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Key issues facing Chinese and Asian women

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‘How many boyfriends have you had?’ The reality for women jobseekers in China

Unlucky in love can mean unlucky at work in China as employers demand dating history from women applicants to prove ‘emotional intelligence’. Photo: AFP

The Thai women breaking menstrual taboos to end period poverty

Kesinee Jirawanidchakorn, 38, wants her reusable cloth menstrual pads to address environmental sustainability concerns and eradicate the stigma surrounding menstruation. Photo: Handout

Pandemic fuels forced marriage risk for girls in Hong Kong, Britain

In South Asia, Covid-19 and poverty force girls as young as 8 into marriage

A 10-year-old actress plays the role of a girl forced into marriage for an Amnesty International campaign. Photo: AFP

Bringing saris back: the Indian influencers wearing ‘six yards of freedom’

The Sari Run in Chandigarh. Photo: Seema Sharma

How Asia’s women have triumphed even in face of adversity

An activist at a protest rally in Kathmandu. Hundreds of women’s right activists and their supporters rallied in Nepal’s capital in February to call for an end to violence and discrimination against women. Photo: AP

Top 10 alpha females of Hong Kong’s financial services industry

Hong Kong’s Central business district. Only 14 per cent of major listed companies’ directors are women in the city, lower than the United Kingdom’s 34 per cent and the United States’ 28 per cent. Photo: AFP

China wants babies to expand workforce but China’s women have other plans

China faces a population time bomb, with plummeting birth rates and a rapidly ageing workforce. Photo: AFP

International Women’s Day: calls to tackle domestic violence, illegal surrogacy

Despite new laws introduced in 2016, domestic violence remains a major issue in China. Photo: Shutterstock

‘Why are men so ordinary?’ The women fighting sexism in China

Chinese comedian Yang Li has emerged as a leading feminist voice in China. Photo: YouTube

> More on this Series

This Week in Asia People

Pride and prejudice: how Asia’s women have triumphed even in face of adversity

Throughout the past 12 months of trials and tribulations, Asia’s women have proved time and again that they can rise to the challenge
Join This Week In Asia for a look back at some of our top stories celebrating women to mark International Women’s Day

International Women's Day

SCMP’s Asia desk

Published: 5:00pm, 7 Mar 2021

Why you can trust SCMP

This story is part of a series on women’s issues in China and Asia to coincide with International Women’s Day.

Throughout the trials and tribulations brought by a year living amid the coronavirus pandemic, Asia’s women have proved time and again that they can rise to the challenge – whether it’s landing a spacecraft on Mars, fighting cross-border bride trafficking or transcending gender roles to become a driving force for change.

Join This Week In Asia for a look back at some of our top stories from the past 12 months celebrating women from the region who have triumphed over adversity, to mark International Women’s Day.

A MISSION TO MARS

02:49

Nasa releases first video of dramatic Mars landing by Perseverance rover

After a seven-month, 300-million-mile journey, Nasa scientist Swati Mohan expertly landed the science rover Perseverance on Mars last month to cheers from her colleagues and plaudits from admirers around the world.

She is among a group of Indian women, including ‘missile woman’ Tessy Thomas, aerospace engineer Ritu Karidhal Srivastava and electronics systems engineer Muthayya Vanitha, who have found successful careers in space science – inspiring a new generation of aspiring young women scientists in the process.

India’s women scientists break barriers in space exploration

TRANSCENDING GENDER

Police in Kolkata arrest a female supporter of the All India Democratic Woman Alliance during a protest demanding more rights for women. Photo: Zuma Wire/DPA

Across Asia, women are becoming increasingly outspoken and taking part in protests from India to Hong Kong aimed at bringing change to their communities as feminist movements gain ground in the region and globally.

In this profile of activism across different countries, This Week In Asia hears from five women on the changes they are witnessing – and the challenges they still face.

Unsung heroes: 5 Asian women transcending gender roles

BUSTING STEREOTYPES

Kolkata-based Taniya Sanyal is the first woman firefighter to be appointed by the Airports Authority of India. Photo: Taniya Sanyal

In India’s patriarchal society, it is difficult for women to enter careers that are considered traditionally male preserves. But despite discouragement and harassment, some Indian women have their hearts set on becoming trailblazers.

From a detective to an ambulance driver, and an aviation firefighter – learn more about the Indian women determined to make their mark.

Meet the Indian women breaking gender stereotypes

FIGHTING CORONAVIRUS

03:10

‘Every day we struggle’, doctors overwhelmed treating Covid-19 cases in hospitals around the world

Women across Asia have been playing a leading role in their communities amid the Covid-19 crisis – and female world leaders also have been praised.

But women are also among those most negatively affected by lockdown measures and experts warn the gender gap may be widening.

Asia’s women are leading the coronavirus fight – and still losing out

KINGDOMS OF WOMEN

Khasi women wash leaves for cooking in the village of Nongtraw in India’s north-eastern Meghalaya state. Photo: AFP

Matriarchal and matrilineal communities centred around women have existed for centuries in China, India and Indonesia. But a recent influx of tourism, technology and mainstream patriarchal ideas is rapidly changing their way of life.

Here we take a closer look at the Mosuo people of Yunnan province, India’s female-centric Garo and Khasi tribes and the Minangkabau, or Minang, community of Sumatra.

Modernity threatens Asia’s female-centric societies

SINGLE BY CHOICE

An Indian woman wearing a mask pictured in Mumbai in May. Photo: EPA

There are more single women in India today than at any time since records began, yet discrimination, stereotypes and the patriarchy still abound.

The country’s single women often find themselves labelled as morally loose or headstrong, forced to fight a constant uphill battle against societal prejudices – but many are now pushing back.

India’s women reject marriage in their millions, but society hasn’t caught up

BATTLING BUREAUCRACY

Kaye and Dawn pictured with their mother Feli. Photo: Winson Wong

Filipino sisters Kaye and Dawn were born in Hong Kong, but for three decades went without attending school, seeing a doctor or holding an identity card or passport.

Their mother, a former domestic worker, had overstayed her visa and after struggling to register them in the city she eventually gave up. Officially, the sisters did not exist – but after eventually receiving their birth certificates, they are now looking to help other people in similar situations.

The Hong Kong-born Filipino sisters who ‘didn’t exist’ for 30 years

SEEKING SUPPORT

Single mothers and women living in low income households have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Photo: Maro Enriquez

Asia’s women have been disproportionately affected by job losses amid the pandemic, with many suffering poverty as a result.

From anxious mums to academics – and the high-flying executives who see the crisis as an opportunity for reform – here we take a closer look at what needs to be done to bridge the region’s gender divide.

Asian women pay the price of pandemic as Covid-19 ravages economies, jobs

UNEQUAL TREATMENT

Demonstrators hold placards during a protest in Nepal against a proposed law limiting travel. Photo: AFP

Activists in Nepal have hit out against a planned law that the government say is intended to ‘combat’ incidents of women being exploited abroad as forced labour.

Critics say it reflects a patriarchal mindset that ignores women’s rights – and repeats earlier restrictions that did little to end human trafficking.

Nepal activists blast plan requiring women to get male assent for foreign travel

BELT AND ROAD BRIDES

Ly Thi My, whose daughter went missing in a mountainous border area between Vietnam and China. Photo: AFP

As Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative to boost infrastructure expands across Asia, experts say greater regional connectivity may have an unwanted by-product.

Girls and young women in the poorer countries it connects appear to be at greater risk of human trafficking and forced marriages.