The Sudanese government’s indiscriminate aerial bombardment and shelling in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states has killed and injured scores of civilians since the conflict began more than a year ago, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on December 11. Government forces have raided villages, burned and looted civilian property, arbitrarily detained people, and assaulted and raped women and girls.

In 2012, Human Rights Watch is hosting 14 dinners in 9 countries across North America, Europe and Asia honouring 6 incredible human rights defenders with the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism. We were privileged in Toronto to recognize Sister Consuelo Morales (Mexico) for her courageous efforts to end impunity and aid victims of abuses in Mexico’s “war on drugs.” Your participation helped make Toronto’s 9th Annual Voices for Justice Dinner on Monday, November 5th a huge success. THANK YOU!

As the London Olympics began, spectators around the world cheered for two Saudi women who madehistory by competing for their country--Wujdan Shahrkhani in judo and Sarah Attar in track and field. Saudi Arabia had previously sent only all-male teams to the Olympics. Human Rights Watch welcomed this as an important first step, while calling for an end to the effective ban preventing millions of Saudi women and girls from practicing sports.

Human Rights Watch is writing to raise concerns about certain provisions of proposed Bill C-31, Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act, that we believe are harmful to refugees and asylum seekers and incompatible with international refugee and human rights law. Although the detention provisions of Bill C-31 are ostensibly proposed to deter human smugglers, Human Rights Watch believes that these provisions, in fact, target refugee claimants fleeing persecution, who will suffer their consequences.

An anthology of essays from women around the world tells the story of the struggle to secure basic rights for women and girls and shows that the fight for women’s equality is far from over.