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Women and gender

Women and gender
News and analysis on women's rights, the gender gap, LGBTQ issues, sexual harassment, sexual minorities and masculinity in Asia and beyond.
last updated:
16 October, 2024
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office on Friday. Photo: AP
Donald Trump

Pages wiped from US government websites as Trump targets ‘gender ideology’

Information on public health, contraception and transgender people was taken down, while staff removed pronouns from their email signatures.

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Sexual harassment and assault

Gisele Pelicot’s ex-husband caught up in 1990s murder and rape cases

Social media

Opinion | China’s gender conversations must go offline to empower everyone

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Donald Trump

Trump White House revokes spending freeze after widespread confusion

Dramatic reversal came after days of uncertainty and anxiety rocked US states and non-profit organisations.

People protest against a funding freeze of federal grants and loans near the White House on Tuesday. Photo: AP
Americas and the Caribbean

Colombia’s ‘webcam models’ slam abuse in online sex industry

They say studio owners in Colombia often prey on women from poor backgrounds, single mothers and the less educated.

Lunar New Year

Women in this Chinese lion dance troupe also fling around the men

The Lingdong troupe from Shantou in China includes around 20 female performers, but there has been some mockery amid the positive reactions.

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India

Man sentenced over murder, rape of doctor in India

A police volunteer was found guilty of the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor in India.

Trending in China

‘Super fierce bridesmaids’ join muscle-bound China bride, excitement ensues

Unusual nuptials see ‘champion’ female wedding party flex ample muscles to delight, amazement of online observers.

Thailand

‘I do’ … at last: LGBTQ couples in Thailand marry as same-sex unions legalised

The new law allows couples aged 18 or above to marry regardless of their gender, and access to medical, inheritance and property rights.

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Trending in China

China influencer calls on men to wear Adam’s apple ‘bras’ to champion rights of women

Online influencer claims male laryngeal prominence is ‘delicate’, ‘sensitive’ and even ‘sexual in some instances’, just like women’s breasts.

An online influencer in China has called on her male friends to wear Adam’s apple ‘bras’ to champion women’s rights, gaining widespread support. Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin
Japan

Teenage girls groped by Japan’s ‘chikan’ train perverts offered exam resits

It follows widespread reports of train gropers targeting students who were heading to university entrance exams over the weekend.

Young Japanese women wearing kimono stand in a train in Yokohama earlier this month. Photo: EPA-EFE
South Korea

For the first time in a decade, Asia’s lowest birth rate is on the rise

South Korea has the world’s lowest fertility rates, but an uptick in pandemic-postponed marriages has sparked optimism for family growth.

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Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration

Trump calls Washington bishop ‘nasty’ after criticism from cathedral pulpit

The US president was forced to sit through a sermon by a bishop who begged him to have ‘mercy’ on gays and poor immigrants.

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India

Indian man who raped, killed doctor gets sentenced to life in prison

Police volunteer Sanjay Roy, 33, who has consistently maintained his innocence, can appeal the judgment in a higher court.

Indian activists shout outside the Sessions court in Sealdah, Kolkata. The court on Monday sentenced police volunteer Sanjay Roy to life in prison after finding him guilty in the rape and killing of a trainee doctor last year. Photo: EPA-EFE
The Philippines

In Catholic Philippines, President Marcos vows to veto ‘woke’ sex education bill

The bill, which Marcos said teaches 4-year-olds about pleasuring themselves aims to address high teen pregnancy rates, has been met with opposition by conservatives.

Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, Photo: AFP
Taliban

‘Injustice’: Taliban deputy urges group to scrap female education ban

Sher Abbas Stanikzai urged the group’s leaders ‘to open the doors of education … we are committing an injustice’.

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India

India police volunteer convicted of rape, murder of junior doctor in Kolkata

The crime sparked protests seeking justice and better security at public hospitals and national outrage over a lack of safety for women.

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Lunar

Asean panel shows split views on gender equality

A recent Asean panel on women’s rights shows how views on achieving gender equality remain divided.

India

India’s police arrest 5 more men in ‘nightmare’ sexual abuse of teen

The unnamed woman, now 18, said around 60 men sexually abused her in her southern home state of Kerala beginning from when she was just 13.

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Pakistan

Malala Yousafzai urges Muslim leaders not to ‘legitimise’ Taliban

The Nobel laureate urged Muslim leaders to oppose the Afghan Taliban government’s curbs on women and girls’ education.

Sexual harassment and assault

Daughter of French rapist Pelicot thinks he drugged and abused her too

In her first TV interview since her father’s trial, Caroline Darian calls him a dangerous man who should die in prison.

Caroline Darian (centre) arrives at the courthouse in Avignon in December. Photo: AFP
Pakistan

Malala goes home while Taliban avoids Muslim girls’ education conference

The Nobel laureate said she was ‘overwhelmed’ to be back in her native Pakistan for a global summit on girls’ education in the Islamic world.

Malala Yousafzai participates in a panel discussion Johannesburg Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa, on December 5, 2023. Photo: AFP
India

Indian nurse’s death sentence in Yemen spotlights migrant workers’ woes

Nimisha Priya’s claims of passport confiscation among ‘problematic practices’ experienced by migrant workers in the Middle East, analysts say.

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Work in progress: gender equality

Women still a rare presence on boards of Hong Kong companies

Hong Kong lags behind many markets despite a new rule requiring listed companies to have at least one woman on their boards of directors.

Diversity and inclusion

Editorial | Women show worth on company boards

On the 50th anniversary of landmark UN conference, Hong Kong is making strides in greater female representation.

HKEX CEO Bonnie Chan Yiting said companies are making progress on appointing women to their boards. Photo: Jonathan Wong
American cinema

What comeback? The Substance director hails Demi Moore after Golden Globe

Coralie Fargeat says Moore ‘always delivered pretty great performances’, as talk turns to Oscar prospects of actress after Golden Globe win.

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Demi Moore poses with the award for best actress in a musical or comedy, for The Substance, at the Golden Globes. Photo: Reuters
Italy

Pope Francis names Italian sister as first woman to lead major Vatican office

The appointment signals significant advancement in women’s leadership within the Catholic Church.

Banking & finance

As Hong Kong rings in 2025, 85 firms miss cutoff to install women in boards

Number of listed firms with all-male boards fell to 3 per cent from 40 per cent when rule was first announced in 2022, HKEX data shows.

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