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by Nina Somera, Isis International

“A cup that is half-full.”

That is how Dr. Patricia Licuanan, president of Miriam College described her expectations in the upcoming Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing + 15 from 22 to 24 October 2009 in Manila, Philippines and its culmination in the 54th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in February 2010 in New York, United States. A veteran of Beijing processes, Licuanan chaired the drafting committee that yielded what is now known the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA).

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by Nina Somera, Isis International

Philippine leader Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed the Magna Carta of Women (MCW) into law last 14 August 2009 at the presidential palace in Manila. Now known as Republic Act 9710, MCW is meant to be a comprehensive law on women's human rights. It strengthens existing laws on violence against women and children, rape, labour migration and many others.

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by Nina Somera, Isis International

Nepali women's organisation, Saathi in collaboration with other women's groups is set to produce an NGO Nepal Report on Beijing +15 in time for the Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing + 15 in October 2009 in Manila and the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in March 2010 in New York. This report will be based on the outputs of a conference from 13-14 September 2009 that will be attended by over 150 feminists and women's organisations in the country.

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by Nina Somera, Isis International

Ruptured womb and anus.

This was how a nurse described the state of a beautiful woman who was rushed by men who have so much to say on her nightmares in the last days of her life.

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by Nina Somera, Isis International

About two months since Bangladesh's High Court prohibited sexual harassment, feminists are feeling all the more the opportunities and challenges of a long overdue measure. Although this policy remains temporary until a law is passed, the Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers Association (BNWLA) are already seeing some positive developments.

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by Cai Yiping, Isis International

In the recent years, sex birth ratio has become one of the more prominent issues that hound China. Chinese demographers estimate that men will outnumber women by 300 million in 2020 if the trends persist. In 2005, the national sex birth ratio stood at 119 boys to 100 girls, higher than the average 106 to 107. In some provinces like Hainan, Jiangxi and parts of Zhenjiang, this figure may even be as high as 140 boys.