Asia | Kyrgyzstan | Career

Kyrgyzstan’s space women blast off from male dominance

Having grown up in one of the poorest and most conservative regions in Kyrgyzstan, 17-year-old Begaiym Isaakova never imagined she would work in tech, let alone be part of a team of young women building the country's first spacecraft. By age 15, Isaakova was shocked to see her peers in Jalal-Abad being married off, but not too surprised. The message that girls should prioritise knowing how to serve men started early and was everywhere, including in schools and homes. Instead of being sent down the aisle in a country where early and forced marriage - including by bride kidnap - is common

Asia | China | Technology

She’s Connected: China’s Female Internet Users Top 300 Mil

Source: Women of China

The number of Chinese female Internet users has exceeded 300 million for the first time, according to a report released by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) on January 22. By December 2015, China had 688 million people using the Internet, representing around half of the country's population, the report said. Some 90 percent of them surf the net through mobile phones. Female Internet users accounted for some 46 percent of the total, compared with the ratio of nearly 44 percent in 2014. The online population is seeing huge rises in growth overall. In December 2015, Ch

Asia | Cambodia | Activism

Using technology to counter gender-based violence in Cambodia

Source: DW

Violence against women has long been endemic in Cambodia, borne out in widespread oppressive attitudes and harrowing statistics. The United Nations says one in four Cambodian women reported physical or sexual violence by a partner, while one in five men admitted to having committed rape, and more than 5 percent of men said they had engaged in gang rape. But in recent years, violence has shifted along with rapid changes to Cambodia's capital city, moving more prominently from the private domain to the public. Sreyleap represents a growing number of rural, mostly poor, women who have migrated

Asia | Vietnam | Activism

Vietnamese youth use social media to advocate for ending violence against women and girls

Source: UN Women

Thirty-five youth leaders and activists from Northern to Southern regions of Viet Nam came together to participate in a three-day training organized by UN Women and the Viet Nam Volunteer Center, Youth Union (VVC). The training aimed to deepen knowledge and understanding of the youth leaders and activists on gender equality and violence against women and girls (VAWG), using social media as a tool to advocate and engage other youth in ending VAWG. In Viet Nam, a remarkable 95 per cent of young people between the age of 15 and 24 have access to the internet. Due to a growing demand and po

Asia | China | Business

Jack Ma Says Women Executives Are Alibaba’s ‘Special Sauce’

Source: Huffington Post

While Silicon Valley grapples with a major gender gap in its workforce, Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba, said Wednesday that women are the "secret sauce" behind his company’s success. The proclamation came during Alibaba’s first-ever Global Conference on Women and Entrepreneurship. The two-day event in Hangzhou, China, included speeches from women as varied as Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, actress and entrepreneur Jessica Alba and Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post’s founder and editor-in-chief.

Asia | China | Business

China’s richest woman made watches in a factory – now she makes the glass for the Apple Watch

Source: Silicon Republic

Born poor, Zhou Qunfei worked in a factory that made the glass for watches. Today she is China’s richest woman with a fortune of US$7.4bn and her business makes the glass for the Apple Watch. The 44-year-old started her working life as a factory girl on the floor of a watch factory after leaving her home in China’s central Hunan Province to work in the industrial southern city of Shenzhen. According to Xinhua and Tech in Asia, Qunfei has been named the richest woman in China with a fortune estimated to be worth more than US$7.4bn, ousting Chan Laiwa, founder of Beijing Red Sandal

Asia | China | Culture

China’s upper middle class women are driving ecommerce and social media in China

Source: Business Insider

“Women hold up half the sky,” Chairman Mao once said. In the Chinese digital economy the same is true, with a newly empowered middle class of wealthy, well educated women who live and breathe social media and online shopping, spending $3tn annually in China alone. The average Chinese ‘wired woman’, according to research presented by Evelina Lye, SapientNitro’s head of marketing for Asia Pacific told SXSW on Sunday, typically own as many as five devices each.