South Asia East Asia

South East Asia

GENDER
EQUALITY AND
ISSUES
SOUTH EAST
ASIA
DEMOGRAPHIC
C o u n t r i e s
Brunei Myanmar

Cambodia Vietnam

Indonesia
Singapore
Philippines
Laos Thailand

East Timor
Malaysia
 Population
Male316,148,470
:

Female:317,341,476
 FAMOUS
LGBT
PERSONALITY
Jose Marie BorjaViceral,
known by his stage name
Vice Ganda, is a Filipino
comedian, television
presenter, endorser,
actor, author, fashion
icon, and recording
artist.
Born: 31 March 1976
(age 41), Tondo

Vice Ganda
 Abigail Chay (born
Caesar Chay Tuck
Kwong, 1959) is a
Singaporean
transgendered
personality and
actress.
Abigail Chay
 Treechada Petcharat, born
Saknarin Marnyaporn,
better known by the names
Poyd, Nong Poy, or
Treechada Malayaporn, is a
Thai actress and model.
Assigned male at birth,
Petcharat underwent sex
reassignment surgery at age
19.
Born: 5 October 1986 (age
31), Phang Nga Province,
Thailand
Other name: Poyd, Polly
Treechada “Poyd” Petcharat
Gender Discrimination
in
Southeast Asia
BANGKOK, Thailand — Gender in Southeast
Asia is the deciding factor concerning
independence ability to work and even health.
Southeast Asian countries, such as Cambodia,
Myanmar,
Thailand and Vietnam, are culturally diverse.
However, the women of this region all share
the
experience of gender discrimination.
The inferior position of women in Southeast Asia impacts
women’s health in Southeast Asia. The Official
Journal of The World Psychiatric Association (WPA)
examined the psychological toll of gender discrimination
on
the women of the entire region, including specific studies
on women in India, Nepal and Pakistan. The study
report explains that Southeast Asia “faces enormous
social, economic and health challenges, including
pervasive inequality, violence, political instability and
high burden of disease,” partially due to the fact that the
population is high while the income in low.
 Traditional gender roles dominate the region. Women
take on the role of child bearing, while men are the
breadwinners. These ideas produce discriminative
behaviors among people. The births of males are
celebrated, while the births of females are mourned.
Sometimes, the WPA explains, “Women are forced to
abort a female fetus.” This practice is most common in
India.
Religion is also a major factor in the treatment of women.
In Pakistan and India, Muslim girls are sometimes
subjected to honor killings, arranged marriages and female
circumcision, among other harsh practices.
The behavior of men in Southeast Asia contributes to the
subservient role of women, as husbands often go
unpunished for physical and sexual assault. Additionally,
due to the economic climate in the region, “many
women and young children are trafficked and forced into
prostitution, undesired marriages and bonded
labor.”
 The WPA reports overwhelmingly higher prevalence of
psychological issues in women than in men. In
Bangladesh, twice as many women suffered from mental
disorders, and three times as many women
committed suicide. The WPA also states that in Pakistan,
women suffering from depressive disorders stated
that they were due to “marital conflict, conflict with in-laws,
financial dependency, lack of meaningful job and
stress of responsibilities at home and at work.”
SOUTH ASIA
DEMOGRAPHIC
C o u n t r i e s
Bhutan Afghanistan

India Bangladesh

Maldives Pakistan

Nepal Sri Langka

 Population

1,882,974,074
Billion
Male: 938,880,969

Female:884,093,105
 FAMOUS
MALE,LGBT
PERSONALITY
 Nadira Begum is causing
quite the sensation during
local council elections in
the Bangladesh city of
Rangpur.
Begum is a trans woman
running for a councillor’s
position in the Rangpur
Nadira Begum City Corporation’s
election.
 Madhu Kinnar

Madhu Kinnar is India's first transgender mayor. Running

as an independent candidate, Madhu won the mayor
election of the Raigarh Municipal Corporation, securing
33,168 votes and defeating the nearest rival, BJP's
Mahaveer Guruji, by 4,537 votes. Wikipedia
Born: 1980
 Hrithik Roshan (English: /ˈrɪtɪk ˈ
rɒʃən/, born 10 January 1974) is
an Indian actor who appears in
Bollywood films. The son of the
filmmaker Rakesh Roshan, he has
portrayed a variety of characters
and is known for his dancing
ability. One of the highest-paid
actors in India, he has won
many awards, including six
Filmfares, four for Best Actor and
one each for Best Debut and
Best Actor (Critics). Starting in
Hrithik Roshan 2012, he appeared in Forbes India
's Celebrity 100 based on his
income and popularity.
Violence Against Women is
On the Rise
 V iolence against women in South Asia has become so common and
normalized that, instead of decreasing, it is on the rise.
A few days ago, I encountered a situation where one of my friends
commented on how women’s working abilities are less than those of men. I
responded to him about how capability is not defined by physical strength
but rather intellect. However, I couldn’t help but think: How far have we
really come in terms of gender equality, and why is it still important to ask
questions about gender-based discrimination and violence?
I am originally from Kathmandu, Nepal, and for last four years I’ve been
living in Delhi, India. I do not find much difference in the patriarchal
mindset of the people in both these places. People still doubt that women
can do anything better than a man can—as my friend says: “Men and
women can never be equal.” They not only question women’s physical
ability, but also express doubt whether women can be equally intelligent.
Similarly, I have met men for whom domestic violence is important to
keep women “on track.”
 BURDEN AND PROPERTY

