• Asia's Gender Gap Narrows When Women Go Abroad. [Bloomberg] It may surprise women from New York to San Francisco to learn that their Philippine counterparts are faring better. Ditto for women in London, Sydney and Toronto. The World Economic Forum's latest Global Gender Gap Index found the Philippines is doing more to empower women than the U.S., U.K., Canada or Australia. Of 115 nations examined in 2006, the Philippines placed sixth, well ahead of the U.S. at 22nd. Why should it matter to investors if women are gaining a bit on men? “This gap not only undermines the quality of life of one half of the world's population, but also poses a significant risk to the long-term growth and well-being of nations,” World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab wrote in the gender report. Asian leaders and executives need to pay more attention to that argument. It should be no surprise that South Korea and Japan, two rigid economies that have underperformed in recent years, had low rankings in the latest list. Korea was 92nd -- behind Cambodia, Tunisia and Bangladesh -- and Japan was 79th, behind Zimbabwe, Italy and Chile. Then there are the cautionary rankings. China, Asia's most- vibrant economy, was 63rd -- a warning to leaders in Beijing to better utilize their female workforce. That goes even more so for India; it came in 98th, behind Guatemala, Angola and Algeria.

• S. Asia Second Lowest in Terms of Female Labor Force. [DailyIndia.com, FL] Participants at a conference "The underbelly of globalization - gender and economic integration in South Asia", held in Islamabad, said that South Asia had the second lowest female labor force participation rate worldwide, after Middle East and North Africa, due to lesser opportunities of formal employment and access to resources. India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan rank 99th to 107 on the gender development index and are at the bottom of the distribution, the Dawn quoted them as saying. Dr Karin Astrid Siegmann of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) said that economic globalization created opportunities for those endowed with productive resources, such as human and physical capital, access to formal employment and geographical mobility. She suggested that access of women and girls to resources such as rights to land, access to capital and technology, support for unconstrained mobility and equal access to education needed to be strengthened.

Australia

• Women and Ambition. [The Age, Australia] Plenty of flak for premier Steve Bracks over the lack of women in his new cabinet, reports The Age. Bracks has defended the line-up, saying it's about having the best team for the future. Yeah right, if that's the case, some of the blokes wouldn't be there! Still, it does leave you wondering whether men tend to be more ruthlessly ambitious than women. That that seems to be the take in a new study out of Britain.

• The Silks Road - A Long, Tough Climb for Women. [The Age, Australia] Over the past five years, 105 top Victorian barristers have been appointed to an elite group of lawyers previously known as QCs, now called senior counsel (SC). But only 15 of these high flyers - more commonly known as silks - have been women. Criminal barrister Jane Dixon, SC, was the only woman in this year's intake of 13. Her appointment took the number of women silks at the Bar to 18, 7% of the overall total of 228. By comparison, female barristers comprise more than 20% of the 1674-strong membership of the Victorian Bar. More than 25% of Supreme Court judges are women. Does this discrepancy mean that women are being discriminated against in their quest for silk?

• Women See Red on White Ribbon Day. [On Line opinion, Australia] Last Saturday was White Ribbon Day, the “men’s campaign” marking the beginning of “sixteen days of activism” to end violence against women. This year, WRD’s TV ads have attracted considerable criticism: they depict little girls looking on as their fathers, who would do “anything” for them, commit violent acts of self-harm (in one, a man amputates his own arm). But this is not the only problem with the campaign. Here, women’s emergency services and anti-violence peak groups give their view of what WRD could and should be - but isn’t. In the early morning of November 19, in Townsville, Claire Carey was murdered, and her partner seriously injured, by Claire’s ex-boyfriend, who later committed suicide. The Courier-Mail reported this under the headline “Deadly Love Triangle claims two lives”. Not only was this not true - Claire had broken off her relationship with her assassin - but also portrayed the victim as being somehow at fault for “two-timing”. This headline is all the more worrying because a number of national and international studies, including a just-published UN study, show that women are at the highest risk of violence from a former male partner.

• Commercial Television Abandoning Its Female Presenters. [ABC Online, Australia] The treatment of high profile women in commercial television is back in the spotlight. Channel Ten's news presenter Tracey Spicer has been sacked, and Channel Seven's Naomi Robson won't be fronting the high rating Today Tonight program as of next year. The two are the latest of a series of women dumped by commercial TV networks fighting for market share.

