A district officer from a Community Development Department in Sindhi writes an extensive note on honor killings in Pakistan, its correlation to increased tribal power in Pakistan and recommendations to limit its practise.

CBI's report (and its selective media leaks) about the Shopian rape cases have not only been viewed skeptically in Kashmir but has also strengthened feelings among residents that justice cannot be expected. Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal reports.

Yogi Sikand reviews a book writen by Musawah (Sisters in Islam)

Amrita Nandy-Joshi writes that while Taliban's fundamentalism has been a cause of global horror, its anti-women policies have been questioned little. But its not just the Taliban - across South Asia, women rights continue to be marginalized by patriarchal theories in the garb of religious practices.

The passage of a law in Afghanistan asking Muslim women to unconditionally submit to the sexual whims of their husbands once in four days is a shocking piece of legislation that seeks to dehumanise women reducing them to mere chattels devoid of human rights. By A. Faizur Rahman.

We have heard various terms describe Gandhi - but never hear someone say he is a feminist. Aparna Gard writes about Gandhi's role in the feminist movement in India and the relevance of his ideas to today's Indian society.

March 8, 2009: As the world is celebrating international women’s day 2009 on the theme “Women and men united to end violence against women and girls”, we the undersigned civil society organisations from Sri Lanka wish to highlight and express our deep concern at the increasing vulnerability of women, especially those living in the conflict affected areas to violence and brutality in the context of the ongoing conflict between the government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and increasing militarization and societal violence in Sri Lanka.

Yogi Sikand writes from the conference on Islamic family law in Tehran, on family law reforms within the Muslim world.

Sandeep Pandey writes about the ongoing hunger strike by women in Manipur demanding repeal of AFSPA.

A photo-exhibit Jalil at the Chobi Mela highlights the situation of women imprisoned in Bangladesh.

Rahnuma Ahmed talks about a book project by a group of young Bangladeshi women - talking about girlhood and womanhood.

Police subject hijras and human rights defenders to illegal detention and arrests, custodial torture and sexual assault

Rahnuma Ahmed writes about the ongoing strike by students in Jahangirnagar University on continued sexual harassment by members of faculty and the absence of any due process by the University to address this.

Rahnuma Ahmed explores struggles of women in a patriarchal family order within the context of democratic struggles. This was originally published in the New Age

Nigar Ataulla writes about the stereotypes that Muslim women in India face from the broader community on one hand, and the disconnect with Muslim institutions on the other.

Jahangirpur University must not dither over policy against sexual harassment

The AHRC has received information from the National Council for Human Rights, Faisalabad that a 17-year-old girl was abducted by police officials and kept for almost 16 days in private custody where she was raped and tortured to confess her involvement in the murder of her fiancée. Her elder sister was also brought in police lock up and held, naked for three days naked to pressure the sister to confess to the charges.

‘Honour’ in most societies is premised on women’s bodies and behaviour. Any perceived deviation meets with violence of many kinds. Article by Kalpana Sharma in the Hindu.

`You should not have written about such sensitive issues in such indecorous language,’ faculty members at Jahangirnagar University (JU) told me and my ex-colleague, Manosh Chowdhury. It was 1997, four years before I left JU to become a writer. An article by Rahnuma Ahmed.

Banat-e Islam Ki Dini Wa Ilmi Khidmat ('The Religious and Intellectual Contributions of Muslim Women'), authored by Maulana Qazi Athar Mubarakpuri. Book Review by Yogi Sikand.

Even though the Northeastern states are economically poorer compared to North India, male oppression in the society is lesser. In this article, Sriram Ananthanarayanan talks about the status of women in these societies.

One indicator of the development of a society is its female literacy rate and, related to this, the number of its female scholars. On both these fronts, India's Muslims are among the lowest of all the
communities in the country. An article by Yogi Sikand, reviewing a study by Maulana Syeed Ghulam Mustafa Bukhari Aqeel.

