• One of the Illinois State Police Labs in Springfield that will test Illinois's rape kits. While the Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act of 2010 is a significant step forward and provides a potential reform model for other states to follow, the legislation's success will require a commitment of resources, oversight, and enforcement from the legislature, the governor, and other major enforcement bodies.

    © 2010 Lorena Ros/Institute
    US: Most Rape Kits Never Tested in Illinois
    The vast majority of DNA evidence collected from rape victims in Illinois cannot be confirmed as tested. A new law signed by Governor Pat Quinn this week makes Illinois the first state to require law enforcement officials to track and send this evidence to labs for DNA testing and could make Illinois a nationwide model, but the lack of funding for testing remains a source of concern.
More news »

Featured Content

Subscribe to content feed
  • The Failure to Protect

    While the obligation of the government to protect the rights of those deprived of their liberty is clear, governmental failures to protect individuals who are not in custodial settings also raise human rights concerns. The United States has an international legal obligation to protect individuals from violence perpetrated by the state and by private actors. And when public officials such as border agents or police officers have the authority to use force, human rights standards require that it be used proportionally, and only when necessary. Unfortunately, either because abuse happens at the hands of public officials, or because public officials turn a blind eye to victims of private abuse, the United States sometimes fails those who seek and deserve government protection. In so doing, it violates basic human rights and erodes public safety by making it less likely that victims will seek justice when they believe they will be met with abusive treatment, inaction, or indifference.

Reports

  • Failing its Families
    Lack of Paid Leave and Work-Family Supports in the US
  • Rights on the Line
    Human Rights Watch Work on Abuses against Migrants in 2010
  • A Strange Case
    Violations of Workers’ Freedom of Association in the United States by European Multinational Corporations

The Failure to Protect

  • US: Proposed Rules Would Save Child Farmworker Lives
    Feb 2, 2012
    The rules are intended to make paid farm work safer for the hundreds of thousands of children in the United States who labor in agriculture. They would not apply to children working on their parents’ farms.
  • US: End Life Without Parole for Juvenile Offenders
    Jan 26, 2012
    Human Rights Watch joined 25 other institutions in filing an amicus brief before the US Supreme Court in the upcoming cases of Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Arkansas. It argues that international practice, opinion, and treaty obligations support holding all life without parole sentences for juveniles unconstitutional.
  • US: Harsh Conditions for Young Lifers
    Jan 2, 2012
    The approximately 2,570 youth offenders serving life without parole sentences in adult US prisons experience conditions that violate fundamental human rights. The United States is the only country in the world with youth offenders (below the age of 18 at the time of offense) serving life without parole sentences. The US Supreme Court will consider arguments about the constitutionality of the practice in March 2012.
  • US: All Immigration Detainees Deserve Protection from Rape
    Dec 7, 2011
    The exclusion of immigration facilities from standards on preventing, detecting, and responding to sexual assault in custody is unjustifiable. It ignores the history of sexual assault in immigration detention and is inconsistent with the intent of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). Human Rights Watch and 38 other organizations urge President Obama to instruct the Department of Justice to cover immigration detention facilities in the final PREA regulations and to instruct the Department of Homeland Security to acknowledge that PREA applies to its facilities.
  • US: Pennsylvania – Don’t Include Juveniles in Sex Offender Registry
    Dec 1, 2011
    Human Rights Watch is concerned about the impact of House Bill 1958 on Pennsylvania children adjudicated delinquent or found guilty of sex offenses, in particular language that would require youthful offenders to participate in the registration and notification requirements under the Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) of the Adam Walsh Act (AWA).
  • Child Farmworkers in the United States: A “Worst Form of Child Labor”
    Nov 17, 2011
    In a Texas panhandle farming community, a mother—whose 11-year-old daughter toils in the cotton fields and cares for her younger brothers—tells her child, “I’m so sorry I stole your childhood from you.” While this mother may feel personally responsible, her government is also to blame.
  • US: Respect Rights of Protesters
    Oct 28, 2011
    State and local officials in the United States should respect protesters’ rights to free speech and assembly, and prevent and investigate the use of excessive force against them.
  • US: Immigrant Injustice
    Oct 7, 2011
    As years go by without any action in Congress to propose realistic and comprehensive legislation to address illegal immigration, the US is creating a large underclass of people who are extremely vulnerable to crime and abuse.
  • US: Ruling Should Spur Domestic Violence Reform
    Aug 18, 2011
    The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has ruled that the United States violated international obligations when the government failed to enforce a restraining order against an abusive husband, Human Rights Watch said today. The couple’s daughters were found dead with gunshot wounds in the back of the husband’s truck in Colorado in 1999.
  • A step backward for Puerto Rican women
    Aug 4, 2011
    When it comes to ending violence against women, Puerto Rico has taken a giant step backward. To be sure, the islands have had a comprehensive law to protect women and girls against domestic violence since 1989. But the Puerto Rican Supreme Court has blocked a lot of women from its protection.
more documents on this topic »