• Women's Rights Division

    Despite great strides made by the international women’s rights movement over many years, women and girls around the world are still married as children or trafficked into forced labor and sex slavery. They are refused access to education and political participation, and some are trapped in conflicts where rape is perpetrated as a weapon of war. Around the world, deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth are needlessly high, and women are prevented from making deeply personal choices in their private lives. Human Rights Watch is working toward the realization of women’s empowerment and gender equality—protecting the rights and improving the lives of women and girls on the ground.

  • Amal Mohamed B’ayou, an independent candidate in Benghazi, handed out election pamphlets in front of the courthouse on July 6, 2012. “For 42 years men have ruled Libya,” B’ayou said. “Now it’s time for the women to rule.”
    © 2012 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch
    Libya: Seize Chance to Protect Women’s Rights
    Libyan authorities should seize a historic opportunity to promote and protect women’s rights as the country transitions from four decades of dictatorship, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
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Women's Rights

  • Governments Should Ratify Domestic Workers Treaty
    Jun 11, 2013
    Governments should mark June 12, 2013, the World Day against Child Labor, by strengthening legal protections for the 15.5 million child domestic workers worldwide. Governments should ratify the International Labour Organization (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention, which has specific provisions for children, including on education and protection from violence.
  • Child and Forced Marriage in South Sudan
    Jun 6, 2013
    Human Rights Watch will present a photography exhibition, “Dowry – Child and Forced Marriage in South Sudan,” from June 13 to 26, 2013. The exhibit, by the award-winning photographer Brent Stirton, will be at Lincoln Center during the annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival.
  • Women face challenges as Libya moves toward a new constitution
    May 31, 2013
    “I have waited my whole life for tomorrow, which will be a new day for Libya,” an elated Haja Nowara told Human Rights Watch on the eve of Libya’s first democratic national elections in July 2012. “We sacrificed a lot to get here.”
  • A price advocates shouldn't have to pay
    May 30, 2013
    Thousands of advocates for the reproductive rights and health of women and girls are gathering in Malaysia this week for the international "Women Deliver" Conference.
  • Libya: Seize Chance to Protect Women’s Rights
    May 26, 2013
    Libyan authorities should seize a historic opportunity to promote and protect women’s rights as the country transitions from four decades of dictatorship, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
  • Mozambique: Mining Resettlements Disrupt Food, Water
    May 23, 2013
    Many of the 1,429 households resettled to make way for Vale and Rio Tinto’s international coal mining operations in Tete province, Mozambique have faced serious disruptions in their access to food, water, and work. The Mozambican government’s speed in approving mining licenses and inviting billions of dollars in investment has outstripped the creation of adequate safeguards to protect directly affected populations.
  • 'Dark future' for women's rights in Afghanistan
    May 22, 2013
    In January 2012, my investigations determined that some 400 women and girls were locked away in Afghan prisons and juvenile detention facilities for the 'moral crime' of running away from home or having sex outside of marriage.
  • Here’s a chance to ease the misery of fistula
    May 22, 2013
    Kwamboka W. was still in primary school when she had sex with her first boyfriend. She had no information about contraception and didn’t use any protection. Three months later, she was shocked to learn that she was pregnant.
  • Put a Spotlight on African Women’s Reproductive Rights
    May 20, 2013
    Victoria J. married in 2009 at age 14, and became pregnant shortly after. “I started labour in the morning on a Friday …. The nurse kept checking and saying I would deliver safely. On Monday she said I was weak.
  • Put a Spotlight on African Women’s Reproductive Rights
    May 19, 2013
    Victoria J. married in 2009 at age 14, and became pregnant shortly after. “I started labour in the morning on a Friday …. The nurse kept checking and saying I would deliver safely. On Monday she said I was weak.
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