Some of the survivors of acid attacks portrayed in a recent documentary about their fates fear reprisals if the film is broadcast in Pakistan. Acid crime affects hundreds every year.

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What should a poor father do if he has two options to choose from? Either he has to marry off his five-year-old daughter to his rival’s six-year-old son as a settlement of a dispute or give the rival one million Pakistani rupees (some 8,333 euros) as a settlement.

If answering that one is difficult, try this one. What should a 14-year-old girl in a typical rural area of Pakistan do when she wants to go to school or say play dolls with her friends when her newborn is crying waiting to be fed?

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Asian leaders are meeting in New Delhi to discuss why, despite the economic boom and rapid progress, women on their continent still remain victims of violence and the traditional patriarchal mindset.

“Preventing and Responding to Violence against Women and Girls: From Legislation to Effective Enforcement,” is a forum, taking place September 15 to 17, where Asian parliamentarians are meeting to discuss challenges faced by women in Asia. The event was organized by the Inter-parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Parliament of India.

In the conference, members of parliament from China, Cambodia, Japan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Iran

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Life is tough enough for women in Afghanistan, but things get more complicated when a young woman decides to take up journalism in a country riddled with conflict.

Tamana Jamily is one such young reporter-in-the-making. A student of media studies in Mazar-e-Sharif, Jamily works part-time at a radio station in her city. Supported by a scholarship from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, she is now in Bonn to hone her radio skills in the Deutsche Welle. Jamily speaks to DW’s Martina Bertram about the dangerous life of a journalist in her war-ravaged country.

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A new survey reveals Afghanistan to be the world’s most dangerous place for women. Pakistan and India are ranked third and fourth on crimes ranging from domestic abuse to female foeticide.

As if the constant threat of airstrikes were not enough to make a country dangerous, domestic cultural practices do their best to make life hell for women in Afghanistan. Antonella Notari, head of Women Change Makers, an organization supporting women entrepreneurs, says, “Ongoing conflict, NATO airstrikes and cultural practices combined make Afghanistan a very dangerous place for women. In addition, women who do attempt to speak out or

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Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy’s iconic novel on his famous female protagonist begins with the now popular quote: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Much of it is true for women – happy women are happy because they like who they are, regardless of being single, married or in a relationship. Unhappy women may be unhappy with their lonely lives as a singleton in Berlin, a partner in a troubled relationship in Bonn, a daughter in a big family with a million physical restrictions in a small town in India, a teenager suffering physical violence in Pakistan, a woman in Kashmir waiting for the curfew to get over so she can buy groceries. As cliché-ed as it may sound, suffering women across the world have a thousand problems they could list, which is precisely why we choose to address these issues specifically in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan at womentalkonline.
South Asia is at a turning point. Modern-day life and rapid industrialization is taking its toll on old cultural practices and on the role of men and women. The challenge for women is enormous: they are more educated than ever before, they have aspirations, they want a life and a career. At the same time, religious and cultural restrictions are causing tension and forcing women to redefine their

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