She is the sensational Diva of Afghanistan and the only female artist/activist of Afghanistan with over 300,000 fans on Facebook. A multiple award winning artist, Aryana Sayeed is one of the rare singers that only performs live in her concerts. Her outstanding performances, her fight for women’s rights, and her beauty have won millions of…
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When my friends warned me about the overt sexist comments many young women experience while walking on the streets in some European countries, I wasn’t sure what to think of it. Naively, I laughed, dismissing the issue by claiming I would have some devious feminist comeback if any man was to pester me. This attitude,…
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Here at Lip, we have following closely the ventures of crowdfunding platform Pozible, as they launched their local Edits in Sydney and Brisbane (so far!). This week I cyber-met Sandy Clark, the founder and CEO of new charity Dignity Zambia, who is currently crowdfunding her first book, My Love Affair With Zambia. Here, Sandy discusses her inspiration for the charity and the book,…
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In the face of pervading poverty and corruption, football fans are experiencing extreme cognitive dissonance during this year’s World Cup in Brazil. Many international fans seem aware of FIFA’s shady and corrupt history and the Brazilian government’s lack of conduct regarding its impoverished citizens, but the concept of boycotting this year’s World Cup is…
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Two girls hanging from a tree in India: gang raped, murdered. On the internet, images of the teenaged cousins from Uttar Pradesh in the country’s north have gone viral in recent weeks. The images, which contravene India’s media laws about identifying the victims of rape, have caused international outrage. But just as concerning is the…
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In Santa Barbara, near the University of California, twenty-two year old Elliot Rodger launched a vicious killing spree that caused the deaths of seven people, including his own suicide. He used legally obtained guns and knives to inflict his ‘Day of Retribution’, an attack prepared and planned to enact revenge for ‘the crime of…
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April 14. I was probably studying on April 14. I was probably complaining about the amount of study I was doing on April 14, taking for granted my privileged education that has made me a better analyser, empathiser, and questioner. Almost 300 girls between 14 and 18 were sitting their exams on April 13 in…
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When I was in Kathmandu, Nepal in January 2014, I went to a shop called Local Women’s Handicrafts, and I met Nasreen Shekh. A friend of mine, Beth Collins, had been told about Nasreen’s shop by another Australian. On the program, the two of us had seen a lot of gender discrimination and women…
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I must confess, I have not taken the bus in a while. I drive now. This is not a confessional. This was not written on a bus. Growing up in Taipei—a city of laudable public transportation—I took the bus often. We took Bus 220 south, across the bridge over the canal, and then disembarked shortly…
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Last week, at an event in New York, Chelsea Clinton announced that she and husband Marc Mezvinsky ‘have our first child arriving later this year.’ The world immediately reacted, asking ‘But what does it mean for 2016?’ Mainly via Twitter – ‘news of the pregnancy spread rapidly throughout the political twitter-verse.’ Vanity Fair has concocted…
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India’s high court has ruled that its transgender community will be recognised as a third gender. India is home to a significantly large trans* community who have campaigned for their equal treatment and the end of discrimination. Because trans* people are not legally recognised in India, many have to resort to prostitution or beg for…
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Hundreds of women hit the streets of Rabat, the capital of Morocco, over the weekend, to demand that their country implement a constitutional guarantee of gender equality. Article 19 of the constitutions states that ‘men and women have equal civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights and freedoms’ and ‘the state shall work towards…
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The Philippines High Court has passed a controversial bill that allows birth control, after years of the Catholic Church pressuring the government to maintain a ban on the contraception. Philippine President, Benigno Aquino passed the bill which will allow sexual freedom for Philippine women, and require health institutions to provide free condoms and contraceptive pills….
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The Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, announced on Thursday that the Senate will attempt to vote on equal pay legislation, the Paycheck Fairness Act, as soon as next week. This vote will hopefully take place on Equal Pay Day, which is ‘the day up to which a woman must work in the current year to…
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