On 8^th March, United Nations agencies, governments and non-governmental organisations across the world celebrated “International Women’s Day”. But in the United Nations Human Rights Council there was silence about the lack of protection for the victims of trafficking. An Asian Center for Human RIghts report.

interview with Radio Gwank Balochistan - Advocate Shaker Bibi Baloch - Chairman of Baloch Women Panel - has demanded to Pakistani Government and the whole world community, that coming election in Balochistanon should be held on the basis of " right of self-determination".... as to enable Balochs to decide their own future destiny.

Communities from around Pakistan have sent reports of events and resolutions marking Women's Day.

Separate madrasas for Muslim girls are a relatively recent phenomenon in India. Although the number of such madrasas is still small, there is a distinct trend towards setting up more such institutions, both
that provide only religious education, as well as those that combine both Islamic and modern subjects.An article by Yogi Sikand.

Writers and artists gathered to protest West Bengal Government's treatment of Taslima Nasreen, despite a High Court Order that her novel was breaking no laws, in what reeks of communal appeasement and male chauvinism. More importantly, the state decided to prosecute the fundamental right to expression.

The alleged gang rape committed by the Greyhounds personnel on eleven tribal women of Vakapalli village on 20^th August, 2007 has drawn  nationwide attention due to the relentless struggle for justice to the rape victims by various  women’s’, people’s,and rights’ organisations of Vishakhapatnam and Adivasi Aikya Porata Samithi (comprising of political parties and tribal organizations) of Paderu agency area.

No, if you are a gender sensitive man, you don't have to worry at all. Yes, but those who are not sensitive, inconsiderate, unsupportive or inhuman towards the female members of their family, have to worry.

"We do not buy seeds from the market because we suspect they may be contaminated with genetically engineered or terminator seeds," says Pavamma, a Dalit woman in village Palarum, near the town of Zaheerabad, about 110 kms north-west of the high-tech city of Hyderabad. Women of Zaheerabad take on Monsanto and show the way to food security.

Instant weddings in the eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh highlight a disturbing fact - the State's very low sex ratio. This article by Aman Sethi first appeared in the Frontline.

The following story was sent to us by a citizen's investigation group in Chattisgarh. While the source for this story is not clear, and though it has been reported in some niche blogs, we are hoping that discussions will shed some light on the matter as well as raise public pressure to hold the police superintendent(if responsible) guilty for rape of a tribal woman in naxal infested Chattisgarh.

The Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies, a group founded in 2001, has been active on women's rights and sexuality despite increasingly constrained spaces and growing violence. In November it organized The international conference "Women, Sexual Rights and Reproductive Rights: Gains, freedoms and resistances" in Tunisia.

While it makes only a small dent, the Women's Protection Bill (WPB) casts the first stone at undoing  the many  draconian laws invented by Ziaul Haq. It took 27 long years, five governments and seven years for the incumbents to even begin the undoing process. Clearly in the business of law, demolition is far more cumbersome  than construction. 

Sagar Shabnam writes for the Women's Features Service finds that uterus cancer has affected many in Bangladesh and that grassroots level awareness may be the most effective way of saving lives.

An integral part of PWN+ activities is to sensitise communities and mainstream healthcare providers so that women living with HIV/AIDS are not denied treatment or subjected to indignity.

Irom Sharmila, a Manipuri woman fasting in Delhi has brought focus on to the heniousness and the implications of this Act that has allowed soliders perpetrate excesses under the guise of protection of  national interests.

The state of Uttaranchal currently has no comprehensive policy on or rights of children. This is a report by 16yr old Tushar, who attended a conference with children from the mountains focusing on this issue.

The global community is anguished that, in the latest outbreak of violence in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces as well as the LTTE are targeting unarmed civilians.

Mannar has now become the battle ground between the Sri Lankan Navy and the Sea Tigers. Women here are afraid of being raped by the armed forces in retaliation for any attacks. This note from Mannar Women for Human Rights and Democracy adds that this has happened many times in the past and things could only get worse, since the forces are now officially allowed to wear face masks in order to protect their identity as happened, for instance, at the Pesalai church on June 17^th.

