The rise of the middle class in Asian countries and the influx of educated women at workplaces have stirred a continuous debate about the role of women in a rapidly industrializing society. China is no exception. Ambitious Chinese women are breaking the boundaries- and facing the consequences.

Rumana Manzur, a graduate of Dhaka University, was doing her post-graduation as a Fulbright scholar in the University of British Columbia. In June 2011, she returned to Bangladesh to visit her five-year-old daughter Anushey and husband, Syed. But Syed was not very happy with his wife’s choices.

Little girls and dolls are synonymous. They are the best of friends all over the world except perhaps in Jaunpur in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In Jaunpur, these dolls meet a horrifying fate at the hands of little boys.

A video of the two girls dancing was posted on youtube.

“Don’t kill me please… I have done nothing wrong… I was just enjoying the rain, I don’t want to die… please … for God’s sake, brother, don’t kill me!”

I was begging and trying to hide myself behind my mother who was also begging for my life. She was asking my cousins to pardon me for bringing shame to the family. We kept pleading, but they shot me. I was dying, as the words “family honour” kept flashing across my mind.

Copyright: Soofia Says

A woman’s body is sin. Her existence invisible.

A man’s body is free. His existence supreme.

This is what the so-called advocates of Islam have said in many words. According to them, a woman raped is a woman scorned, as she herself is responsible for inviting a man to violate her. Her manner of inviting -stepping out of the house, not covered in layers of black cloth and not being with a male protector. And of course…

Attention please: Girls and women of all age groups are requested to keep at least two adult men or four adult women with them, regardless of whether they are at home or elsewhere. This measure will help in case the woman in question is raped. The witnesses can then testify in court and help the victim get justice. Rapists are also requested not to harm these

Last January, I heard that a female student who jumped off a running bus in Jakarta and died because she was being harassed and the bus driver refused to stop the vehicle. It reminded me of so many other stories about rape in public transportation. The victims vary from students and career women to housewives.  But is a ‘wrong mentality’ to blame in this case?