• Women Feeling the Heat of the Harsh Media Spotlight. [The Age, Australia] Tracey Spicer was pushed from Channel Ten and Jennifer Hansen quit after being demoted. Naomi Robson is negotiating her future with Seven. It has been a tumultuous year for women in television current affairs, and many are blaming gender-based double standards in an industry that has long been dominated by men. Ten newsreader Tracey Spicer claims her dismissal from the network this week is in breach of the federal Sex Discrimination Act. The network refutes this. "Ten employs more female news presenters than any other Australian commercial network," it said in a statement. Jana Wendt left the Nine Network in September amid controversy over failed negotiations, cutting short her contract with the Sunday program by 2 1/2 years. She was replaced by a younger woman, Ellen Fanning.

• Feet That Bear Witness to China's Past. [The New York Times] At 84 and 83, Wang Zaiban and Wu Xiuzhen are old women and their feet are historical artifacts. They are among the dwindling number of women in China from the era when bound feet were considered a courtship prerequisite for landing a husband. No available man, custom held, could resist the picture of vulnerability presented by a young girl tottering atop tiny, pointed feet. But Wang and Wu have tottered past vulnerability. They have outlived their husbands and have outlived civil war, mass starvation and the disastrous ideological experiments by Mao Zedong that almost killed China itself. In recent years, drought drove them out of the mountains of Shaanxi Province to this farming village beside the Yellow River in Inner Mongolia. They now collect cigarette cartons or other scraps for recycling, or they help in the fields. They are widows, grandmothers, mothers and, more or less, migrant workers

• Shenzhen's Public Humiliation of Sex Workers Provokes a Backlash. [The New York Times] For people who saw the event on television, the scene was a chilling flashback from 30 years ago: Social outcasts and supposed criminals, in this case prostitutes and a few pimps, were paraded in front of a jeering crowd, their names revealed, and then taken to jail without trial. The act of public shaming was intended as the inaugural event in a two- month campaign by the authorities in the southern city of Shenzhen to crack down on prostitution. Chinese law enforcement often works on the basis of campaigns, and for its organizers the idea of marching 100 or so prostitutes, all dressed in identical yellow smocks, before the cameras must have seemed like a clever way of launching a battle against the sex trade. What the authorities in Shenzhen, an industrial boomtown adjacent to Hong Kong seem not to have counted on was an angry nationwide backlash against their tactics, with many people around China joining in a common cause with the prostitutes over the violation of their human rights and expressing their outrage at the incident in one online forum after another.

• Action Demanded to Stop Violence Against Women. [China Daily, China] Officials and non-governmental groups have made an urgent call for more action to prevent violence against women. "When it comes to the elimination of violence against women, there is no ground for tolerance," said Khalik Malik, UN Resident Co-ordination in China. "Fundamentally, it is time for us to make the commitment publicly and personally," Malik said. About 34.7% of families suffer from domestic violence, according to a survey conducted by the Domestic Violence Network in nine cities of three provinces between 2000 to 2001, the latest figures available. About 80 to 90% of these victims are female, said Chen Mingxia, chair of the board of the network. The picture is gloomier in rural China, where more than 170,000 women die of suicide every year. Of these suicide cases, 66% were a result of domestic violence, said Xie Lihua, director of the cultural development centre for rural women.

• Survey: Migrant Women Workers Worry About Children's Education. [Xinhua, China] The education and care of children left in their hometowns is the biggest worry of China's 50 million rural migrant women workers, according to a survey by the All-China Women's Federation. More than 60% of the 1,000 women interviewed said they were worried about their children's education and almost 40% chose to take their children with them to urban areas. China has an estimated 150 million migrant workers, 30% of them women. About 14.6 million children of school age and under 14 years old accompanied their rural parents to cities. Most or 87.3% of the children left behind reunited with their parents at least once a year, but 12. 7% saw their parents only once every one to two years.

• Over 10,000 NGOs Working for Women's Rights in China: Researcher. [People's Daily Online, China] Chinese human rights researcher said in Beijing that there are more than 10,000 non-governmental organizations in China working to protect the rights of women. "Their influence on policy making and legislation is increasing steadily," said Zhang Xiaoling, director of the human rights research center of the Party School of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. Speaking at an international symposium on human rights, Zhang said non-governmental women's organizations have made big efforts to protect women's rights. The symposium, a three-day event sponsored by the China Society for Human Rights Studies, has drawn more than 70 human rights experts, scholars and officials from 19 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and America.