Surabhi Singh reviews the state of women in Rajastan arguing that the state needs to proactively work to ensure even basic human rights are accessible.

Zulfiqar Halepoto writes about Jirgas conducted by political leaders inspite of courts declaring it illegal and requests people to write to Chief Justice of Pakistan.

There is growing violence against women in Sri Lanka – especially those who are working with NGOs. Threats have been issued by various agencies of LTTE.

A residential school for girls, in the shadow of the peak of Nanda Devi, has been graduating confident young women from the girls of Kumaon hills.

On the Occasion of World Social Forum 2006 at Karachi, Indus Valley Theater Network organized different events for promoting cultural activities, using it as strong tool of social change and social integrity of the deprived segments of the society. Javed Soz Halai reports.

According to National Crimes Report Bureau, 1.5 lakh crimes against women are registered annually out of which nearly 50,000 are related to domestic violence. It is believed that close to 5 crore women suffer from violence in their homes; however only 0.1% are courageous enough to report.

Living in a large metropolis in the US, I have often wondered what the point of a ‘Women’s Day’ is all about.

The article on textbook edits received numerous comments – with different perspectives but all very thoughtful. And one thing they made clear – some form of editing of the current textbooks is needed and the edits have to be sensitive to our communities.

After farmer's suicide deaths in Maharashtra's rural areas, the next development in India's relentless race to open up economy through consumerism is the seemingly mass movement of prostitution in 'poor' strata of educated urban families.

Javed Soz Halai reports on the conditions of honor killing in Sindh.

The first-ever World Health Organization (WHO) study on domestic violence reveals that intimate partner violence is the most common form of violence in women's lives - much more so than assault or rape by strangers or acquaintances.

While the cases filed against Guriya have not been resolved fully, on sunday(13/11/05) Guriya activists worked with the police to rescue of six more minor girls. Ajeet and Manju also accompanied the police to the rescue point.

Members of a group working to rescue under-aged sex workers, a group with local and international credibility built over years of action, is now hiding from police, after leading a raid that rescued over 17 under-aged girls from a prostitution ring. What happened?

“What about the women regularly abused in the countryside by landlords and powerful elements of the rural bureaucracy? What about the small girls brought to a Karachi hospital recently who were found to have been brutally assaulted? Did they go through rape to get a Canadian visa or Canadian citizenship? And if conditions in the country are so bad that to leave it, women are ready to go to the extent of concocting stories of being dishonored, then too we should be prepared to shed tears if we have any”, an editorial in Dawn asked off its readers.

While there have been few systematic studies, reports and investigations – whatever few have been put together – show that violence against girls is quite pervasive in our class rooms and that it is affecting quality of education and the number of girls in education institutions in India.

While there is a greater focus on increased participation of girls in education programs, without acknowledging the extent of gender violence in our schools, success of these programs is unlikely.

When legislators and representatives in the Maharashtra State Assembly were debating the bill banning dancing girls in bars, they were supposedly doing this to protect the dignity of women and for the welfare of women. However, some citizens groups (listed below) who observed the discussions reported quite differently.

India is a land of diversity with different linguistic, ethnic, religious, groups and has a unique feature of ‘unity in diversity’. Indian culture is distinct and each ethnic group has the liberty to maintain their religious identity. Among the different religious groups in India Muslims constitute the largest minority group i.e. 13% of the India’s total population.

This is the story of women who were widowed and others who also lost their near and dear ones in the Naroda-Patiya (Ahmedabad) carnage in 2002, and who have since gotten together to form a collective effort that would revitalize their livelihoods and maybe rejuvenate their lives.

The turnaround of justice in the rape of Mukhtaran Mai has forced its government and its citizens to ask tough questions of themselves. The future will wait to see if they choose to acknowledge those questions or whether they will ignore them.

A freewheeling interview with Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi on women in Iran, Islam, human rights, terrorism and the USA. This interview was conducted for The Progressive.

