Asean and Gay
Bangkok Post, Thailand, 2/28/2013
Everywhere you go these days, you`ll see or hear the word ‘Asean’ in every possible media outlet - from newspapers, billboards to subway screens (almost ad nauseam). To follow the Asean trend, Bangkok Post’s Queer Eye column this month will look at prominent LGBT-themed films in Southeast Asia. The cultural, racial and religious differences between each Asean country have been raised, and such differences may be even more complex when it concerns the issues of gays and homosexuals. Through these films, one may be able to learn something more about the lives of LGBT communities through cinematic expression.
US Professor Discusses Book on China’s Underground Sex Trade
Global Times, China, 2/28/2013
Zheng Tiantian`s book Red Lights: The Lives of Sex Workers in Postsocialist China, published in 2009, depicts the world of karaoke hostesses in China, where prostitution is intertwined with rural-urban migration. Zheng, now a professor of anthropology at State University of New York, told the Global Times in an e-mail interview that working and living with the hostesses changed her views of these women. Zheng believes sex workers are no different from people employed in other service sectors. Zheng also agrees that decriminalizing prostitution is necessary to better protect these women. ‘Worldwide, sex workers` rights movements argue that sex work is a legitimate form of labor and that sex workers need rights, not rescue,’ she said. ‘Decriminalization is necessary to diminish the violence.’
Engendering Gender Studies in Academics
Deccan Herald - Bangalore, India, 2/27/2013
It is tragic that gang rapes, acid attacks, dowry deaths, gender-centered harassments, oppressions, biases and prejudices continue to happen with disturbing regularity. Given the volatile mood of the nation, and the way popular perception goes, we might perhaps assume that shoring up a case for Gender Studies is primarily a step towards checking crimes against women. On the positive side, the UGC has finally stressed on gender sensitisation components in curricular domains of higher education. However, having lived in a society that is patriarchal in its very bones, we cannot let a change for the better be postponed till the higher education stage. Gender sensitisation ought to happen right from primary school levels, writes Padmakumar MM.
HIV/AIDS Patients Get Help in Anhui
China Daily - Anhui, China, 2/27/2013
The woman, who was lying on a long wooden chair receiving an infusion at the doctor`s home, was one of dozens of AIDS patients Zhang has cared for over the past 17 years in Lixin county, Anhui province. ‘I usually treat patients at my house, because taking care of them at the village clinic would put some off,’ the 58-year-old said. Although medical advances have lessened fear of the virus, discrimination against HIV and AIDS patients has not been entirely eliminated in his native Liuran village. ‘What distressed me most was that, for several years, few people in my village would have any contact with me. Even my daughters refused to see me,’ he said. ‘But I just couldn`t abandon these patients, because no one paid attention to them.’
Sri Lankan Forces Sexually Abused Detainees, Says Report
The Hindu, Sri Lanka, 2/27/2013
Rape and other forms of sexual violence have been used by the Sri Lankan security forces to torture suspected members or supporters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a report by Human Rights Watch has revealed. The 140 page report titled ‘We Will Teach You a Lesson - Sexual violence against Tamils by Sri Lankan security forces’ was released by HRW in London on February 26, 2013. In the 75 cases - 31 of men, 41 of women and three of boys under 18 - documented in the report, interviewees have reported being raped on multiple days, often by several people with the Sri Lankan army, police and pro-government paramilitary groups frequently participating.
No Rest for Cambodia`s Weary Massage Workers
Jakarta Globe - Phnom Penh, Indonesia, 2/26/2013
Times are tough in this Southeast Asian nation of 14 million people, where over 30 percent of the population lives below the poverty line of a dollar a day. Formal employment is hard to come by and many workers find themselves drifting in the murky waters of the ‘informal’ market, where wages are unregulated and labor laws are seldom honored. A recent labor dispute involving massage workers employed by a luxury spa shed some light on the ‘entertainment’ industry, arguably one of the most vulnerable sectors to labor violations.
Gender Skew in Missing Children Statistics Cause for Worry
The Hindu - Bangalore, India, 2/26/2013
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court criticised the Union and State governments for what it termed as ‘extreme casualness’ on the issue of missing children. Data provided by the City Crime Records Bureau for the past three years (2010-2012) show that each year the number of missing girls in the 15-18 age group exceeds boys by over 100. This is not the case in the young age group (0-14) where the number of boys missing outnumbers the girls by two or even three times. Experts, and those on the field, say that these numbers confirm that a large majority of missing girls are being trafficked into sex work, and a smaller section into domestic work.
Underage Marriages: Students Get a Lesson in Reproductive Health
The Express Tribune - Multan, Pakistan, 2/26/2013
An event was organised by the Social Harmony Awareness Development Organisation (SHADO) at Government Boys High School in Nawabpur which aimed at creating awareness about reproductive health and social barriers to it. More than 700 people, including students from other schools in the area, attended the seminar. Primary school students were not admitted. The seminar was followed by a theatre performance that had especially been made part of the activity to make students aware of the hazards of underage marriage. The play told the story of a young woman whose life is ruined due to early marriage. It emphasised on the rights of women and children.
Lesbian Couple Attempt to Wed
Global Times - Beijing, China, 2/25/2013
A lesbian couple was rejected after trying to register to marry at the marriage registration office in Dongcheng district civil affairs bureau. The attempt to marry is in support of a recent statement from Li Yinhe, one of China`s most prominent sexologists, who said she wishes to find deputies from the National People`s Congress (NPC) to deliver her proposal for legislation to legalize gay marriage at China`s annual legislative meeting, known as the two sessions, in March. The couple, Ma Yuyu and Elsie, volunteers from Beijing LGBT Center who have known each other for six months, said that although they knew their application would be rejected, they wanted to express their love as well as to stress the need for gay marriage in China.
LGBT Community Calls for a Dignified Life
The Times of India - Kolkata, India, 2/25/2013
The city may have taken to the street on numerous occasions to express solidarity with the Park Street rape victim or Delhi`s Nirbhaya, but it is yet to come of age when it comes to treating people from the ‘sexual minority’ group. The result: a number of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals (LGBT) suffer different forms of violence that often go unnoticed. In an effort to change the scheme of things for the LGBT community, the Kolkata Rainbow Pride Festival (KRPF) on February 24, 2013 organized an ‘adda’ at the Academy of Fine Arts, where the participants pledged support to the victims.
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