Asia and the Pacific

urmese women’s rights activists and government officials aim to finish drafting a bill by the end of the year to prevent violence against women, activists say.

“Once enacted, it would be the first law to ensure the protection of women from all forms of violence, including physical, mental, sexual and verbal violence,” May Sabe Phyu, a peace activist and coordinator of the Gender Equality Network (GEN), a large network of civil society organizations, told The Irrawaddy on Friday.

This was discussed at the Fiji Women’s Forum Candidate Strengthening Workshop in the Holiday Inn in Suva, today. Representatives from Political parties met to discuss and support the women candidates that have been announced or with the intention of running through the political party. FemLink Coordinator, Sharon Bhagwan Rolls says the workshop is to also provide for spot for campaign organizers as well.

On June 23, a middle-aged male Japanese politician, dressed in the traditional dark suit and '80s-retro haircut, walked in front of a waiting line of news cameras, to where a younger female politician waited. As the cameras flashed, he apologized to the woman, and bowed deeply; she looked on gravely.

While we were meeting with women journalists in Afghanistan this past May, another group of Afghan women journalists were in Washington, D.C., meeting with congressional staff members. The overlap was coincidental, but both groups of Afghan women recounted similar stories of their growing role in Afghan media and, more importantly, the fight for Afghanistan’s democracy.

Cambodian women continue to be poorly represented in government following commune elections in May, the Committee to Promote Women in Politics said yesterday.

This reality, the committee said, is endangering the Kingdom’s chances of meeting its UN Millennium Development Goals.

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