Democracy & Human Rights

Change is all around us; experiencing it can be exciting or worrisome, confusing or even disturbing. By contrast, the idea of “transition” stands to provide a sense of direction, in a sea of change and insecurity. Change may be happening to us; a transition has direction, it can be planned, perhaps even be initiated. It moves into a positive, sustainable direction – or so we hope. The equivalent German term “Wende” and its numerous composite terms play a prominent role in the programme of the German Green and in the international work of Heinrich Böll Stiftung (hbs).

The freedom to decide over one’s own body and reproduction is still a privilege in today’s world. Whether or not to have children and how to raise them is a very personal choice, but also a choice with political implications: Who is encouraged or forced to have children? Who has access to resources and the means to have children? Whose parenthood is the subject of reappraisal or prevention? How do laws, policies, and public health programmes influence people’s access to reproductive self-determination?

The Global Feminist Pitch is back to support feminists from Latin America, Asia, Africa, Middle East and (South) Eastern Europe. This year we are looking for ten feminists who will write on the topic of feminist mobilisation in their region. Apply now!

Increase in domestic violence, lay-offs, care responsibilities, restrictions on domestic and international movement, economic insecurities, psychological burdens - these are just a few of the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in Asia in the last two years. The gendered nature of COVID-19 impacts is obvious and has sparked large feminist responses in the region.

Left-wing identity politics must be more about foregrounding people’s common concerns and not their common characteristics, says Dr. Julia Ehrt, Executive Director at ILGA World.

Every single day, women are abused, threatened or slandered on digital social networks. Yet the operators of these platforms are doing very little to make the digital space a safer place for women. The whistleblower Frances Haugen talked to Spiegel journalist Ann-Katrin Müller and Alexandra Geese, Member of the European Parliament, about what needs to be done right now to stop violence on the net.

25 November is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The hbs has interviewed Jacey Kan from Hong Kong’s Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women (ACSVAW) to introduce its campaign in fighting against image-based sexual violence.

Technology is gendered. It may be treated as neutral, but its application and support through government policy impact gendered identities, needs and priorities. South Korea’s pandemic response and post-pandemic strategy have inadvertently reversed the nation’s progress in promoting gender equality. This article reviews two gendered experiences of the digital transformation precipitated by Covid-19. It points out the absence of gender inclusion in the national policy advocating digital transformation, and the resulting marginalisation of women. 

The internet we have today has become as real as any social spaces we occupy in-person. So much of our lives are integrated digitally now and opting out of the digital space is no longer a choice for us. Today, to be online is to exist and to be seen.

8 March is International Women’s Day. Dr Ruby Lai shares her viewpoints on abortion and reproductive rights in Hong Kong and East Asia.