• Female Scribes to Out-Number Males. [Hindu, India] Women journalists in China are expected to out-number their male counterparts in the near future, according to latest official statistics. In journalism schools, female students have out-numbered male students in recent years, and there are more than 70,000 women journalists registered at the State Press and Publication Administration, nearly 40% of the total 180,000. "The percentage is higher than a decade ago, when our survey together with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences showed women journalists accounted for only one third of the total," said Sun Zhengyi, Deputy Director of the Domestic Department under the All-China Journalists' Association. Female students account for 65% of journalism undergraduates enrolled this year, office head of the School of Journalism and Communication with Renmin University of China, Luo Jianhui said.

• China's First Lesbian Telephone Helpline to Open in Shanghai. [The Associated Press] China's first helpline specifically for lesbians will begin taking calls this weekend, organizers said, in a sign of growing awareness of issues facing gay women in China's commercial center. The Shanghai-based helpline will offer advice and counseling between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. each Saturday, with about 10 female volunteers taking the calls, said Rager Shen, a volunteer with the Hong Kong-based Chi Heng Foundation that is funding the helpline. The service will be an extension of a helpline for both gay men and lesbians that opened about six months ago but previously had only male volunteers answering questions on homosexuality.

• Women Mark Day Against Violence. [Fiji Times, Fiji] A campaign to mark the anniversary of the 16 days of activism against gender violence will start today. FemLink Pacific coordinator Sharon Bhagwan Rolls said they would honor activists who have made the campaign a success and women rights defenders who have suffered intimidation and violence for their activism. "This year commemorates progress on addressing violence against women in our communities, nations, regions and around the world and calls for reflection on how to continue to advance this work," she said.

• Make 30% Quota Mandatory, Says Women's Caucus. [Jakarta Post, Indonesia] Female lawmakers repeated their demand for a 30% quota for women representatives in legislative bodies nationwide. Speaking at a national gathering of female lawmakers held in Jakarta, activists argued the quota would strengthen women's political bargaining positions in regional and national parliaments. The quota was just one of a list of proposals made in the two-day Caucus of Women Legislators meeting, which was closed by Vice President Jusuf Kalla. During the forum, Golkar Party legislator Eka Komariah criticized the nation's major political parties, which she said had shown little commitment to encouraging more women to participate as lawmakers. "The implementation of the current laws on political parties and general elections gave no significant political gains to the women's movement," Eka said.

• Women Better Financial Managers Than Men. [Xinhua, China] Microfinance programs led by women tend to be better run and more successful than those controlled by men, according to a report from an anti-poverty group in Jakarta. The Community Recovery Program Final Report was conducted between 1998 and 2006 by the Association for Community Empowerment (ACE), a non-governmental organization (NGO) working to reduce poverty here. "Women are better at saving money than men. In paying debts, women are also more on time," ACE executive director Titik Hartini was quoted by national newspaper The Jakarta Post as saying. "Once women got access to credit and started running their own businesses, the profit went automatically into the needs of their families, such as child education and family health. Men, however, tended to spend their income for other needs first," she added.

• Female Star in Male Arena. [Los Angeles Times] Maria Ulfah's father started it all. Even back in the 1960s, he wanted his daughter to have equal status with men. So the devout Muslim encouraged her to study public speaking, take voice lessons and compete in an arena dominated by men: reciting the Koran in public. In the Muslim world, Koran recitation enjoys an avid following associated in the West with pop music, opera or major sporting events. Performances, which can draw thousands of people, are broadcast from mosque sound systems and on national radio and TV stations. Haji Mudhoffar, Maria's father, started small: He staged his own Koran reciting competitions in their hometown in East Java so his daughter could taste competition and stretch the virtuosity of her voice as she melodically phrased the holy words. His gamble paid off. Today, Ulfah is one of the most influential Koran reciters in Southeast Asia. She's a teacher, scholar, lecturer and cultural icon whose rare success in a man's world has inspired women throughout Indonesia and elsewhere in the Islamic world.

• Never Surrender Soldier Joins Fight to Keep Women Conservative. [Mainichi Daily News, Japan] Hiroo Onoda, the Imperial Japanese Army Second Lieutenant who hid in the jungles of the Philippines' Lubang Island for 29 years after the end of World War II because he didn't believe Japan had surrendered, is performing his "patriotic duty" for the nation once again. This time, instead of trying to continue the war, now 84-year-old Onoda is helping out his wife, Machie, after she agreed to take over as the head of the Japan Women's Association, a body that strongly opposes gender free education and the right for women to retain their maiden names after marriage. Machie will assume the association's top post at a Dec. 9 party in Tokyo held to celebrate both the September birth of Prince Hisahito and the organization's fifth anniversary.

