• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights

    People around the world face violence and inequality – and sometimes torture, even execution – because of who they love, how they look, or who they are.

    Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of our selves and should never lead to discrimination or abuse.

    Human Rights Watch works for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people’s rights, with activists representing a multiplicity of identities and issues.

    We document and expose abuses based on sexual orientation and gender identity worldwide – including torture, killing and executions, arrests under unjust laws, unequal treatment, censorship, medical abuses, discrimination in health and jobs and housing, domestic violence, abuses against children, and denial of family rights and recognition.

    We advocate for laws and policies that will protect everyone’s dignity. We work for a world where all people can enjoy their rights fully.

    Photo: © The Rainbow Project, Namibia 2001.

  • Tanzanian police tortured Musa E., a 22-year-old former heroin user in Mbeya, in 2009, and regularly harass Christian B., a 22-year-old gay man. Isolated from society, the two men rely on each other for support.
    ©2013 Human Rights Watch
    Tanzania: Police Abuse, Torture, Impede HIV Services
    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.
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LGBT Rights

  • Cameroon: Spate of Attacks on Rights Defenders
    Jul 1, 2013
    The Cameroonian government should rigorously investigate, denounce, and prosecute suspicious break-ins at three human rights defenders’ offices in June, six Cameroonian and international human rights organizations said today. The organizations – Affirmative Action, Alternatives-Cameroun, the Association for the Defense of Homosexuals (ADEFHO), the Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS (CAMFAIDS), Human Rights Watch, and Humanity First Cameroon – said that those attacked included organizations working with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community.
  • US: Rulings Invalidate Anti-Same-Sex Marriage Laws
    Jun 26, 2013
    The US Supreme Court’s rulings on June 26, 2013, in two cases – United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry – have invalidated two of the most egregious anti-LGBT initiatives in the country.
  • "Doma is history"
    Jun 26, 2013
  • Tanzania's Victims of Torture
    Jun 26, 2013
    On June 26, the world commemorates the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. In Tanzania, however, such commemorations are likely to be muted. Tanzania is among a small minority of countries that have not signed or ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, a United Nations treaty.
  • Lebanon: Police Torturing Vulnerable People
    Jun 26, 2013
    Lebanese Internal Security Forces threaten, ill-treat, and torture drug users, sex workers, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in their custody. The report was released on the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
  • Russia: Reject Discriminatory Bill
    Jun 23, 2013
    The Russian parliament’s upper chamber should reject a draft law that would discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. The bill would make it an administrative offense to expose minors to information about “non-traditional sexuality.” The Federation Council, the Russian parliament’s upper chamber, is scheduled to debate the draft law on June 26, 2013.
  • Letter to the Director General of the International Olympic Committee on Discrimination of LGBT People in Russia in Relation to 2014 Winter Olympics
    Jun 20, 2013
    In this letter I would like to raise Human Rights Watch’s concerns about the homophobic draft law that is expected to pass in the Russian parliament’s upper chamber in the coming weeks. This draft law is clearly incompatible with the Olympic Charter’s promotion of “human dignity,” as well as a blatant violation of Russia’s international legal obligations to guarantee non-discrimination and respect for freedom of expression.
  • To Stop the Spread of HIV, Address Rights of Marginalized Groups
    Jun 19, 2013
    In 2012, Mwamini K. a sex worker in Dar es Salaam, was raped at gunpoint by a client who got angry when she asked him to use a condom. She did not report the case to the police nor seek medical assistance because she did not trust that she could get the help that she needed, she told me. (Mwamini’s name, like all others here, has been changed.) Mwamini explained that in 2011, she sought treatment for a sexually transmitted infection at Mwananyamala Hospital. The nurse refused to treat her unless she brought her sexual partner. Mwamini told the nurse that she was a sex worker and did not know who infected her. The hospital turned her away.
  • 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.
  • Russia: Drop Homophobic Law
    Jun 10, 2013
    Russia’s parliament should reject a draft law that would de-facto ban disseminating information about “non-traditional” sexuality. The bill’s provisions would infringe on Russian citizens’ freedom of expression and information, and discriminate against Russia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.
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