Social development
Gender
Myanmar: Women, Girls Trafficked as ‘Brides’ to China
The Myanmar and Chinese governments have failed to stem the trafficking of ethnic Kachin women and girls as “brides” to families in China, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Keep reading ...
Women’s rights and river protection
Usually at this time of year during the dry season in northern Thailand, the Mekong River recedes, and sand and pebble beaches appear. Covering the pebbles, through the clear and shallow water, one can see the pale green kai, a river weed of the Mekong. This ...
The high price tag of gender inequality
The Cambodian government is building a global textile industry on the backs of Cambodian women working the sewing machines on the garment factory floor. However, they are often overworked and underpaid, and rarely ever promoted to supervisory positions. Keep reading ...
Mekong women pressed into marriage in China
Everyone did well from Nary’s marriage to a Chinese man, except the young Cambodian bride herself, who returned home from the six-year ordeal destitute, humiliated and with little prospect of seeing her son again. Keep reading ...
Thousands of Myanmar women forced into marriage in China: study
Thousands of vulnerable women and girls from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are sold as brides each year, according to a new study. Keep reading ...
ASEAN’s shifting attitudes towards LGBT rights
Last year, Taiwan’s apex court ruled that the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman under Taiwan’s civil law is against their constitution, which effectively means that Taiwan is the first country in Asia to legalise gay marriage. This year, ...
Burmese Migrant Women at Risk in Thailand
Discriminatory practices are holding Burmese migrant women back. “The Burma government doesn’t care that people come to Thailand for work. Sometimes I feel like I want to go home but it’s not any better in Burma. It’s difficult in Thailand, but in Burma there is ...
ASEAN youngsters seek ways to end gender violence, promote equality
Youth representatives from 10 ASEAN countries, including over 100 Vietnamese youngsters, discussed challenges and solutions to achieving gender equality in ASEAN by 2030 during a dialogue in Hanoi on October 10. The wider dialogue closed a five-day training course on the role of youth in ensuring ...
New Initiative To Advance Women’s Entrepreneurship In Asia-Pacific Launched
A new initiative to advance women’s entrepreneurship in Asia-Pacific was launched on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York, by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), with financial support from Global ...
LGBT Tourism and Inclusion in Southeast Asia: A Divided Future?
Some countries in Southeast Asia do better than others in welcoming LGBT tourists. Southeast Asia has enjoyed an exponential surge of foreign tourists in the past decade. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the total contribution of tourism to the economy of southeast Asia ...
