• 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

  • Tanzania: Police Abuse, Torture, Impede HIV Services
    Jun 18, 2013
    Tanzanians who are most at risk of HIV face widespread police abuse and often can’t get help when they are victims of crime, Human Rights Watch and the Wake Up and Step Forward Coalition (WASO) said in a report released today.
  • Saudi Arabia: Activists Convicted for Answering Call for Help
    Jun 17, 2013

    A Saudi court convicted two Saudi women’s rights activists on June 15, 2013, for inciting a woman against her husband. Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia al-Oyouni were each sentenced to 10 months in prison and two-year travel bans.

  • Best Father's Day Gift?
    Jun 16, 2013
    On Father’s Day, we’ll no doubt hear more calls for dads to spend time with their kids. Now it’s time for a national policy on paid family leave to make this feasible.
  • Women’s rights violations not just developing nation issue
    Jun 16, 2013
    On June 16, CNN premiered "Girl Rising," which documents extraordinary girls and how education can change the world. But what are some of the biggest challenges facing women and girls across the globe today? Liesl Gerntholtz, director of the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, answers readers’ questions about the challenges women face in the Middle East, Asia – and here in the United States.
  • Q & A: Child Marriage and Violations of Girls' Rights
    Jun 14, 2013
  • In South Sudan, Ending Child Marriage Will Require a Comprehensive Approach
    Jun 13, 2013
    Akech B. loved to study and dreamed of becoming a nurse. But when she was 14, her uncle who was raising her forced her to leave school to marry a man Akech described as old and gray-haired. The man paid 75 cows as dowry for Akech. He was already married to another woman with whom he had several children.
  • 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.
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