Best of Dispatches: Top News Posts This Week

China found an appalling way to mark International Women's Day; a scourge of violence against indigenous women in Canada; and the five things the White House should be saying about Israel, but isn't - these were among the most popular posts to Dispatches, our daily forum for breaking human rights news and commentary. You can find all our Dispatches here.

Dispatches: China - How Not to Observe International Women's Day

Sophie Richardson
The Chinese Communist Party started marking International Women’s Day in 1922, making it an official holiday upon establishing the People’s Republic in 1949...But the government’s decision to detain at least 10 women’s rights activists on this year’s holiday tells a different story...

Dispatches: In Canada, Grave Human Rights Violations Against Indigenous Women

Meghan Rhoad
“Grave violations” is not a phrase commonly associated with Canada’s human rights record...

Dispatches: What the White House Isn't Saying About Israel

Bill Van Esveld
Amid the controversy around Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s speech to the US Congress, the Obama administration’s National Security Council (NSC) recently published “five key facts you need to know about the US-Israel relationship under President Obama.” Here are some relevant facts it neglected to mention...

Dispatches: FIFA Should Prevent Sidelining of Women in Global Sports

Minky Worden
This week, Sepp Blatter, the chief of FIFA, the international governing body for football, appealed to Iran to end its longstanding stadium ban for women...

Dispatches: How Not to Deal With Teen Pregnancies

Liesl Gerntholz
A few days ago, the South African cabinet approved a progressive and far-reaching strategy designed to lower its exceptionally high rates of teen pregnancy and provide access to comprehensive reproductive health care to adolescents. This positive development is, however, undermined by bizarre comments made yesterday by President Jacob Zuma...