🌏 One Third Of Pakistan Is Underwater, Spain Finally Passes The"Only Yes Is Yes" Law And More

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Pakistan is in need of major humanitarian aid after extremely heavy rainfall has caused intense floods throughout the country, killing at least 119 people in a day and affecting more than 30 million people.

Monsoon season usually brings rain to South Asia at the beginning of June, but heavy rains have hit Pakistan in epic proportions this year.

Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Climate Change, Sherry Rehman, said that one third of the country is underwater and that Pakistan currently “resembles a small ocean”.

Video footage and images show homes completely underwater and bridges collapsed as rushing water passes through.

On Monday Aug. 29, the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) said at least 1,061 people had died since the rains started mid-June.

Authorities have reported relief efforts are underway, but they have been slowed down after several highways and 130 bridges were damaged.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a northernwestern province, a bridge crossing the Kabul river was swept overnight, cutting off people from main roads.

Around 180,000 people in the city of Charsadda in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa fled their homes for fear that the river would overflow.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has promised families in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one of the most heavily affected areas, would receive 25,000 rupees ($112) as aid, according to BBC.

Pakistan has asked the International Monetary Fund for $1.2 billion dollars to aid relief efforts.

India and Bangladesh have also had heavy monsoon seasons this year while other South Asian countries have also been reeling from an intense heatwave at the same time, with temperatures touching nearly 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in some places.

Also Happening Around The World

🇨🇳 In a long-awaited report, the United Nations has found that China may have committed crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

🇨🇳 Summer has attracted many tourists to a scenic “floating forest” lake in China to enjoy leisure boat rides.

Spain’s Congress has finally passed a law known as the “only yes means yes” law, which states that lack of sexual consent is sufficient to prove sexual assault.

It comes after a series of court cases in which five men were jailed for sexual abuse, and not rape, after they gang-raped an 18-year-old woman at the running of the bulls festival in Pamplona in 2016.

The men’s lawyer at the time had argued the woman had consented because she was immobile and had her eyes closed in the video taken by one of the men.

Before, Spanish law stated victims of sexual assault had to prove either intimidation, violence or resistance happened during the event for it to be considered sexual assault.
The “only yes means yes” law expands the definition of aggression in sexual assault to lack of consent, defined as the clear expression of someone’s will.

Perpetrators of non-consensual penetrative sex can face up to years 15 years in prison, while sexual assault without penetration can lead to eight years.

Street harassment that leads to humiliation, hostility or intimidation of a person will be penalized, as well as sharing images taken without consent and that seriously undermines a person’s privacy.

The legislation also seeks to establish special courts and 24-hour crisis centers for victims, as well as increase jail penalties for work-related sexual harassment and make street harassment a criminal offense, according to the Guardian.

With 205 votes in favor and 141 against, mostly from the conservative People’s Party (PP) and far-right Vox party, the law was passed on Aug. 25.

“It’s a victorious day after many years of struggle. From now on no woman will have to prove that violence or intimidation was used for it to be recognised for what it is,” equality minister, Irene Montero said, according to the Guardian.

More Women You Should Know About

🇮🇷 Women in Iran were officially allowed to attend a domestic soccer match for the first time in more than 40 years

🇮🇳 India’s Delhi has welcomed its largest group of women bus drivers to its public transportation system.

India’s Supreme Court has expanded its definition of what a family constitutes, ruling that same-sex couples and other “unconventional” households should also receive family benefits.

The decision comes following a nurse, Deepika Singh, brought forward a case after she was denied maternal leave by her employer because she had already applied for the same benefit in a previous marriage.

Previously, a “family” was defined as one mother and one father and their children and whose unit composition does not change over time.

Therefore, same-sex families and blended families, such as those with adopted children or step-children, could be denied family benefits.

“This assumption ignores the fact that many families do not conform to this expectation,” one of the judges, D.Y. Chandrachud, said in the ruling, according to the New York Times.

The concept of “family” could be defined by “various configuration of adults occupying the roles of primary caretakers with both biological and nonbiological children”, Chandrachud wrote, according to the New York Times.

“These manifestations of love and of families may not be typical, but they are as real as their traditional counterparts,” he said. “Such atypical manifestations of the family unit are equally deserving not only of protection under law, but also of the benefits available under social welfare legislation.”

The landmark decision challenges conservative ideas about families in India and is a stepping stone for women and LGBTQ people.

While India’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of Singh and expanding the definition of family, there are no plans to enforce it, especially in more traditional parts of India.

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