30 SEPTEMBER 2019
China women still battling tradition, 70 years after revolution
China is falling in gender equality rankings amid discrimination, government calls for women to marry and have babies
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/china-women-battling-tradition-70-years-revolution-190927054320939.html
17 SEPTEMBER 2019
Indonesia Raises Minimum Marriage Age for Girls to 19
The Indonesian parliament on Monday raised minimum marriage age for girls from 16 to 19 years, as the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation responded to pressure to end child weddings
https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/indonesian/indonesia-children-09162019163902.html
https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3027708/indonesia-raises-minimum-age-brides-19-bid-end-child
7 FEBRUARY 2019
India’s Congress to scrap law punishing Muslim men for instant divorce if voted back to power
India’s main opposition Congress party said on Thursday (Feb 7) it would scrap a decree passed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government prescribing jail terms for Muslim men seeking an instant divorce if the party wins an election due by May
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/indias-congress-to-scrap-law-punishing-muslim-men-for-instant-divorce-if-voted-back
https://theprint.in/politics/bjp-says-congresss-promise-to-scrap-triple-talaq-bill-is-perverted-mentality/189386/
7 DECEMBER 2018
Thousands of women and girls are being trafficked from Myanmar to China and forced to marry, study finds
Thousands of vulnerable women and girls from northern Myanmar are being trafficked to China and forced to marry, a study said on Friday (Dec 7), offering a rare look at an issue that grips the conflict-hit borderlands
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/forced-marriage-trafficking-victims-children-vulnerable-china-myanmar-report-a8672451.html
https://www.dw.com/en/thousands-of-myanmar-women-forced-into-marriages-in-china/a-46625465
25 NOVEMBER 2018
China’s stolen children, a nationwide scourge
Every year in China, tens of thousands of children are kidnapped. Most of them are sold to families who are seeking to adopt a child, regardless of the cost. This report follows one Chinese father who found his daughter again, 24 years after she was snatched in broad daylight. It’s a rare happy ending amid a nationwide scourge. Our colleagues from France 2 report, with FRANCE 24’s Bryan Quinn
https://www.france24.com/en/20181121-focus-china-missing-stolen-children-human-trafficking-kidnappings-abductions-adoptions
1 SEPTEMBER 2018
Myanmar releases 75 more child soldiers: UNICEF
There are no concrete figures on how many children are still among the estimated 500,000 troops that serve in Myanmar’s military, or the ethnic rebel armies that it battles in the country’s border regions
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/myanmar-releases-75-more-child-soldiers-unicef
http://ednews.net/en/news/conflicts/315515-myanmar-military-discharges-75-child-soldiers
26 JUNE 2018
India the most dangerous country to be a woman : Poll
India is the most dangerous country in the world to be a woman because of the high risk of sexual violence and slave labor, a new survey of experts shows
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-most-dangerous-nation-for-women-poll/articleshow/64743289.cms
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/25/health/india-dangerous-country-women-survey-intl/index.html
5 MAY 2018
Teenager raped, burned to death in India
Indian police have arrested 14 people suspected of kidnapping, raping and burning to death a teenage girl, the latest in rising crimes against women in India despite the toughening of laws
https://www.trtworld.com/asia/teenager-raped-burned-to-death-in-india-17218
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-44016176
21 APRIL 2018
India approves death penalty for rape of girls under 12
India’s cabinet on Saturday approved the death penalty for rapists of girls below the age of 12, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an emergency meeting in response to nationwide outrage in the wake of a series of cases
https://www.trtworld.com/asia/india-approves-death-penalty-for-rape-of-girls-under-12-16906
http://www.dw.com/en/india-prescribes-death-penalty-for-child-rape/a-43480914
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-death-penalty-child-rape-sentencing-rapists-a8315716.html
9 APRIL 2018
Indian police rescue 70 children working in ‘inhuman conditions’
Indian police have rescued more than 70 child workers during ongoing raids in one of the country’s hubs for cheap, artificial jewellery sold in the US, UK and European markets
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2018/apr/09/indian-police-rescue-over-70-children-working-in-jewellery-manufacturing
Why are Indian authorities failing to protect women?
