap is closing fast,’ the report states. However, the report states that there is a ‘clear gender gap’ in the executives and specialists groups. Women executives or specialists make up only around 10 percent of the group.

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