High Asia Herald Report Pakistan ranks the sixth most dangerous country in the world for women, with an alarming rise in cases of sexual crimes,domestic violence and kidnapping and honour crime. VAW is still endemic in Pakistan in a climate of impunity, state inaction, discriminatory legislation and a dysfunctional criminal justice system. Iraqi Nobel Laureate Nadia Murad brings governments and …

High Asia Herald Report The gang-rape of a woman in front of her children after dragging her from her car on a motorway in Punjab prompted outrage and protests across Pakistan and Gilgit-Baltistan with anger further fuelled by Lahore police chief remarks, blaming the victim for travelling alone. Protest against motorway gang rape incident at National Press Club Islamabad on …

A woman was raped on the motorway. The police blamed her. Twitter was enraged. This is a dangerous country for women. And anyone who says otherwise is probably living in a parallel universe with no connection to ground realities. But what makes everything worse is when officers are hired and paid to protect the public — we believe that does …

Covid-19 has exposed the myth of the neoliberal free-market economic model   Herald Report The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the world is at breaking point, and the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the free market and deep divisions in society, calling for a new global deal to combat climate change, forced migration, diseases, patriarchy and racism. Inequality, …

Beware of splashy corporate gestures when they leave existing power structures intact. by Helen Lewis Tumbrels are rattling through the streets of the internet. Over the past few years, online-led social movements have deposed gropers, exposed bullies — and, sometimes, ruined the lives of the innocent. Commentators warn of “mob justice,” while activists exult in their newfound power to change the …

Zulaykho Usmanova addressing Women Forum in Dushanbe Feminism is not adequately perceived in Central Asian societies, writes Lolisanam Ulugova in the online magazine ‘The Voices on Central Asia’. Some consider it as a threat to the existing traditions of the patriarchal foundation, when a woman (responsible for too many things in the family) can get out of control, damaging the …

AIG informs the court that SP city has been suspended and inquiry initiated. all students released Herald Correspondent Quetta: Balochistan High Court has ordered an impartial inquiry into the arrest of students who were protesting peacefully against online classes here on Wednesday. The two-judge bench of the BHC headed by BHC Chief Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel with Justice Nazeer Ahmed Langov …

Herald Report Activists of women’s and human rights organisations have condemned misogynist, sexist and provocative rants of government’s top lawyer and sought an unconditional apology from him. In a joint statement, activists of women’s rights, literary, cultural, youth, and legal groups, academia, have expressed outraged and condemned the highly derogatory, inflammatory, sexist, and misogynist remarks made the other day by …

HRCP, PAC, WDF and WAF call for the immediate release of Professor Sajid Soomro and an end to the vicious campaign against Dr Arfana Mallah Herald Report Academia, human rights activists, writers and lawyers have expressed concerns at the shrinking space for dissenting voices in Pakistan and abuse of draconian laws against intellectuals and teachers. Professor Sajid Soomro of Shah …

WDF, WAF, AAM and other feminist and women rights organisations condemn threats hurled by JUI to Dr Arfana Mallah; demand release of Dr Sajid Soomro and others   Herald Report Islamabad, June 12: Pakistan’s leading feminist organisations have condemned the harassment of a prominent academic and activist through a malicious campaign by religious zealots in Sindh. In a joint statement …

Migrant workers in India, Pakistan and Nepal are crushed by poverty as earnings come to an abrupt halt in the lockdown forced by the Covid-19 pandemic, says a report compiled by Joydeep Gupta, Zofeen T Ebrahim, Ramesh Bhushal, published in thethirdpole.net online magazine. News Desk Across South Asia, the impact of the Covid-19 on livelihoods has been extreme. Despite being an outlier …

News Desk Disabled women in Afghanistan have complained of widespread discrimination they suffer in their country, which has one of the highest proportions of disabled people in the world. Their accounts come as Human Rights Watch reports that many also face sexual harassment from government officials. https://www.rferl.org/a/denied-treatment-education-and-jobs-afghanistan-s-disabled-women/30581580.html?ltflags=mailer Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Afghan women and girls with disabilities are being confronted …

When Kainat Naz joined a women-friendly technology boot camp a year ago, she had no idea it would completely change her life and her views on how women can work in conservative Pakistan. Naz, 22, had never ventured far from her home in Orangi Town in Karachi, one of the five largest slums of the world, but was feeling dissatisfied …

Political, social, human rights activists condemn Maulana Tariq Jameel for insulting 220m people, women and media   High Asia Herald Report ISLAMABAD: Political, social and rights activists condemn Maulana Tariq Jameel for his misogynistic and hateful comments linking “women’s immodesty” to coronavirus spread in Pakistan. They sought an unconditional apology from the preacher for his controversial remarks on a TV …

Tajikistan, where around 65 per cent of the population works in agriculture, claims to not have any cases of coronavirus. President Emomali Rahmon urges farmers not to fast in Ramazan citing disease   Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has urged farmers in the predominately Muslim country not to fast during the holy month of Ramadan so they can stay healthy and …