In the ongoing series, Document Women highlights noteworthy news related to women, and this week’s post covers October 23 to October 28.

New Zealand

This week, the office of Prime Minister Jacinda Arden was attacked. New Zealand police have detained a woman in an attack on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s office in Auckland.

Local media said the attack happened on Thursday morning at around 8 a.m. while Ms Ardern was in Antarctica.

Read more here.

Indonesia

This week, Indonesian women joined the fight for the rights of Iranian women to ditch their mandatory hijabs amid fears that their own freedom to choose whether to wear a headscarf is under threat.

About 200 rights activists gathered in front of the Iranian embassy in the Indonesian capital Jakarta to demand an investigation into the estimated hundreds of Iranian women and children who have been killed during a violent state crackdown on their revolt against strict Islamic dress codes, among other demands.

A 2021 report by Human Rights Watch noted that some Indonesian provinces and cities were imposing discriminatory and abusive dress codes on women and girls.

Read more here.

Iran

This week, memorials for two women killed in Iran have galvanised the protests. On Wednesday, tens of thousands of Iranians commemorated Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old whose death in September first set off the protests.

She died after being detained in Tehran by the morality police for allegedly violating the country’s hijab law requiring covered hair and loose-fitting robes for women.

Videos showed an anti-riot police attack and opened fire during a memorial service in a rural cemetery near the northwestern town of Visian for Nika Shakarami. The teenager was found dead only ten days after being videoed burning her headscarf in solidarity with the cause.

Read more here.

South Africa

South Africa, women’s rights groups were outraged and protested after charges were dropped against 14 men suspected of gang-raping and robbing female members of a film team at an abandoned mine in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg.

Read more here.

United States

The New York City Fire Department appointed Laura Kavanagh as its first-ever female Commissioner. Laura Kavanagh, the first female commissioner in the 157-year history of the Fire Department of New York City, called her new role “the honour of a lifetime.”

Read more here.