Beijing+25 Asia-Pacific Youth Blog
The Beijing +25 Youth Blog is an online space for young activists from across Asia and the Pacific to raise their ideas, concerns and expectations in relation to gender equality and women’s empowerment. Every month, a youth’s submission is posted on the blog. Do you want to contribute to the blog? Find the submission guidelines here.
“To give birth to a child is a woman’s right but it has become a woman’s duty”
by: Jenny Mei
Look back at history — men were in the lead in almost all careers, especially politics and literature. Where was women’s place? They stayed at home, took care of babies and did housework. Even though a lot of them had abilities that exceeded their husbands’. For example, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a brilliant poet who published multiple poems commenting on politics, appeared in our books as someone who “loves her husband dearly”. Read more
Child marriage is a curse for girls in Bangladesh
by: Rima Sultana Rimu
Child marriage is a curse for young women, who cannot develop their talent due to child marriage and dowry. Their dreams have been broken down. Also, they suffer from so many health consequences if they are married off at an early age. I have so many friends who are working as homemakers while still in their childhoods. I cannot cook yet, but they are cooking for their husbands’ families. If they cannot do it, they face consequences from the in-law’s family. Read more
Must queer art always be by queers, for queers? Musings on a recent comic workshop
by: Dia Yonzon
All it took, as so often, was for one person to summon the courage to open up about their life. I was sitting in a zoom call with strangers, but as they told their stories and spoke about what impacted their art, I felt like I was sitting under forest foliage somewhere listening to tales from a fantasy world. As more and more people got comfortable and started to share, it was as if a floodgate opened up of stories woven in nostalgia. Read more
WOMEN ARE “CONDITIONED TO BE POLICED AS A RESULT OF YEARS OF MORAL POLICING AT SCHOOL AND THEIR HOMES.”
by: Anandita Mishra
Where there was no mention of “consensual sex”, but ample discussion on how to dress and behave to be perceived as a woman of “high moral character”. Where we were told to stay away from men and mobile phones. Read more
"Men and boys must help end our indignities around menstruation."
by: Soundarya Baskaran
Soundarya Baskaran, 20, lives in Venmankondan village of Tamil Nadu state in southern India and is a final-year mathematics student at Srinivasan College of Arts & Science. She is an advocate for ending menstruation stigma in India, an effort that aligns with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 on good health and wellbeing, Goal 5 on gender equality and women's empowerment and Goal 6 on access to clean water and sanitation. Read more
"My ability to study and work shouldn’t be based on ‘luck’."
by: Lucky
Lucky has worked as a volunteer for UN Women and other organizations, is participating in civil society groups seeking to end gender-based violence, and is promoting girls’ education in her community. In the future, she wants to be a political leader. Lucky’s story demonstrates United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 on promoting peaceful and inclusive societies, and Goal 5 on gender equality and women's empowerment. Read more
We must make it our top priority to end gender inequality in Afghanistan!
by: Shukria Yari
I have heard a lot of wrenching stories like a girl given away as a slave to settle a family dispute, a young woman traded to another family in exchange for a second wife for her father, a woman blamed for not giving birth to a baby boy. Read more
“There is no room for enabling insensitivity and promoting injustice.”
by: Shane Bhatla
Twenty-five years ago, a young boy was born trapped in a body that wasn’t his. So on that one fateful day, as my bully shoved me into the wall of the library and pinned my arms there, I discovered I was gay and madly head over... Read more
“Men supporting gender equality isn’t enough – they need to be advocates of it too.”
by: Net Supatravanij
The idealistic vision of the world is always in stark contrast to reality. It’s easy to say, “I support this” or “I believe in that” but having the commitment and consistency to follow through with actions is a different story. Read more
The information and views expressed in UN Women web blogs by youth from Asia and the Pacific are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of UN Women, the United Nations, or any of its affiliated organizations.