WEF's Gender Gap Index: India Slips 28 Places, Ranks 140 among 156 Countries
The Times of India - New Delhi, India, 3/31/2021
India has slipped 28 places to rank 140th among 156 countries in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2021, becoming the third-worst performer in South Asia. According to the report, India has closed 62.5% of its gender gap till date. Most of the decline occurred on the political empowerment subindex, where India regressed 13.5 percentage points, with a significant decline in the number of women ministers (from 23.1% in 2019 to 9.1% in 2021). Wide gaps in sex ratio at birth are due to the high incidence of gender-based sex-selective practices. In addition, more than one in four women has faced intimate violence in her lifetime.
'Trying to Break My Own Preconceived Notions': Madras HC Judge Hearing Same-Sex Couple's Plea
The Wire, India, 3/30/2021
At Madras High Court, a bench of Justice N. Anand Venkatesh has heard a petition for protection filed by two men who wished to recognise each other as partners but whose parents were opposed to their relationship. The two men, both students and aged 20 and 22 respectively, told the court that they had known each other for the last two years. Justice Venkatesh referred the parents of the couple to a counsellor who is experienced in LGBTQIA+ issues, noting that this was “unchartered waters” for his court and a report from such a specialist would help provide support. Counselling psychologist Vidya Dinakaran has been asked to submit her report in a sealed cover by April 26, 2021.
Obama Family Matriarch Dies Aged 99 in a Kenyan Hospital
The Hindu, Africa, 3/29/2021
Sarah Obama, the matriarch of former US President Barack Obama's Kenyan family, died at 99, relatives and officials confirmed on March 29, 2021. She was a philanthropist who promoted education for girls and orphans. “If a woman gets an education she will not only educate her family but educate the entire village,” she said. The Mama Sarah Obama Foundation helped provide food and education to children who lost their parents — providing school supplies, uniforms, basic medical needs and school fees. She received the inaugural Women's Entrepreneurship Day Education Pioneer Award in 2014, in recognition of her work to support education.
Sexual Harassment at Work: Panels Can be Altered Sans Violation of Law, Says HC
The Hindustan Times - Chandigarh, Punjab, 3/28/2021
The constitution of committees appointed to deal with complaints of sexual harassment in universities cannot be changed in violation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, a Punjab and Haryana high court bench has held. The high court dismissed a plea which stated that the Internal Committee (IC) of Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala was not presided over by a senior member of staff. The court found that an associate professor had been appointed as chairman of the IC, since there was no woman faculty member in the rank of professor. In response to the petition, the bench observed that the 2013 law is a Parliamentary Act and cannot be superseded by the UGC Regulations.
UN Commission Urges Equality for Women in Decision-Making
The Times of India, United Nations, 3/27/2021
The UN's premiere global body fighting for gender equality called for a sharp increase of women in global-decision making as there has been a continuing pushback against women’s rights and a refusal to address issues of gender identity. In the document titled ‘Agreed conclusions’, the Commission on the Status of Women reaffirmed the blueprint to achieve gender equality adopted 25 years ago at the Beijing Women’s Conference and shone a light on several major issues, including the imbalance of power between men and women in public life and the growing impact of violence against women and girls in the digital world. The document was adopted by the commission’s 45 members on March 26, 2021.
Pakistani Judge Orders Blasphemy Probe against Organisers of Women's Day March
Reuters, Pakistan, 3/27/2021
A judge in the Pakistani city of Peshawar ordered police to open an investigation into the organisers of a march marking International Women’s Day over allegations they committed blasphemy. Police in Islamabad had previously refused to open a case, saying the allegations were based on fake social media posts after doctored images and video from the March 8 event went viral. The petition, lodged by a group of lawyers in Peshawar, alleges slogans and messages on placards and banners on display during the march in Islamabad were “un-Islamic and obscene”. Protests calling for vigilante violence against the march organisers followed the social media storm and on March 12, 2021 the Pakistan Taliban issued a statement threatening the activists.
Nepal Aspires to Create Inclusive, Just, Equitable Society: Minister Mahato
Khaburhub - Kathmandu, Nepal, 3/25/2021
Addressing the 65th Commission on the Status of Women, Julie Kumari Mahato, Minister for Women, Child, and Senior Citizens stressed that women’s full and effective participation in public life and the decision-making process underpins Nepal’s development aspirations to create an inclusive, just, and equitable society. She highlighted Nepal’s major achievements made in the field of gender equality and women empowerment and said that equal lineage and property rights, safe motherhood and reproductive health rights, and women’s right to participate in all State structures are ensured in the Constitution based on the principle of proportional representation.
Govt Urged to Provide 98 Days Maternity Leave
Daily Express - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, 3/24/2021
The committee of Wanita Industrial Malaysia, a trade union coalition representing thousands of women workers in the manufacturing sector in West Malaysia, urged the Malaysian government to ratify Convention 183 and Convention 190 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for the protection of women's rights. In a statement, they said that although Malaysia has been categorised as an upper-middle income country, the rights and benefits of women workers are still outdated. Idawati Idrus and Selvakumari Abraham, the group’s joint-chairpersons stated that Malaysian women in the private sector only get 60 days paid maternity leave under the Employment Act 1955 while their counterparts in the public sector get 90 days maternity leave.
Crimes against SC/ST Women, Children up 15%, but Conviction Rate Low, says House Panel
The Print - New Delhi, India, 3/23/2021
A report by the Parliament Standing Committee on Home Affairs on atrocities and crimes against women and children has revealed the poor conviction rates and high pendency of cases related to crimes against women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The report, tabled in the Rajya Sabha said while there has been an increase of 15.55% in crimes against women and children from SC/ST communities in the last three years (2017-2019), the conviction rate under Prevention of Atrocities (PoA) Act in the same period has been as low as 26.86%, with pendency at an alarming 84.09%. The report stated that these crimes include rape, attempt to rape, assault, kidnapping and abduction.
The First Commercial Trans-Led Tailor Shop Just Opened up in Karachi
Dawn, Pakistan, 3/22/2021
The Trans Pride Society in Pakistan announced the inauguration of the first commercial tailor shop run exclusively by transgender people on March 21, 2021. Announcing the exciting news on social media, The Trans Pride Society, an NGO run by Nisha Rao wrote, "On 20 March 2021, the General Secretary of the Karachi Bar Association, Advocate Aamir Nawaz Waraich and Nuzhat Shirin, Chairperson of Sindh Commission on the Status of Women, our Chief Guests attended the opening ceremony and cut the ceremonial ribbon”. Nisha Rao also congratulated the members and tailors of the society for their new venture.
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