• Famous Female Golfer in Nude-Photo Scandal. [The Japan Times, Japan] All readers needed to do was buy a copy of the weekly magazine, slice open the edges of the sealed pages, and viola -- a photo of the mystery sportswoman in the flesh, albeit with her face blurred. So, during the following several days, readers were left to wonder -- who was this obviously young and very fit woman. Shukan Gendai steps in to reveal the answer: golfer Ai Miyazato. Ranking sixth in the world, 21-year-old Miyazato is undoubtedly one of Japan's most famous sports celebrities. But is the photo genuine? Most of the experts Shukan Gendai speaks with say no, no doubt to the disappointment of Miyazato's many male fans. As to why someone would create and then give such a photo to the media, the answer likely involves a very serious grudge against the famous golfer.

• Elderly Men Less Social Than Women. [The Japan Times, Japan] According to the Cabinet Office survey released earlier this week, 41.3% of men aged 65 or older who live on their own said they had no close friends. The percentage for women was 22.4%. The study was based on interviews with 792 men and women aged 65 or older and living alone. Only 7.1% of the women surveyed said they had not had contact with neighbors, up from 6.9% in 2002.

• North Korean 'Slaves' in Europe? [International Herald Tribune] At a time when North Korea is under fire for its nuclear weapons program, nearly 400 North Korean women are quietly helping the motherland by working at humble jobs in Czech Republic and sending their wages home. The women, mainly seamstresses, are now themselves at the center of debate, with some critics contending that their work amounts to state-imposed forced labor. Vaclav Havel, the former president, is among those who have said that the Czech Republic should not be used as a base for filling North Korea's coffers. Although the Czech government stopped issuing new work visas for North Koreans in June, those who entered previously are still employed at various sites, including the Snezka textile factory here in Nachod, where they sew headrests and armrests for BMWs, Mercedes, Renaults and other cars sold in Western Europe.

• North Korean Defectors Protest China's Treatment of Refugees. [The Associated Press] Four North Korean defectors spoke of the torture and starvation they say spurred their desperate escapes, and of China's policy of sending refugees back to the North where they face further misery for trying to leave. The two women and two men, who stood and sang a Korean version of the traditional American hymn "Amazing Grace" in loud, clear voices before speaking to reporters, plan to protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington. The Defense Forum Foundation, a conservative nonprofit group, is helping organize the protest. "I will be willing to testify against Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung forever and ever," one of the women said through tears, referring to the current leader of North Korea and his father. She said famine in the North killed her 29-year-old son, and that 11 members of her family were sent to a political prison. "There are no human rights," the woman said through an interpreter, hiding her eyes with sunglasses; the refugees, who live in South Korea, refused to give their names because of fears for family still in North Korea. "I will testify against it forever if I have to."

• Korea's First Female Chopper Pilot Faces Dismissal. [South Korea] Lieutenant Colonel Pi U-jin, the nation's first female helicopter pilot, will return to civilian life on November 30 after 27 years in service. But even though Lieutenant Colonel Pi served the Korean military for half of her life, since 1979 at age 23, she will not be allowed an honorable discharge from the military. She was given notice of dismissal from military authorities because she had developed breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy. Under military law, those who have a medical history of cancer or who have received a mastectomy should be discharged from the military service. Lieutenant Colonel Pi wanted to remain with the military, as she was judged as completely cured by her doctors, and there was no problem with her performing her duties after her mastectomy. However, the military authorities decided she had a "Grade II Handicap" and would not rescind her order of dismissal. In contrast, in grading her disability as related to compensation, which is evaluated separately, the military authorities judged that she belonged to the lowest grade of 7.

• South Korea Nixes First Female Top Judge. [United Press International] South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun bowed to opposition pressure in Seoul and dropped his nomination of a woman as the country's top judge. Roh's nomination of Chon Hyo-suk to lead the nine-member high Constitutional Court has bitterly divided the country's National Assembly since he made it Aug. 16, The Korea Times reported. The main opposition Grand National Party claimed he had skirted normal procedure by having Chon resign from her post as a justice so once she was installed as chief, she would be able to serve the full six-year term, the newspaper said. Chon has already served three years as a justice, and would have normally been limited to a further three years. The GNP is also opposed to Roh's nomination of two Cabinet ministers they claim have leftist and anti-U.S. viewpoints, the Times said

• Four in 10 Single Women Say Marriage Isn't Necessary. [Chosun Ilbo, South Korea] Four out of 10 single women in Korea don't feel the need to get married. A survey on some 1,000 single men and women by the Health and Welfare Ministry shows only half the women surveyed felt the need to tie the knot. By contrast, more than 70% of men surveyed deemed marriage a necessity. Fifty-four% of the respondents placed career ahead of marriage. But more than nine out of 10 said children are a must, saying they add joy and satisfaction to life. Half of the surveyed men and women said they were financially preparing for their old age, mostly with savings, pensions and insurance.