Conducting a survey of news on women in general news websites

provides
us a glimpse of the high rate of violence against women. For example,
on
one news website (selected randomly), more than 30 articles from
January
2016 to early December 2016 were on violence against women. Most of
the
news talked about different gendered issues in Canada, but there were
news highlighting other parts of the world, including the Asia Pacific
region and countries like
India and Pakistan. The issues covered included bullying and harassment
of women workers,
sexual assault and rape, honor killings, and highly-publicized and
criticized incidents like
a Moroccan TV show that gave women make-up tips to cover signs of
One article criticized how women are given tips regarding the
kinds of clothes they should wear for their own safety. These
were the news articles that made it into the world media
because of the debate and concern they produced among an
international audience. We do not have to look far tosee the
discrimination and
violence that women encounter in their everyday lives. It
exists everywhere,
regardless of caste, class, age, race and religion. Let us look at
some facts and figures from four
South Asian countries: Two of these have Hindu-majority
populations (Nepal and India) and two of
the others are Muslim majority (Afghanistan and
Bangladesh).
In July 2016, the British government issued a report documenting
cases directly related to violence
against women in Afghanistan. According to the report, which
looked at the first six months of
2016, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission
recorded 5,132 cases of violence
against women, which included 241 murders. Other similar studies
conducted by the Women
Rehabilitation Center (WOREC) in Nepal showed that 1,563 cases
against women violence were
recorded from April 2012 to 2013. Apart from that, it also pointed
out that between 5,000 and
12,000 girls and women aged 10 to 20 are trafficked every year.
EAST ASIA
DEMOGRAPHIC
C O U N T R
I E S
China North Korea

Japan South Korea

Mongolia Hong Kong

Taiwan Macau
 POPULATION

1,612,286,941
Female:
787,587,173 Male:824,699,768
 FAMOUS
LGBT
PERSONALITY
 Ayana Tsubak

Ayana Tsubaki is a Japanese transgender

TV personality and fashion model.
Born: 15 July 1984 (age 33), Tokyo, Japan
 Hong Seok-cheon

Korea’s first gay celebrity, Hong Seok-cheon, 45, hopes to

become a leader of the Yongsan District Office soon with
the aim of promoting cultural spaces for young artists and
small businesses, while providing welfare for sexual
minorities.
 Denise Ho Wan-see, also
known as HOCC
(born 10 May 1977), is a
Hong Kong-based
Cantopop
Singer and actor, as well as
a pro-democracy and
LGBT
rights activist.
Contents

Denise Ho
Gender Issues
in
East Asia
As a region, East Asia and the Pacific has experienced faster growth
and poverty reduction than any other region. This has contributed to
narrowing of gender gaps in several areas, most notably in education
and health. However, important challenges remain to achieve gender
equality in the region, and growth and development alone are not
sufficient to reach equality in all dimensions and for all women.
Gender gaps in economic opportunity and influence in society have
proven particularly persistent. Gaps in access to basic education
remain in a few countries where overall enrollment rates are also
relatively low; in several countries, gaps persist among specific
subgroups– like ethnic minority groups. Maternal mortality remains
high in several countries and over a million girls are never born due
to strong son preference.
Women still earn less than men for similar work–around
70% to 80%, on average– and female workers are more
likely than men to work as unpaid family labor or in the
informal sector. Overall, women still own less land and
have weaker access to productive inputs. Women continue
to have weaker voice and influence than men in the home,
in politics, and in civil society. And violence against women
remains high. If societies in East Asia and Pacific were to
allocate resources on the basis of people’s skills and
abilities, rather than by their gender, per worker
productivity could increase by as much as 7% to 18%, with
important implications for shared growth and poverty
reduction.
Members
:
Hans Jeio Lebite
Erica Denise Damiano “Taba
Donitalyn Ventur
“Marimar”
Marielle Cruz
John Ashley Abo