From Parliament to Platforms: How Sri Lanka’s Women Leaders Face Digital Violence As women's visibility in Sri Lankan politics has increased, so too has the volume of gender-based abuse, particularly online.

Taiwan has highest share of female legislators in Asia More than 40% of legislative seats in Taiwan were held by women last year, the highest proportion in Asia, the government said in its latest report on gender equality.

Struggles and limitations to curb dating violence in South Korea Despite years of rising cases, police, prosecutors and & scholars say the absence of a dedicated law addressing dating violence continues to leave victims exposed and authorities constrained even as political leaders promise action.

Domestic abuse, cybercrime emerge as major threats in complaints by women in Sri Lanka New data from the 1938 Women’s Helpline shows that hundreds of women are reaching out for help each month amid rising patterns of abuse both at home and online.

Japanese labour leader opposes govt's surname plan The plan "would not be a full-fledged solution (to the current situation in which married couples are forced to use the same family name)," said Tomoko Yoshino, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) president.

Japan seeks to legally recognize birth names for married couples According to government sources, the bill will be based on Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s proposal, which would require national and local governments, as well as businesses, to accommodate the use of birth surnames in daily life.

The Women of Midwinter What we hear less about nowadays are the female figures associated with Yuletide, often credited with the struggles of birth and death.

Taiwan moves to expand assisted reproduction access for single and queer women Women’s groups welcomed the Cabinet’s approval of draft amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act, saying the changes mark significant progress for women’s reproductive autonomy.

A wage for housework? India's sweeping experiment in paying women 118 million adult women in 12 states now receive unconditional cash transfers from their governments, making India the site of one of the world's largest and least-studied social-policy experiments. www.bbc.com/news/article...

2 marathon organisers arrested in Iran over women running without hijabs Online images of the marathon, which took place on Iran's Kish Island and attracted about 5,000 participants, showed a number of women competing without headscarves. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

S Korean man who poured boiling water on Thai partner's face in court for pretrial hearing The victim said he initially told her he wanted to “make her face unattractive” to prevent her from meeting another man. But, he later denied it & claimed he tripped and accidentally spilled the boiling water.

The sisterhood that saved Afghanistan’s female judges Karen Bartlett’s The Escape from Kabul tells the remarkable story of the women who fought to rescue their colleagues from the Taliban regime.

New Chinese Study Links City Childhood to Early Puberty in Girls Based on brain scans and survey data from nearly 3,000 young women, researchers used age at first menstruation and personality tests to examine how urban childhood environments shape development.

Meta shuts down global accounts linked to abortion advice and queer content More than 50 organisations report sites being restricted or removed, with abortion hotlines blocked and posts showing non-explicit nudity triggering warnings.

Princess Aiko's popularity sparks calls to ditch male-only succession law in Japan Japan has historically had eight female monarchs, the most recent ruling until 1770. But the 1947 Imperial House Law prevents the current emperor's daughter from succeeding him.

Indian couple trolled over skin colour after wedding video goes viral The couple, who married on 23 November, have since gone viral because of the trolling - and their response, as they addressed the criticism head-on.

Iranian authorities arrested Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi on Friday, her foundation said, citing her brother. edition.cnn.com/2025/12/12/m...

Hong Kong activist ‘terrified’ as sexually explicit deepfake images sent to UK neighbours Carmen Lau, 30, a pro-democracy activist and former councillor in Hong Kong, said she believes the letters, which are being investigated by the police, were the latest attempt by China to intimidate her.

South Korea’s Supreme Court confirmed a 5-year prison term for Cho Ju-bin, the mastermind of a notorious online sex blackmail ring, for sexually assaulting a minor, adding to his 42-year sentence for distributing sexually exploitative materials involving minors.

Bro boost: women say their LinkedIn traffic increases if they pretend to be men Collective experiment found switching profile to ‘male’ and ‘bro-coding’ text led to big increase in reach, though site denies favouring posts by men.

Philippines: Child rescue ends in sexual abuse Child rescue groups are trying to save victims from sex trafficking in the Philippines. But an investigation found that they could be enabling abuse.

Gender-based violence against women surges 25% in Pakistan Sahil, an organisation monitoring gender-based violence, has reported a significant rise in crimes against women across Pakistan during the first 11 months of 2025 in its annual report.

Crimes against women and children have declined over the past year in Kazakhstan, a trend attributed to a sweeping new law on domestic violence. Despite these gains, authorities caution that women and children remain at significant risk from abuse.

'I shouldn't have to co-parent with my rapist ex' Becky said women whose abusive partners had been jailed should never have to face them in the family courts to begin with.

Half of Japan local court branches have 1 female lawyer or fewer: poll The finding demonstrates that legal support for sexual abuse or domestic violence victims may be inadequate, as women may often find it difficult to consult about or disclose traumatic experiences to male lawyers.