A recent series of gruesome rapes and murders has sparked outrage in northern India. The incidents are the latest for a region with a grim history of violence against women. Murali Krishnan reports from New Delhi
http://www.dw.com/en/why-are-indian-authorities-failing-to-protect-women/a-42202934
11 OCTOBER 2017
Sex with underage wife is rape, Indian supreme court rules
India’s supreme court has struck down a law allowing men to have sex with children as young as 15 provided the pair are married
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/11/sex-with-underage-wife-is-indian-supreme-court-rules
http://www.dw.com/en/indias-top-court-says-sex-with-child-bride-is-rape/a-40902473
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-sc-says-girl-child-can-t-be-treated-as-commodity-calls-separate-marriage-laws-for-hindus-and-muslims-mockery-2552174
22 AUGUST 2017
India’s Supreme Court rules ‘triple talaq’ Muslim divorce law ‘unconstitutional’
India’s Supreme Court has ruled a controversial Muslim instant divorce law unconstitutional, a landmark victory for Muslim women who had long argued that it violated their right to equality
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-23/indias-supreme-court-rules-muslim-divorrce-law-unconstitutional/8832692?section=world
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-41008802
25 JUNE 2017
Burma has released 67 child soldiers in first discharge of the year – UNICEF
As part of an ongoing process to end the forced recruitment of underage children into its army, the Burmese military has released 67 child soldiers. According to AFP, as published by Burmese news site Mizzima, the former junta in Burma had steadily recruited underage fighters for decades until 2012
https://asiancorrespondent.com/2017/06/burma-released-67-child-soldiers-first-discharge-year-unicef/#OZW3iSpgYHrEBi2w.97
28 APRIL 2017
Indonesia: Female clerics issue fatwas against child marriage, marital rape
Underage marriage, marital rape, and destruction of the environment were targeted by religious edicts issued by a group of prominent female clerics in Muslim-majority Indonesia this week
https://asiancorrespondent.com/2017/04/indonesia-female-clerics-issue-fatwas-child-marriage-marital-rape/
5 APRIL 2017
Malaysia passes child sex crimes law, but does not ban child marriage
Only 140 of the 12,987 cases of child sexual abuse reported to police between 2012 and July 2016 resulted in convictions. “The law is more stringent now… but not enough,” Ms Teo Nie Ching, the opposition MP who proposed the ban on child marriages
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysia-decides-not-to-criminalise-child-marriage
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/womens-group-a-life-of-rape-for-victims-who-marry-rapists
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2017/04/05/rapists-need-prisons-not-marriage/
23 MARCH 2017
10 pc of Filipino children sexually abused at home – NGO
One out of 10 Filipino children encounter sexual violence at home, according to international humanitarian relief organisation World Vision Philippines. GMA News Online reported the organisation as saying the Philippines also ranked at 10th place worldwide in terms of sexual exploitation of children between the ages of 10 and 14
https://asiancorrespondent.com/2017/03/10-pc-filipino-children-sexually-abused-home-ngo/#zF7tDfaw2j3mjqGW.97
30 NOVEMBER 2016
What’s in your shopping basket? Top companies Kellogg’s, Unilever and Nestlé linked to ‘child-labour palm oil’ in Indonesia
Global firms behind popular brands such as Kit Kat, Colgate toothpaste and Dove cosmetics use palm oil produced by child workers in dangerous conditions, Amnesty International has claimed
http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2050409/whats-your-shopping-basket-top-companies-kelloggs-unilever
6 OCTOBER 2016
Pakistan parliament passes legislation against ‘honour killings’
A joint session of the lower and upper houses of parliament, broadcast live on television, approved the new anti-honour killing law, removing a loophole in existing law that allows killers to walk free after being pardoned by family members
http://www.dawn.com/news/1288177/pakistan-passes-anti-honour-killings-and-anti-rape-bills
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/pakistan-parliament-pass
26 SEPTEMBER 2016
Ending the use of child soldiers in the Philippines
The United Nations and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have pledged to safeguard the rights of children and have implemented an action plan to ensure that children affected by armed conflicts are better protected
http://www.dw.com/en/ending-the-use-of-child-soldiers-in-the-philippines/a-35890128
12 SEPTEMBER 2016
Human trafficking: NGO calls for Indonesia, Malaysia ‘modern slavery’ investigation
An Indonesian NGO says 11,000 people have been trafficked from an eastern province since 2009
