Asia

The tide is beginning to turn in the world social order. Traditional family roles are changing as democratic notions creep into the social system. Earlier, it was assumed to be written that the man was the provider in the family and the woman the homemaker. In Nepal, while a majority of the women may still be fighting against the old order, some have definitely seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

Equal gender rights have always been a guaranteed indicator for the social development of a country. The nine million women (out of 15 million) has been enabled by the government of Kazakhstan to patronage them. Firstly the life expectancy of a Kazakh woman is 71 years, ten years more than that of a man. Secondly being larger in number, she is the real responsibility of her family.

On the third anniversary of the stoning of Du'a Khalil Aswad to death in public and in condemnation of all forms of violence against women join us in this public seminar to remember Du'a and all women around the world who were killed in so- called honour killings.

Every year an estimated 10,000 Nepalese girls between the ages of nine and 16 are trafficked across India's open border and sold into prostitution. Interpol, an international criminal police organization, cites trafficking as a multi-billion dollar industry that continues to grow exponentially, with more than 200,000 Nepalese girls now working in the brothels of India.

A committee of mothers of Palestinian prisoners met Friday outside the headquarters of the Red Cross in Gaza City, protesting the continued incarceration of their sons and daughters.

Fifteen months after the end of fighting between Sri Lankan government forces and the Tamil Tigers, women in the north are taking up a new and challenging role as breadwinners - with more and more becoming day labourers to support their families.

Continued militancy has taken the life of a woman in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh while others have been wounded in a separate incident in the capital.

Unknown gunmen killed a woman Tuesday afternoon in the al-Akidat region in central Mosul, Nineveh's provincial capital, a security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Taliban violence and intimidation are threatening Afghanistan's parliamentary elections as the government fails to protect candidates, especially women, a human rights watchdog said Thursday.

Afghanistan is due to go to the polls on September 18, when around 2,500 candidates will contest the 249 seats in the lower house of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga.

With international forces edging close to withdrawal and Taliban violence on the rise, Afghanistan's women appears to be facing a grim future.

A suspected poison gas attack on a girl's school in Kabul last month highlights the dangers that exist in a society dominated by patriarchal tribal traditions. Dozens of students were injured in the kind of incident that is becoming commonplace across the country.

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks brought about many changes in American society.

The government established a new department to deal with terrorist threats. Airports instituted tough new security rules. Public awareness of Islam and Muslim countries grew and - in many cases - so did distrust and hate.