• Female Mountaineer Will Not Be Denied. [Donga.com, South Korea] Oh Eun-seon, 40, is Korea’s top female mountaineer. She works in Youngwon Trading Company and is a member of Suwon University Mountain Club. She succeeded in reaching the top of Sisha Pangma (altitude of 8,027 meters) in the Himalayas without an oxygen tank on October 14. Right after that, she tried to climb Cho Oyu (8,201 meters) without an oxygen tank, but had to descend just 100 meters before the top due to the bad weather. Although she broke two ribs and cracked one after an accident on Sisha Pangma, she did not stop. She deserves to be called “iron woman.”

• Problem Not With Women, It’s With Men. [Malaysia Kini, Malaysia] If a person is pure of heart, it doesn't matter what women wear, do or look like. True decency comes from the heart and mind, not by adhering to some rigid rules. On the other hand, if a person has lustful thoughts, it also doesn't matter what women wear, do or look like. Impure and indecent thoughts will arise despite outwardly observing rules. Perhaps a more pertinent question than asking whether women in Malaysia is dressed too sexily and lowering their dignity is why do some societies have so few criminals while some societies are infested with criminals and give rise to men who can't control their sexual urges. Locking ourselves in an increasingly prison-like fortresses and dressing conservatively does not address the root cause of the problem. The robbers and thieves will still eye your property. Those sex-crazed perverts are still roaming the streets. Criminals generally target victims of opportunity. There is no correlation with how people dress or how much wealth they flaunt in public to being a victim of a crime.

• Beware These Extremist Views on Dress Code. [Malaysia Star, Malaysia] There are no “scantily clad” Malaysian women in public places, despite the fevered imagination of some controversy-prone politicians. Women targeted by PAS leader and Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Aziz for being allegedly underdressed might well agree that indecency is unacceptable. The point is that what is in practice considered “decent” or “indecent” is subjective, within the limits of acceptable, commonsensical standards. But what is neither acceptable nor commonsensical is for a public figure to impose his own narrow standards on others through official legislation. There are already laws in place against people who treat public places like nudist camps, but we as a society are mercifully spared such folk. But what laws are there against those zealous folk whose ideal of proper women’s attire is to be covered from head to toe?

• Malaysian City Warns of Fines on Women for Wearing 'Sexy' Attire. [International Herald Tribune] Authorities in a Malaysian city have warned waitresses and female staff of retail outlets that they face a US$138 fine if they wear revealing and tight fitting clothes, a news report said. The Kota Baru town's municipal council has said it will no longer tolerate indecent dressing and will begin enforcing an existing Islamic law that prohibits indecent dressing, The Star newspaper said. Kota Baru is the capital of the northeastern Kelantan state, the only Malaysian state to be ruled by an opposition Islamic fundamentalist party. All other Malaysian states are governed by the secular United Malays National Organization and its allies. The government in Kelantan imposes Islamic regulations such as separate check out counters for men and women at supermarkets.

• Say No To Violence, Women Told. [Bernama, Malaysia] Women must stand up and say "no to violence" and condemn in the strongest terms any act of violence committed against women and children, wife of the deputy prime minister, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, said. She said a comprehensive and coordinated effort that encompasses schools, the legal system, law enforcement, crises centers, religious leaders, parents, the corporate sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) was needed to wipe out the scourge. "There is a need for our enforcement and legal systems to be strict in bringing to book all aggressors and criminals. "The legal system too must ensure fast and judicious trials to ensure that victims are not victimized further and to ensure that aggressors are not let off the hook," she said when launching the "End Violence Against Women" campaign in conjunction with the United Nations' Elimination of Violence Against Women Day.

• Globalization Erodes Rights of Working Women in Asia. [International Herald Tribune, France] Globalization is increasingly eroding the rights of Asia's working women, who are falling victim to weaker legal protection, gender prejudices and poor working conditions, a women's group said. Women are seen as "dispensable labor," and because they are not regarded as the breadwinner, are often the first to be laid off, said the Committee for Asian Women, a regional rights body of 39 groups representing female workers in Asia. Although women make up more than half the work force in Asia, "this has not led to more empowerment for women at work or at home," CAW chairman, Jurgette Honculada, said at the opening of a four-day conference in Kuala Lumpur on Asia's working women. She said foreign direct investment into Asian countries in the past 20 years has promoted labor-intensive industrialization, with a "feminization" of labor as women have predominantly filled the low-income jobs.