Have we, as consumers, ever stopped to wonder where the trinkets, ornaments, decorative pieces that we buy, the very clothes that we wear and the cuppa tea that starts our day, come from?

One wants money. The other wants the girl married at any cost. The
exchange takes place. This is the blatant exchange group where demands
are outlined clearly.

Justice (Retd.) Nasir Aslam Zahid is the Dean, Faculty of Law at Hamdard University in Karachi. He speaks on the rape of Dr. Shazia.

The first issue of the journal Education Review, looks at the gender biases that affect education of the girl child in India. This is an excerpt from an article in the journal.

Vignesh Nandkumar presents an analysis of the Educations trends in India, and its correlation to social and economic changes. This was first published in the Education Review

The assault and rape of a medical doctor associated with Pakistan Petroleum Limited in Sui, Balochistan has created an uproar among the Balochi community and anger among the Pakistani Medical community. The Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America has also condemned the event and demanded justice for the doctor.

Mohammad Shehzad talks about the new attempt by the NWFP government to further constrain rights of women.

Suraiya Tabassum is a Delhi-based researcher and is actively involved in Muslim women’s issues. She is the author of ‘Waiting for the New Dawn: Muslim Women’s Perceptions of Muslim Personal Law and its Practices’ (New Delhi: Indian Social Institute, 2004). In this interview with Yoginder Sikand she speaks about her work.

India has one of the poorest sex ratios in the world and among the most skewed literacy rates. Statisticians, policy makers and arm-chair analysts have presented numerous arguments on how this relates to the economic growth of the country, to the overall literacy rates or government spending on literacy.

The UNDP Development Indices for India presented a large gender divide in India forcing us to acknowledge that in times of increased economic growth, women in modern India continue to face systemic discrimination and are disempowered.

On Oct. 26, Pakistani lawmakers took a significant step in protecting the rights of women when the lower house of Pakistan’s Parliament passed legislation that would recommend imprisonment of seven years to life for honor killings, and the death penalty in extreme cases.

On October 31st, 2003, the first Women's Party of India was formed. The party, founded by activist Varsha Kale, this party contested 9 seats in the Maharastra State Elections.

A man looks for drinking water in western Gujarat - and this is what he can find. Photograph from Utthaan archives.

Dr Syed Ehtisham writes on the violence of honor killings in Pakistan and the response of the inaction by the state. This article was first published for SadaTV (www.sadatv.com).

Human Development Indices from 2004 report by UNDP point to very high gender inequalities in South Asia.

If one in every four individuals of a state was to experience an “affliction” leading to pain, injury and death we would have proclaimed that there is an “epidemic” outbreak in the state. And yet, when that same statistics is reported as a consequence of “domestic violence” in the US, we are unconcerned.

The expression "eve teasing" is Indian in origin; you won't find it in most
dictionaries. Native speakers of English don't use it.

Labor ministry officials say that out of 851,000 Sri Lankans employed in the Gulf states alone, 70.6% are women.

expressing the essence of biculturalism in South Asian-American women

"I promise never to give or take dowry."

Women's Grassroots Activism and Social Spaces in Chitrakoot, India.

Most South Asian domestic workers are employed as live-ins and forced to work 16–17 hours a day.

Women's Grassroots Activism and Social Spaces in Chitrakoot, India.

Women's Grassroots Activism and Social Spaces in Chitrakoot, India.

(From time to time, The South Asian will publish detailed research articles consistent with its mission in serialized form. This is the first of such articles.)

The exploitation of workers in the U.S, especially immigrant women workers, is widespread in homes, factories, offices and restaurants.

Until now, the women of Jammu and Kashmir were living under an archaic law that denied them equality and justice.

Despite the existence of several socio-feminist movements and the passing of laws in 1961, declaring Dowry (money and wealth transactions in marriages by coercion, between the bride and the groom) illegal, India still witnesses horrific perpetration of crime on women, as a consequence of inadequate dowry payments in the marriages.