How many women are in prison and on death row around the world? While fewer women than men are incarcerated, their numbers are rising faster and most often for non-violent offences.

Rising cases prompts greater efforts to lessen violence against women Violence against women remains a pressing concern in Malaysia, with the highest number of cases recorded in the states of Selangor, Perak, Johor, Kedah, and Sabah. #16DaysOfActivism

Reminder, polygamy is domestic abuse: Married Singaporean man kept second wife and kids a secret for 30 years, gets jail for bigamy Ng Teong Min's deception lasted 30 years from 1995 until 2025, when a whistleblower exposed his double life in an email to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

1 in 5 South Korean women faces violence in intimate relationships "Lack of system to statistically capture such violence puts women in more significant danger," says a report by the Korea Women’s Development Institute. #16DaysOfActivism

Hong Kong migrant domestic workers seek support, solace after Tai Po inferno At least 10 of more than 150 people killed in the fire that devastated the high-rise towers of Wang Fuk Court were migrant workers, an often overlooked segment of the workforce.

Taiwan marks 29 years since feminist pioneer Peng Wan-ru's unsolved rape, murder The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said her advocacy later shaped the Local Government Act, which in 1999 required that at least one-quarter of seats in local councils be held by women.

The number of women globally who commit violent crimes is very small – in 2021 they were responsible for just 10% of homicides. But when women do kill, in many cases the victim is a male partner or family member and there is a history of domestic abuse.

Women suffer most from deepfake abuses, and as cases rise, victims need better ways to regain control Being deepfaked can feel like sexual assault, stripping victims of control, identity, and dignity.

A sharp rise in AI-generated sex crimes in South Korea is being driven largely by teenagers, according to police, in what officials describe as a troubling intersection of cheap deepfake technology, digital manipulation and underage offenders. www.koreaherald.com/article/1061...

Women abused, shamed, and silenced online by technology-facilitated gender-based violence, says report Online spaces in India are increasingly becoming sites of gender-based violence, a report by international human rights organisations Equality Now & the Breakthrough Trust said.

Japanese journalist Itō Shiori will release her documentary Black Box Diaries in Japan for the first time on December 12, following controversy over its alleged use of footage without consent.

Nearly 1 in 3 women – estimated 840 million globally – have experienced partner or sexual violence during their lifetime, a figure that has barely changed since 2000. #16DaysOfActivism

A major win for women’s rights in Malaysia. 🇲🇾 A discriminatory rule that prevented Malaysian mothers married to foreign men from passing citizenship to their children born abroad is about to be changed.

Malaysian mothers married to foreign men can soon breathe a sigh of relief, as the process for granting automatic Malaysian citizenship to their children born abroad is actively underway, with plans to implement this by mid-next year.

Gay marriage but no hate crime laws: Thai LGBTQ+ activists see gap Despite its marriage equality law, Thailand lacks a legal framework to track and punish hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community.

The implementation of a 30 per cent women’s quota in politics is not merely to increase the number of women leaders, but an important step towards strengthening the foundation of democracy, said Malaysia's Women, Children and Community Development Select Committee chair Yeo Bee Yin.

Hong Kong NGO calls for legal reform as victims of non-consensual condom removal struggle to seek help A total of 57 out of 277 respondents in the survey said they had experienced stealthing, also known as non-consensual condom removal.

When the Headline Gets It Wrong: Feminism Isn’t the Problem—Patriarchy Is There is no such thing as conservative feminism. The phrase exists because patriarchy has learned to speak the language of empowerment.

Rigid gender roles are prompting women to leave rural Japan A Japanese government report on inequality published in June found that 27% of young women want to leave their hometowns, compared with 15% of young men.

Two Powerful Women Head Differing Taiwan Political Movements Taiwan is witnessing the rise of two radically different female political opponents: Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the opposition Kuomintang’s new chairperson Cheng Li-wun.

Kazakhstan follows Russia in banning ‘LGBTQ propaganda’ Kazakh LGBTQ rights defenders have condemned the proposed legislation and accused the country’s leaders of pandering to Russia.

In China, Victims of Abuse Are Told to ‘Keep It in the Family’ Cases of domestic violence in China point to a legal system that looks good on paper but is failing victims because of a lack of resources and political will. Archive: archive.is/FK4lV

66% of domestic workers say buying menstrual products causes financial stress, Hong Kong NGO finds More than a quarter of respondents reported they did not have enough access to period products.

South Korea's Gwangju district criticized for using female officials as mayor’s backup dancers Mayor Moon In took the stage to sing a hit song, with the officials dancing behind him.

Back to Basics: The Enduring Legacy of the Xiá Nǚ, China’s Original Heroines The captivating history of the Xiá Nǚ, China's trailblazing female warrior who defied gender norms from classical literature to global cinema.