A picture book for children which highlights the issue of land rights of farmers and indigenous people in India.

Deadly disputes over land and indigenous rights are not obvious themes for children’s books, but Indian writers are using real-life conflicts to help the next generation understand their impact on communities across the country.

I just knew I had to follow the smile in his golden eyes into the sunset. It involved jumping on a plane, while barely knowing the inner workings of his soul or where on Google’s map he lived. It involved a great deal of bravery, a trusting heart, money I wasn’t sure I had, faith the size of a mustard seed  and a spirit of adventure.

Last week, Malaysia considered outlawing child marriage, a contentious issue in the Muslim-majority nation, without success. Instead, an MP said nine-year-old girls are “physically and spiritually ready for marriage.”

Women take part in a protest along a main street in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi November 17, 2014. The demonstrators were demanding justice for a woman who was attacked and stripped recently in Nairobi by men who claimed that she was dressed indecently (Copyright: Reuters/N. Khamis)

I was involved in a discussion started by a friend of mine a couple of days ago. In his opinion, “women’s rights are hardly an issue in most developed western countries in comparison to 100 years ago.” So he thinks that “what liberated woman and supportive men of these western countries need to do is go to a country that really does have woman impediments, and make a difference for them.”

“Soon after drinking my tea, I felt dizzy and dozed off. The next thing I remember is that I was sitting in a police station. They told me, I was drunk and had desecrated the Holy Book, Quran. I was surrounded by a violent mob and people belonging to religious parties were condemning me. No one was listening to my cries. All they wanted was punishment for a crime that I had never committed.”

It’s been two years since the reported murders of five tribal women in a remote region of Pakistan made headlines, but powerful local elders have blocked all efforts to carry out independent investigations and punish the culprits.

Women’s rights in Afghanistan are being dealt a serious blow considering that foreign troops are moving out of the country this year. Watch this report to know more about what the government is doing and how women are coping with the situation.