https://www.scmp.com/rss/510652/feed Akanksha Khullar is the country coordinator for India at the Women's Regional Network. Prior to this, she worked as a researcher at the Centre for Internal and Regional Security at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi. Her research focuses on gender issues, particularly on identifying how national, regional and international organisations contribute in shaping the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. She tweets at... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com In a landmark legal hearing on March 29, a group of Swiss women argued before the European Court of Human Rights that their government’s failure to sufficiently reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions had violated their human rights. Presenting their medical records as evidence, the applicants – all of whom are 63 or older – claimed that frequent heatwaves, which are becoming harsher and more intense because of climate change, are interfering with their health and quality of life. While... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3216168/swiss-court-challenge-makes-clear-climate-change-womens-issue?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3216168/swiss-court-challenge-makes-clear-climate-change-womens-issue?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Apr 2023 22:15:12 +0000 From a sharp rise in the price of basic commodities to the prolonged effects of Covid-19 and a massive contraction in economic activity, 2022 was filled with major crises that had a disproportionate impact on women and pushed their progress back decades. As a result, inequalities widened and the vision of achieving gender parity became more blurred. We must remember that women account for about half of the world’s population, and a sound economic recovery is impossible without their inclusion.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3208249/investing-more-women-and-girls-can-ensure-sound-economic-recovery-2023?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3208249/investing-more-women-and-girls-can-ensure-sound-economic-recovery-2023?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Jan 2023 19:30:12 +0000 From death and rape threats to doxxing, racist, sexist and misogynistic abuse in the form of text, images and memes is nowhere as sharply visible as in journalism and the media industry. The targets are women who are unapologetic about voicing their opinions and calling out those in power. In the past few years, organised, coordinated physical attacks and online abuse have escalated threat levels faced by female journalists across the globe. According to “The Chilling: A global study of online... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3198869/female-journalists-paying-heavy-price-government-and-social-media-firms-failures?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3198869/female-journalists-paying-heavy-price-government-and-social-media-firms-failures?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Nov 2022 00:30:10 +0000 The protests in Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16, after she was arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly by the morality police, have spread to all of the country’s 31 provinces. Many cities are engulfed in outrage and anger, with protesters hurling rocks, torching police cars and setting fire to state buildings. The demonstrations, the largest in years, have drawn a deadly security response. Breaking local laws and religious mandates, many Iranian... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3193956/iran-protests-are-defining-moment-women-and-freedom-despite?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3193956/iran-protests-are-defining-moment-women-and-freedom-despite?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Sep 2022 19:30:09 +0000 In the past few decades, gender equality has gained significant traction at global and national levels. The United Nations convened the first world conference on women back in 1975, in Mexico City, with the most recent meeting, the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, and followed by a series of five-year reviews. That marked a significant turning point for the global agenda on gender equality. However, the truth is that no country has achieved or is even close to achieving... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3191634/dont-leave-women-and-girls-behind-pandemic-recovery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3191634/dont-leave-women-and-girls-behind-pandemic-recovery?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Sep 2022 01:15:20 +0000 Following the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, women in the war-torn country were granted more rights than they had previously had under the Taliban regime, and they enjoyed a measure of freedom, in terms of how they wanted to dress, and where they wanted to study and work. But since the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from the country last year, the situation has changed dramatically, with Afghan women once again suffering a significant and rapid rollback of their rights. Since the Taliban... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3188665/after-year-taliban-rule-afghan-women-are-systematically?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3188665/after-year-taliban-rule-afghan-women-are-systematically?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Aug 2022 19:30:26 +0000 More than three decades after the abortion pill first became available, legislation to approve the drug is winding its way through Japan’s parliament. The move follows an application last year by British pharmaceutical company Linepharma International to market medication for terminating pregnancies in the country. An important question needs to be raised here: to what extent can Japan’s new legislation – which is likely to be approved by the end of the year – be described as a laudable step... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3180280/legalising-abortion-pill-only-half-battle-women-japan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3180280/legalising-abortion-pill-only-half-battle-women-japan?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Jun 2022 02:45:18 +0000 India is known for its multiculturalism; people follow different faiths, speak different languages and believe in different values. But while communalism – a political philosophy rooted in these ethnic and cultural diversities – was once a fringe issue, today, the tensions between different groups have become a persistent feature of India’s polity, placing religious minority groups in an increasingly vulnerable position. The secularism on which the world’s largest democracy was built has been... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3164116/indias-leaders-are-failing-protect-muslim-women-online-abuse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3164116/indias-leaders-are-failing-protect-muslim-women-online-abuse?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Jan 2022 22:45:22 +0000 For decades, governments and organisations have been steering policymaking towards achieving gender equality in all spheres of life. In 2006, the first Global Gender Gap report benchmarked countries on their progress towards gender parity. Fifteen years later, one would expect to see great strides in overcoming inequalities. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. As 2022 commences, deeply ingrained gender norms continue to restrict millions of women around the globe from enjoying democratic... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3162204/how-coronavirus-pandemic-set-back-global-push-gender-equality-2021?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3162204/how-coronavirus-pandemic-set-back-global-push-gender-equality-2021?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Jan 2022 01:15:23 +0000 The withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan has provided the Taliban with the means to once again establish power across the country. Since its rapid advance to seize the capital, Kabul, thousands of people have been trying to flee. No one has dreaded the return of the Taliban more than Afghanistan’s women, who in the past 20 years have made significant progress. Given the Taliban’s brutal suppression of women’s rights in the past, this progress is now under threat. Thus, the important question... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3146458/why-taliban-pledges-mean-little-afghan-women-facing-their-worst?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3146458/why-taliban-pledges-mean-little-afghan-women-facing-their-worst?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Aug 2021 06:00:20 +0000