• Father of Mongolian Woman Murdered in Malaysia Plans Film Tribute. [The Associated Press] The father of a Mongolian woman murdered in a high-profile case in Malaysia wants to make a movie about her life, including her final days, a news report said. Shaariibuu Setev, a psychology professor at the University of Mongolia, said the film would be "the only tribute that I can give to my beloved daughter," Malaysia's national news agency Bernama reported. Setev produced episodes of a Discovery Channel program on Mongolia a few years ago, and he plans to write and direct the movie on his daughter, Altantuya Shaariibuu, Bernama said. "I promise myself to work hard in filming her life's journey," Setev told Bernama through an interpreter. "Altantuya will never return but her memory will never fade either."

• Women's Rights Issues Yet to be Addressed Fully: Sundh. [Kantipur Online, Nepal] Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, Lena Sundh expressed concerns that the issue of women’s rights had still not been fully addressed in the wake of the Jana Aandalon II by key political actors in Nepal. Addressing the third National Consultation with Women Human Rights Defenders on the occasion of International Day of Women Human Rights Defenders, Sundh commented that both the Seven Party Alliance and the CPN (Maoist) talks teams lacked women’s participation. “Key institutions established since April this year have also had no women members or seriously under-represented women’s membership,” Sundh said, pointing out the Interim Constitution Drafting Committee, the High Level Probe Commission (the Rayamajhi Commission) and the Ceasefire Code of Conduct Monitoring Committee as prominent cases where women were not given a voice.

• Far-Western Women Demand End to Discrimination. [Nepalnews.com, Nepal] Narrating their heart-rending stories of gender-based discrimination and violence, women from far-western region have demanded immediate steps to end social inequalities at all levels of community. "We work shoulder to shoulder with men but at the end of the day, they pay us Rs 80 compared to Rs 100 for men," said Sitapati Chaudhary, a freed Kamaiya from Kailali district. She said that men spend money on alcohol and beat women while the women will have to take care of home and children. Furthermore, Nirmala Aire from Doti district reciting her plight asked the state to ban alcohol. "In our village, boys as small as 14 years old are found drinking alcohol that is so easily found at Rs 15 per pouch." She added that men resort to physical violence against women when they are drunk. Aire, along with Chaudhary, called on the authorities to prohibit drinking. Aire also talked about the inhumane treatment meted out to women of far-western region in the name of a tradition called Chhaupadi whereby women have to live away from their home at an unhygienic shed for a week every month when they menstruate.

• Nepali Women Trafficked to Qatar. [Telugu Portal, India] Five dozen Nepali women, most of whom can hardly read or write, were trafficked to Qatar in the last few months by a Nepali tout, a television channel reported. A. Bahadur Moktan, a resident of Makwanpur in central Nepal, near capital city Kathmandu, lured the women with promises of finding them lucrative jobs in the oil-rich Islamic country as domestic help, private channel Nepal1 reported. According to the laws in the country, women are banned from working as domestic help in the Middle East countries following the furor over the death of a woman in Kuwait, who was reportedly raped and thrown down from the top of the house where she worked. However, unscrupulous brokers circumvent the ban by taking the victims to the Middle East via India, where the immigration authorities ask no questions.

• Serving The Needy Women. [PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal] For thousands of population living in remote parts of Nepal particularly women, who were denied basic health and Reproductive Health services for years following intensification of Maoist insurgency, Mobile Reproductive Health Outreach Services have come as a boon as it provides all health related services from diagnosis to counseling and treatment and referrals – and all these available in their villages. Funded by European Commissions Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO) and implemented by the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) in partnership with ADRA-Nepal and Phect Nepal , the Mobile Reproductive Health camps have already taken care of many needy population of far western and mid-western region. From a small financial contribution of donors, the mobile health camp is making a big difference in the lives of thousands of disadvantaged and marginalized female population who live under the sword of death.

• UNFPA Provides Male and Female Condoms for Refugees in Nepal. [Kantipur Online, Nepal] As part of global agreement to address the reproductive health information and service needs available to refugees around the world, the United Nations Population Fund-UNFPA Nepal handed over some 7,00,000 male condoms and 5,000 female condoms to the UN Refugee Agency for its refugee program in Nepal, in a function in Kathmandu. “I wish to express my deep appreciation to UNFPA for this important contribution for the betterment of reproductive health of the refugees in Nepal,” a press release from UNFPA quoted Abraham Abraham, UNHCR Representative in Nepal, as saying. “What we all need is a healthy population capable of making strides to achieve higher standards of human development. Understanding that prevention is better then cure will avoid a miserable future for individuals, communities and nations,” added Abraham.

