The struggle of Asian women not to be abused
Oct 10th 2019IN SEPTEMBER A woman called police to tell them that the Speaker of Nepal’s parliament, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, had just drunkenly assaulted her in her flat. When, according to local media reports, she later withdrew her allegation in the face of threats and pressure, everything seemed to be following the usual South Asian script. Men, especially powerful ones, rarely have to answer for their actions. Then the UN and foreign embassies put out a statement urging the government to take a stand on violence against women. Within days, Mr Mahara had stepped down. This week the police arrested him.Whether this case will count as progress in the abysmal treatment of women in his part of the world will not be clear for some time. Violence against women need not hold back a man going places. A tally in India last year found 48 members of parliament or state assemblies accused or convicted of violent crimes against females. They included members of parties run by women.Choose us for news analysis that respects your time and intelligenceSubscribe to The EconomistWe filter out the noise of the daily news cycle and analyse the trends that matterWe give you rigorous, deeply researched and fact-checked journalism. That’s why Americans named us their most trusted news source in 2017Available wherever you are—in print, digital and, uniquely, in audio, fully narrated by professional broadcastersThis website adheres to all nine of NewsGuard‘s standards of credibility and transparency.ORContinue reading this articleRegister with an email address