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-12/calls-for-indonesia-human-trafficking-probe/7785654?section=world
6 SEPTEMBER 2016
A generation left behind: Millions of Chinese children abandoned as parents seek work
Around 61 million children are left behind in China’s rural villages and towns while their parents work in the big cities, and many of the ‘left-behind’ kids suffer from emotional trauma, depression or anxiety
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2016-09-06/a-generation-left-behind-millions-of-chinese-children-abandoned-as-parents-seek-work/1614920
26 JULY 2016
India parliament passes controversial child labour law
India’s parliament on Tuesday (Jul 26) passed a new labour law that allows children to work for their families despite concerns by activists that it will hurt their development.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/india-parliament-passes/2989198.html
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-child-labour-bill-passed-in-parliament-admist-doubt-over-loopholes-2238402
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36901465
9 JULY 2016
India’s Children of Slavery
“They raped me. They tied me in a sack and threw me into the river.” Rinki, 13, is one of 100,000 children in India sold into slavery each year. These are their stories – plus the efforts of their rescuers like Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/tv/tvshows/insight/india-s-children-of/2897386.html
1 APRIL 2016
Pakistan honour killings on the rise, report reveals
Nearly 1,100 women were killed in Pakistan last year by relatives who believed they had dishonoured their families, the country’s independent Human Rights Commission says
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35943732
13 MARCH 2016
Myanmar army frees 46 child soldiers: state media
Myanmar’s powerful military releases 46 child soldiers from service, state media reports, the latest move towards ending a scourge that has long beset the nation.
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2016-03-13/myanmar-army-frees-46-child-soldiers-state-media/1558258
7 MARCH 2016
Defending Pakistani women against honour killings
Only days after Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy accepted her Academy Award for best short subject documentary for A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness highlighting Pakistan’s honour killing epidemic, the killings continued
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/03/defending-pakistani-women-honour-killings-160307075135769.html
26 FEBRUARY 2016
Pakistan has 24 million children out of school: Government
Of the 50.8 million children aged five to 16 in the country, 47 per cent do not receive an education, according to the annual Pakistan Education Statistics report for 2014-2015.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/pakistan-has-24-million/2552540.html
10 OCTOBER 2014
Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi share Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to India’s Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai for their struggles against the suppression of children and for young people’s rights, including the right to education.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/10/world/europe/nobel-peace-prize/index.html?hpt=ias_c1
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/11153860/Malala-Yousafzai-the-youngest-ever-Nobel-Peace-Prize-winner-in-60-seconds.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29564935
15 SEPTEMBER 2014
Bangladesh sets two-year jail term for child marriage
Bangladesh on Monday approved a law setting a two-year jail term for anyone involved in marrying a girl aged under 18, in a bid to cut the country’s notoriously high child marriage rate.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/432404/bangladesh-sets-two-year-jail-term-for-child-marriage
12 SEPTEMBER 2014
Half South Asia’s girls marry before 18: UN
Nearly half of all girls in South Asia marry before they turn 18, according to a United Nations (UN) report that lays bare what it calls “glaring inequalities”
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/half-south-asia-s-girls/1359310.html
31 AUGUST 2014
In Afghanistan, 8 years old girl married to 12 years old boy
In the district of Sholgara of Balkh province, a man named Momen gave away his eight-year-old daughter Meena to wed a 12-year old boy because he could not support having his daughter live with him
http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/16174-8-year-old-girl-married-off-to-12-year-old-boy
29 AUGUST 2014
Sex abuse against teens rising in Korea: report
The number of teenage victims of sex crimes went from 7,893 in 2011 to 8,808 in 2012 and 9,721 in 2013, according to police data revealed by Rep. Lee Cheol-woo of the Saenuri Party. Most victims were female, but the number of male victims was 506, marking a 75 percent increase from two years earlier
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140829000532