• Law Change Likely to Allow Women in Military Combat Roles. [Radio New Zealand] A law change that would remove sexual discrimination against women in the Armed Forces appears increasingly likely. The Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade select committee is recommending that women be allowed to serve in combat roles within the military. Labor MP Lynne Pillay, who heads the member's bill, says women are already participating in such roles, but the bill will remove the last exemption for sexual discrimination in the armed forces. The bill will have its second reading when Parliament resumes next year.

• Ribbons One Way to Spread Message. [Northern Advocate, New Zealand] It is also true that the actions of a minority of men make up the greater part of the social problem. There remain pockets of belief that men have the right to physically control their female partners and the children in their care. Family violence statistics from all sides of the issue are ugly: Four out of every 10 murders in New Zealand during 2005 were due to domestic attacks and one quarter of those deaths involved children. One New Zealander dies every 12 days at the hands of a family member.

• Women Get Just Deserts as They Let Off Steam in Jello Pit. [New Zealand Herald] By day Sandra Martinez works at a New York law firm but by night she throws off her conservative image and becomes "Sandra Claws" - an amateur female jello wrestler. At a live music bar on New York's Lower East Side, she joined 11 other women to do battle in a blue, blow-up kiddie pool filled with warm, clear clumps of an unflavored version of the gelatin dessert. "It lets us do things we probably want to do to women sometimes that we dislike, but we have a forum where we can express it in a fun and safe way," said Martinez, a 27-year-old business development specialist.

Philippines

• Arroyo Subservient to Church Over Contraception. [ABS CBN News, Philippines] President Arroyo’s “unwarranted subservience” to the Roman Catholic Church over birth control has jeopardized the country’s future, former president Fidel Ramos said. Ramos, a strong supporter of Arroyo, said the President’s failure to curb “runaway” population growth had put the nation at great risk. Speaking at a forum on family planning in Manila he warned that unless Arroyo changed course on birth control, the world’s 12th most populous nation at 87 milli8on people could face a major crisis five or six years from now. “The Arroyo administration’s population policy can be generally described as ‘flip-flopping’, perhaps due to the unwarranted subservience to the Catholic Church,” Ramos told the forum. The government favors natural birth control rather than the use of contraceptives.

• Manila Says Hunts Female Islamic Fighters in South. [Reuters AlertNet, UK] Philippine troops, on the offensive for nearly four months against Islamic militants on a remote southern island, are hunting five female members of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militant group, the head of the army said. Lieutenant-General Romeo Tolentino said half of the 10 foreign rebels hiding out on Jolo Island were women, including the wife of Umar Patek, one of two prime suspects in the 2002 Bali suicide bombings that killed 202 people.

• Eliminating Violence Against Women. [ABS CBN News, Philippines] The Philippines has passed some of the toughest laws to protect women from violence and other forms of abuse. There were many causes for rejoicing as the nation joined the rest of the world in marking International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. But due to low literacy and poverty, many women across the country are unaware of those laws of their rights. Even among educated women who are fully aware of their rights and ways of seeking redress, there is still reluctance to seek protection against spousal abuse. Thought the country has sent a second women to Malacañang, Filipino women of all ages continue to suffer from physical and sexual abuse.

• Anglican Diocese of Seychelles to Get First Female Priest. [Seychelles Nation, Seychelles] The Consecration and Ordination service will be led by the Right Rev’d Santosh Marray, Bishop of Seychelles, assisted by members of the clergy. The preacher will be the Rev’d Jody Medicoff of the Anglican Diocese of Montreal, Canada. Rev’d Benoit was the first Anglican female deacon to be ordained to the Holy Order of Deacons in 2004. Noting that the decision to ordain a woman as priest is not one which a church makes easily, a communiqué from the Anglican Diocese of Seychelles says that in the Anglican Communion, each of the 38 different provincial churches has had to decide for itself in accordance with its legal and canonical rules, whether and when it would be appropriate to take the step. According to the communiqué, the Province of the Indian Ocean authorized the ordination of women to the Order of Deacons in 2002. The Provincial Synod in January 2006 moved a step further in authorizing individual dioceses to proceed with ordination of women to the priesthood.

