When women journalists refuse the grossly inappropriate advances from those in positions of power, it usually leads to a detrimental impact on their careers. This essay discusses sexual harassment, online harassment, and mentions marital r*pe by Sumaira Ashraf Rajput Many challenges test the resilience of Pakistan’s small but thriving community of women journalists, including significant...
Tag: Pakistan
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Kashmir: Caught between Hindu Nationalism and Freedom
Modi’s Hindu nationalist government has escalated forces and has created a vacuum of mystery around what exactly they could be doing in Kashmir. TW: mention of sexual assault and ethnic cleansing By Manaal Farooqi Kashmir is a region well known to those in the northern part of South Asia. It’s a contested region since it...
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The Transgender and Khawaja Sira Communities: Shared Struggles and Tensions
The issues of the Transgender and Khawaja Sira communities within Pakistan today may be similar, but they are both different communities in their own right. By Manaal Farooqi Conversations about transgender and non-binary peoples are popping up in media outlets more frequently—particularly in the West. While great strides and conversations are being had about the...
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There is no Justice for Asifa Bano Without Freedom for Kashmir
To do justice by Asifa would be to recognize that in her tragedy lies the story of thousands of women and girls in Kashmir who have experienced the same crimes fueled by the same ideologies. [CW/TW: mention of r/pe or sexual assault, and murder.] By Manaal Farooqi When news of an abduction, rape and murder...
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Honoring Asma Jahangir, Pakistani Feminist Trailblazer and Human Rights Activist
Asma’s life and work is the very definition of South Asian feminism and in many ways is also a blueprint for future human rights and feminist activism in Pakistan and beyond. Fierce and fearless Pakistani human rights activist, feminist trailblazer, and democracy advocate Asma Jahangir died on Feb. 11, in her hometown of Lahore, but...
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India Renews Plans to Finish its Border Walls, Because Trump
India already has extensive border walls along its boundaries with Pakistan and Bangladesh, but Trump has inspired it to finish the job. It’s not bad enough that India has a fringe group that worships Donald Trump as a god, and that the rise of ultra right-wing racist nationalism in the West is contributing to attacks...
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Trans Folks Will Finally Be Counted in Pakistan, But Other Rights Lag
Pakistan will count its transgender citizens in the March census, but in many ways, trans rights in the region have a long way to go. The Lahore High Court of Pakistan took a major step in defense of transgender rights in January by including the transgender community in the March 2017 population census. The Pakistani government has...
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Explaining the Seemingly Bizarre Indian-Americans for Trump 2016 Movement
During this most insane of election cycles, I wake up every day thinking that things can’t possibly get any more surreal or bizarre — and somehow, each evening when I watch the news, I find myself surprised at what new rabbit hole we’ve gone down. And then I saw this headline on NBC News: Indian-American PAC Forms...
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Through Naz, the Man at the Core of ‘The Night Of,’ We See the U.S. Legal System’s Ugly Side
HBO’s The Night Of gives Naz — and the rest of us — an education in reasonable doubt, presumed guilt, and a certain kind of brownness [Content warning: sexual assault, spoilers for HBO’s The Night Of] There’s nothing like the murder of a young, wealthy, white woman in her fancy Manhattan brownstone to grab the...
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Qandeel Baloch, Pakistani Internet Star, Murdered in ‘Honor Killing,’ was Brave Feminist
Qandeel Baloch did not deserve to die. An outspoken social media star and self-proclaimed feminist, Qandeel Baloch did not fit well into a patriarchal society. With increasingly sexual and political antics, as well as outspoken feminist statements, she was both loved and hated in her home country of Pakistan. Just this week, it pushed her brother...