The Viqarunnisa Noon School is one of the most prestigious and well-known educational institution for girls in Bangladesh. In July 2011, the school witnessed an incident of rape. According to reports, Parimal Jaydhar, a teacher at this school, had been harassing a student sexually and blackmailing her when she went to his house for private tuitions. He recorded these instances on video and also threatened to post these videos on the internet if she were to go and report his abuse to the police. However, the girl decided to complain to her parents, following which her father filed a case against the teacher.

“Look Dad, I made a temple with LEGO, just like the one I visited with Ma!”

“Don’t make a temple dear. Construct a mosque.”

“But why? Why not a temple?”

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“I wish I could take my daughter and run away from this country,” said the woman. “But my dear, every situation, every place has its own set of 84 problems. Only the nature of problems are different.” said the wise old man. Such words of wisdom and depth left her speechless, albeit for a minute. She mumbled, “Well, then I want to choose a place where ogling men are not one of its 84 problems.”

Is Egypt on the verge of civil war? What can the international community do to defuse the situation? Will other countries soon get more involved?

It was very late in the night when my mother woke me up and asked me to take her to the hospital. She was sweating heavily and obviously not feeling well. We women were alone at home because my brother was out with his friends. I tried to call him but he was out of reach. Instead of wasting more time knocking our neighbors’ doors or calling our relatives to come and help us, I simply took the car and drove to the emergency unit at the nearest hospital.

Pakistan’s women participate at a rally on Women’s day

If asked to relate Pakistan’s political situation to a literary work or character, my first suggestion would be, something Orwellian. Or maybe, an Aldous Huxley novel. What I would not compare it to, is Dickens’ Miss Havisham from Great Expectations; the old, frigid woman who is impossibly fixated on her past and refuses to let go. On the eve of elections 2013, however, I came across an article that did just that.

Eva-Marree, 27, a Swedish sex workers’ rights activist was murdered earlier this month by her ex-boyfriend when she went to visit her children. Marree had lost custody of her children because she is said to have “romanticized prostitution.” The Swedish authorities allegedly denied her custody of children because of her profession. Prostitution is illegal in Sweden. Sex workers continue to be stigmatized by the society and have few platforms to voice their problems and concerns. They are barred from state welfare benefits and any kind of protection if they choose to continue their work as sex workers.