• Afghanistan: Moral Crimes
    Mar 26, 2012
    Approximately 400 women and girls are imprisoned in Afghanistan for “moral crimes”, which usually involve flight from unlawful forced marriage or domestic violence. Some women and girls have been convicted of zina, sex outside of marriage, after being raped or forced into prostitution. Zina is a crime under Afghan law, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Human Rights Watch found that almost half the women in prisons and all the girls in juvenile detention centers had been arrested after they fled a forced marriage and women who had fled abusive husbands and relatives. Some women interviewed by Human Rights Watch had gone to the police in dire need of help, only to be arrested instead. The women and girls described abuses including forced and underage marriage, beatings, stabbings, burnings, rapes, forced prostitution, kidnapping, and murder threats. Virtually none of the cases had led even to an investigation of the abuse, let alone prosecution or punishment.
  • The Unfinished Revolution
    Mar 7, 2012
    Women’s rights have progressed significantly in the last two decades, but major challenges remain in order to end global gender discrimination. The Unfinished Revolution: Voices from the Global Fight for Women's Rights tells the story of the struggle to secure basic rights for women and girls – including in the Middle East where the Arab Spring raised high hopes, but where genuine long-term progress in women’s rights remains uncertain. With an introduction by Christiane Amanpour, and published to coincide with International Women's Day, the anthology includes essays by more than 30 writers, activists, policymakers and human rights experts - including Nobel laureates Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams. Contributors propose workable solutions to address ongoing rights violations including human trafficking and harmful traditional practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). This volume is indispensable reading, providing thoughtful analysis from a never-before assembled group of advocates. It shows that the fight for women’s equality is far from over.
  • The Price of Sex
    Mar 2, 2012

    Filmmaker Mimi Chakarova and HRW's Liesl Gerntholtz discuss The Price of Sex. The film gives a harrowing and intimate view of the sex trade in Eastern Europe. It's playing at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London later this month.

  • Unfinished Revolution
    Mar 2, 2012
  • Yemen: The Fight Against Child Marriage
    Dec 7, 2011

    Nearly half of all women in Yemen were married as children. Even in the midst of the country's political upheaval, human rights defenders are pushing for legislation that help make early marriage illegal. With Nadya Khalife of Human Rights Watch and Yemeni human rights lawyer Shada Nasser.

  • Hijab Bans and Forced Veiling
    May 6, 2011

    From France's ban on the niqab -- a face covering worn by some Muslim women -- to a call for all Chechen women to wear headscarves, an increasing number of European states are trying to dictate the way women dress. With HRW's Veronika Szente Goldston and Tanya Lokshina.

  • Little Paid Parental Leave in the US
    Apr 4, 2011

    The United States is one of the only countries in the world that doesn't offer paid parental leave. Veteran public radio reporter Anne Garrels looks at what this means for American families.

  • Twenty Years of Women's Rights
    Mar 7, 2011

    It wasn't long ago that women's rights activists struggled to be accepted in the human rights movement. HRW's Liesl Gerntholtz and Dorothy Thomas look at how far we've come. Reported by Miriam Wells.

  • Little Paid Parental Leave in the US
    Feb 18, 2011

    The United States is one of the only countries in the world that doesn't offer paid parental leave. Veteran public radio reporter Anne Garrels looks at what this means for American families.

  • SPECIAL REPORT: Migrant Domestic Workers
    Jan 21, 2011

    Every year, hundreds of thousands of women leave their homes in Asia and Africa for jobs as domestic workers in the Middle East. When they face exploitation and violence there is little hope for justice. Veteran public radio journalist Anne Garrels filed this report for our new series on the state of human rights in 2011.