Sexual assault in the US Armed Forces is a very real and prescient issue for all service members. In April 2023, the US Department of Defense (DoD) reported that in 2022 there had been “a roughly 1% increase in overall reports of sexual assaults” with all the service branches having seen an increase in reported [...]
Six years after the Indian Supreme Court recognised a fundamental right to privacy, the country finally has comprehensive data protection legislation in the form of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, of 2023 (DPDP Act). The draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023 (DPDP Bill 2023) was introduced in the lower house of the Indian [...]
In the summer of 1983, ethnic violence swept the island nation of Sri Lanka. Known as Black July, the outbreak of communal violence between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority communities left thousands dead and hundreds missing. Four decades later, the legacy of the violence lives on, searing Sri Lanka‘s social and political landscape. This [...]
The Nepal Supreme Court’s June 28 ruling requiring the government to register same-sex relationships follows an arduous struggle to achieve marriage equality in the South Asian nation. This historic order is expected to have an impact on an upcoming verdict regarding a similar plea at the Supreme Court of India. Despite India’s decriminalization of queer [...]
A shocking video from Manipur, India, has sparked national outrage. It shows a group of men brutally assaulting and parading two women belonging to the ethnic Kuki-Zo tribe, who were stripped naked. The incident occurred in May, following deadly ethnic riots between two communities. At least one of the women, age 21, was a victim [...]
One year after the US-China semiconductor war began and less than two months after the G7 countries decided to de-risk from China in response to concerns about China’s human rights record, its aggressive trade practices, and its military expansion, Beijing adopted a new foreign relations law on July 1 allowing for the punishment of any group [...]
In the past few years, the Indian Judiciary has maintained a steady trend of supporting queer rights in the country. In 2018, the Supreme Court issued a landmark verdict decriminalizing queer sexual relationships in India. Activists, allies, and parts of civil society celebrated the decision as the beginning of a promising era for the LGBTQ+ [...]
Pakistan’s transgender community finds itself embroiled in an ongoing struggle for inclusion, facing a recent setback with a verdict from the Federal Shariat Court (FSC). Transgender activists in Pakistan have appealed the judgement of the Federal Shariat Court (“FSC”), which adjudicates based on the tenets of Islam, to the Supreme Court (“SC”). As many as [...]
While animal rights organizations like PETA are advocating an unparalleled realm of animal protection by prompting people to convert to veganism and altogether avoiding animals in food, clothing, and drug-testing, India is still stuck in a conservative era where animals are cruelly treated in the name of upholding the “tradition and culture” of a community. [...]
Under the current conditions in Afghanistan, delivering humanitarian aid seems not only a noble endeavor but also an imperative. However, there are challenges for humanitarian actors. Most of the challenges stem from restrictions created by the Taliban, the disastrous situation of the country, the difficulty of reaching out to a large population, and dangers and [...]