• Sri Lanka Tamil Female Journalist Arrested, Remanded on a Detention Order. [Siber News Media] A freelance female journalist, Parameswaree was arrested and been remanded on a detention order. When contacted, a police officer attached to the Terrorist Investigation Division ( TID) confirmed that she is under Detention order. Once a detention order by the secretary of defense is served a suspect can be remanded for period of 90days without producing in a court.

• Female Tiger Cadre Surrenders to Police. [Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka] A twenty-one-year old woman cadre of the LTTE (Tigers) organization  gave herself up in disappointment and surrendered to the Police station at Valachchena, Batticaloa. The female cadre said to be from Batticaloa area was handed over to relevant authorities for further investigations and necessary onward actions. Her identity and other details are withheld on obvious security reasons and questions of Human Rights.

• Fewer Women Work Than in Other Asian `Dragons'. [Taipei Times, Taiwan] Although Taiwan has fewer female workers than Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea, many Taiwanese wives opt to focus on raising their children. The labor force participation rate of Taiwanese women stood at 47.71% in 2004, ranking at the bottom of Asia's four little dragons, Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) officials said. The figure compares with Singapore's 54.2%, Hong Kong's 52.9% and South Korea's 49.8% for the same year, CEPD officials said. Last year, Taiwan's labor force totaled 10.37 million, up 130,000 from 2004, with the total labor force participation rate rising 0.12 percentage points from the previous year to 57.78%, the officials said. The labor force participation rate of Taiwanese men was 67.72% last year and that of women stood at 48.12%, they said. The officials attributed the low labor force participation rate of Taiwanese women to the fact that 60% of married women have opted to stay at home.

• Female Kaohsiung Candidate Punches Mayor Ma in Face. [Taipei Times, Taiwan] Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou was assaulted by an independent Kaohsiung city council candidate while campaigning for his party's mayoral candidate in the city. During a campaign event for KMT Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Huang Chun-ying rushed toward Ma and punched him in the face chanting "Ma Ying-jeou, step down." Immediately after the incident, Ma was escorted away by bodyguards. Chang later held a press conference where she accused Ma of "conniving with his bodyguards to commit physical abuse," claiming this had resulted in her suffering multiple bruising.

• DPP Poll Indicates Lu is Best Known Female Figure. [Taiwan Headlines, Taiwan] Women in Taiwan are playing a greater role in politics, with Vice President Annette Lu the most widely known figure among local female politicians, according to the results of a poll released by the Democratic Progressive Party. Hsu Chia-tian, head of the DPP's department of women's affairs, published the results at a news conference held at party headquarters to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Peng Wan-ju -- a women rights activist and one of Hsu's predecessors who was raped and killed in Kaohsiung after attending a party meeting in the southern county. The cause of her murder remains unknown and the murderer is still at large. According to the poll, nearly 84% of women voters surveyed agreed with the statement that women in Taiwan presently enjoy greater political rights than 10 years ago, more than 8.7% who disagreed.

• Women Want Rights to Go in Charter. [Bangkok Post, Thailand] Women's groups have demanded the four articles touted as the pillar of women's rights that were enshrined in the 1997 constitution be also included in the new charter. Over 1,000 women from across the country gathered in Bangkok to voice what women want in the new charter _ promotion of women's fundamental rights and equal opportunities that is not any less progressive than what was provided under the 1997 charter abrogated by the Sept 19 coup.

• Princess in the House, Thai Royal Takes Up Residence in Athletes Village. [The Associated Press] Thailand's Princess Sirivannavarinariratana is not alone among royalty at the Asian Games. She is, however, the only one who took up residence at the Athletes Village. "It feels good that I can develop some new relationships with the other athletes," said the 19-year-old badminton player. "If I am not participating I will be there cheering for my team at other sports, particularly boxing." The Thai princess said her Athletes Village experience is easy to deal with: "I know when I have to be a player and when I've got to be a princess." She won her first gold at the Southeast Asian Games last year in Manila.

• UK Embassy Organize Female Investigators Course. [Nation Multimedia, Thailand] The British Embassy in Bangkok has arranged specialist training for 26 Thai and two Lao female police officers investigating sex offences involving children. The training, which started on December 11 and will last until tomorrow, is being conducted by the Child Online and Exploitation Program (CEOP), affiliated to the UK's Serious and Organized Crime Agency (SOCA). It is being held at the US-funded International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Bangkok, and the ILEA is providing administrative support. The principal trainer, Tim Gerrish said: "The CEOP Centre is committed to improving investigations surrounding the sexual abuse of children both nationally and internationally.