More Women Dying of Reproductive Problems
Tribune - Islamabad, Pakistan, 7/31/2011
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.
Change the Mindset
Hindustan Times - New Delhi, India, 7/31/2011
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.
Lesbian Couple Trigger Debate on Gay Marriage
The Asian Age - Delhi, India, 7/30/2011
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.
Workshops on Gender Equity Conclude
Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan, 7/30/2011
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.
FPI Target Sex Workers in Ramadan Raids
Jakarta Globe, Indonesia, 7/28/2011
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.
Sleazy Rider: Singapore Man Sexually Attracted to Motorbikes Escapes Jail Sentence
Jakarta Globe, Singapore, 7/28/2011
A man who gets a sexual thrill out of riding other people`s motorbikes was spared a prison sentence for theft yesterday. A psychiatrist from the Institute of Mental Health found he was suffering from depression and para-phillia, or fetishism, which caused his offenses. The problem started in his teens when he experienced sexual pleasure riding his uncle`s bicycle. He bought his own bicycle but reported getting more gratification by riding someone else`s.
Petition Urges Government to Tackle Human Trafficking
Jakarta Globe - Jakarta, Indonesia, 7/27/2011
More than 200,000 signatures have been gathered on a petition urging the government to tackle human trafficking, in light of Indonesia’s key role as a source, transit and destination country for the crime. Irwanto, chairman of the National Coalition for the Elimination of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (ECPAT), said the current methods of handling child and teenage trafficking for sexual purposes should be overhauled.
No Proof of Sex-Change Surgeries on Babies in Indore: NCPCR
The Hindu - New Delhi, India, 7/27/2011
After meeting with doctors, patients and Hindustan Times journalist in Indore, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has come out with its verdict on the newspaper`s report on sex-change surgeries on babies: ‘No such surgeries have been performed.’ In an indictment of HT`s front page report dated June 26 which claimed that Indore doctors were changing baby girls into boys by the hundreds, the NCPCR team found that such surgeries are not medically possible - not in Indore, nor anywhere else. It discovered that the reporter, who claimed the story was based on telephonic interviews with two Indore doctors, had no corroborative evidence to back up her article.
SAARC Forum Dwells on Health Sector Strategies to Meet MDGs
The Himalayan Times - Kathmandu, India, 7/27/2011
Parliamentarians and delegates from SAARC countries attending the South Asian regional consultation on family planning and reproductive health underlined the importance of population management to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day programme, Constitution Assembly chairman Subas Chandra Nembang hailed the role of civil society and informed that right to reproductive health will be included as a fundamental right in the new constitution. He emphasised the need to deploy female health workers in rural and inaccessible areas of Nepal.
Gender Identity and Technical Obstacles
Hindustan Times - Kathmandu, Nepal, 7/27/2011
In April this year, Dilu Budhuja, a resident of Myagdi district in Nepal, hit the headlines for getting a citizenship card as a third gender. It recognised that the 35-year-old who was born a female and grew up as a male belonged to neither of these genders. Encouraged after getting the citizenship card, he had applied for a passport. But the passport office refused to issue the document stating that the software could not recognize ‘third gender’ as a separate category. With gay lawmaker Sunil Babu Pant taking up cudgel for Budhuja, the matter soon reached the corridors of power. But it came to light that apart from correcting the software, amendments would have to be made to the existing Citizenship Act to sort out the problem.
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