Keep up to date with the latest news and developments on human rights in East Asia
Want regular updates straight sent to your email?
Click here to register for Human Asia’s newsletter (English/Korean) and our Hurasia news report (Korean only).
Regional News
Japan to delay ‘womenomics’ goal by up to a decade, reports media
[The Japan Times] Japan will delay by up to a decade its target to raise the percentage of women in leadership posts to 30 percent — part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s campaign to empower women — after failing to hit the deadline this year, domestic media have reported
Why gay-friendly Taiwan is a creative haven for LGBTQ art
[CNN] Around this time last year, Taiwan was gearing up to host Asia's largest ever Pride parade having just become the first place on the continent to legalize same-sex marriage.
Taiwan’s only comfort women museum to close in November
[Focus Taiwan] The first and only museum in Taiwan dedicated to World War II Japanese military sex slaves known as "comfort women" is set to close this November due to financial difficulties, four years after it opened, its operator Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation (TWRF) said on Monday.
Imagine being forced to live with your boss. That’s the case for nearly 400,000 women in Hong Kong
[CNN] When Marta came to Hong Kong in 2011, she was a 29-year-old single mother, looking for a job that could support her young daughter and sick father back in the Philippines.
Women Are Now Revitalizing The Traditional Male-Only Japanese Sake Industry
[Forbes] Historically sake brewing had been done exclusively by male workers for obscure reasons such as protecting women from intense labor and superstitions. However, more women are now playing an essential role in sake production.
Thinking Beyond Punishment to Combat Digital Sex Crimes in South Korea
[Human Rights Watch] New Measures an Important First Step, But More is Needed.
Hong Kong protesters hold banned Tiananmen vigil as anthem law is passed
[The Guardian] Thousands of people have defied a police ban in Hong Kong to mourn the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre, after the city’s legislature passed a law criminalising the mockery of China’s national anthem.
A movement to pass mothers’ last names to their children is gaining traction in China
[Quartz] A Chinese woman divorced her husband last month, partly she said, because they disagreed about whether their son would carry his or her name.
Card News
Female Migrant Domestic Workers in Hong Kong
Did you know that there are over 385,000 migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong? The mostly female migrant workforce in Hong Kong is employed largely in childcare and housekeeping. They added a staggering $12.6 billion to the economy in 2018. Our intern, Jeeeon Lee, explores some of the human rights issues for female migrant domestic workers living in Hong Kong...
Digital Sex Crime in South Korea: Nth Room
South Korea has been reeling from a number of shocking digital sex crimes in the last few months. Sentences for convicted perpetrators remain questionably short.⠀ ⠀ These incidents demonstrate the importance of constant attention and advocacy on gender issues and sex crimes. To explore more on this topic, check out "Dreaming of a Society Free from Digital Sex Crimes" by Hyeonjeong...
Business and the Economy: Women in East Asia
The Wage Gap & Work-Life Balance for Women in East Asia
Gender & Coronavirus
Pandemic leaves Hong Kong women stressed by caregiving, household chores and husbands who say ‘that’s your job, not mine’,
[South China Morning Post, 4 July 2020] Housewife Amy Leung, 38, has found herself overwhelmed during the Covid-19 pandemic, taking care of two young children, cooking, cleaning and disinfecting.
‘Digital gender divide’ is getting wider
(Bangkok Post, 11 May 2020) Asean member states have a unique opportunity to address the digital gender divide through emerging Covid-19 recovery plans. Early indications from Covid-19 research, as well as evidence from past epidemics, suggest that women, on average, are likely to suffer greater economic and social impact during the crisis caused by the pandemic.
Demand for counselling services spikes in Palestine amid COVID-19 lockdown
(United Nations Population Fund, 2 June 2020) “Sometimes I feel that this is a nightmare that I will eventually wake up from, but the nightmare is never-ending and I do not know how much longer I can handle this,” T.C.* told UNFPA.
Coronavirus: Sex workers fear for their future
(BBC, 3 June 2020) With social distancing rules in place and strip clubs and brothels closed, sex workers around the world have seen their incomes disappear almost overnight as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Many girls have been cut’: how global school closures left children at risk
(The Guardian, 1 June 2020) Covid-19 lockdown made children vulnerable to abuses including FGM and child marriage say NGOs, as schools in England prepare to reopen.
Caregivers Overwhelmed by Increased Demands Under Pandemic
(Human Rights Watch, 2 June 2020) The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically increased the time many people, particularly women, spend caring for others. In an ongoing global Human Rights Watch survey, most respondents said the pandemic affected how much time they spend doing unpaid housework and/or caring for others.
Stop widening gender inequalities: Asia’s COVID-19 responses must leave no one behind
(Devpolicy, 11 May 2020) The first case of COVID-19, an infectious disease caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus virus, was reported in December 2019. Three months later, the disease has spread to at least 213 countries/territories with more than 2.8 million confirmed cases and 192,000 deaths. And just like that, the world as we know it has completely changed.
COVID-19: Increased Homophobia In South Korea After Gay Bar
(GayNation, 11 May 2020) A corona-infected man who visited several gay bars in Seoul has been blamed for a new Coronavirus outbreak in South Korea, which risks increasing homophobic abuse in the country.