• Turkey: Credibility Depends on Rights at Home
    Jan 22, 2012
    Turkey's international credibility as a rising regional power will be compromised as long as it imprisons journalists, Kurdish political activists, and other government critics.
  • Kuwait: End Police Abuses Against Transgender Women
    Jan 15, 2012
    Kuwaiti police have tortured and sexually abused transgender women using a discriminatory law, passed in 2007, which arbitrarily criminalizes “imitating the opposite sex.” The government of Kuwait should repeal the law, article 198 as amended in 2007, and hold police officers accountable for misconduct.
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Reports

Gender-based violence

  • Maternal mortality under scrutiny
    May 4, 2012
    Since the 1990s South Africa has not reduced the number of women who die needlessly each year from preventable and treatable causes linked to pregnancy and childbirth.
  • Putting Women on the Agenda in Cartagena
    Apr 13, 2012
    Happening every three years, the Summit of the Americas brings together the heads-of-state of the region to talk about pressing concerns. Over the weekend in Cartagena, Colombia, the theme will be “Connecting the Americas: Partners for Prosperity,” but some of the liveliest debates are likely to focus on discussions around decriminalization of personal drug use.
  • Turkey: Credibility Depends on Rights at Home
    Jan 22, 2012
    Turkey's international credibility as a rising regional power will be compromised as long as it imprisons journalists, Kurdish political activists, and other government critics.
  • Universal Periodic Review of South Africa
    Jan 20, 2012

    South Africa has failed to clarify its position on the 22 recommendations made during the first UPR cycle in 2008 – making the assessment of the implementation problematic.  South Africa should clearly communicate its responses and commitments on all recommendations made during its second UPR cycle. 

  • Kuwait: End Police Abuses Against Transgender Women
    Jan 15, 2012
    Kuwaiti police have tortured and sexually abused transgender women using a discriminatory law, passed in 2007, which arbitrarily criminalizes “imitating the opposite sex.” The government of Kuwait should repeal the law, article 198 as amended in 2007, and hold police officers accountable for misconduct.
  • Yemen Could Seize Moment to Ban Child Marriage
    Dec 20, 2011
    Yemen's version of the Arab Spring has eclipsed urgent social concerns both in debates within Yemen and with donor countries. One of these issues is the widespread forced marriage of girls; very young girls in some cases.Now that President Ali Abdullah Saleh has agreed to cede power, there may be an opportunity to press for social reform as part of the transition process.
  • Healthcare is failing women
    Dec 20, 2011

    South Africa has one of the world's highest incidences of violence, including rape and domestic violence, against women. A study by Interpol estimates that, in South Africa, a woman is raped every 17 seconds and one in four South African women suffers domestic violence.

      

  • South Africa: LGBT Rights in Name Only?
    Dec 5, 2011
    Black lesbians and transgender men in South African townships and rural areas face an overwhelming climate of discrimination and violence despite protections promised them in the country’s constitution, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
  • Sterilization of Women and Girls with Disabilities
    Nov 10, 2011
    Across the globe, women and girls with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to forced sterilizations performed under the auspices of legitimate medical care or the consent of others in their name. The practice of forced sterilization is part of a broader pattern of denial of the human rights, including reproductive rights of women and girls with disabilities.
  • UN: Report Is Milestone for Reproductive Health
    Oct 25, 2011

    Human Rights Watch joined other human rights groups and health groups in issuing the following statement today following the release of a report about reproductive health by Anand Grover, the UN special rapporteur on the right to health. 

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