• Bangladesh: Discriminatory Family Laws Fuel Female Poverty
    Sep 16, 2012

    Bangladesh’s discriminatory personal laws on marriage, separation, and divorce trap many women and girls in abusive marriages or drive them into poverty when marriages fall apart. In many cases these laws contribute to homelessness, hunger, and ill-health for divorced or separated women and their children. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have recorded significantly higher levels of food insecurity and poverty among female-headed Bangladeshi households. 

  • Iraqi Kurdistan: Law Banning FGM Not Being Enforced
    Aug 29, 2012
    The practice of female genital mutilation continues in the Kurdistan region of Iraq a year after a landmark law banning it went into effect because the Kurdistan Regional Government has not taken steps to implement the law. The Family Violence Law, which went into effect on August 11, 2011, includes several provisions to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM), recognized internationally as a form of violence against women.
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Women & Girls

  • It's time for governments to finally put an end to child marriage
    Oct 11, 2012

    The first UN International Day of the Girl, designed to promote education for young women everywhere, is the perfect opportunity to finally stamp out child marriage, writes Gauri van Gulik from Human Rights Watch.

  • Iran's 'Islamicisation' programme at universities threatens civil society
    Oct 5, 2012
  • UN Human Rights Council: Adoption of the Outcome of the United Kingdom's UPR
    Sep 19, 2012
    The Universal Periodic Review of the United Kingdom addressed a range of concerns including counterterrorism legislation and policies, as well as ways in which the UK is failing to its obligations to promote and protect women’s human rights.
  • Bangladesh: Discriminatory Family Laws Fuel Female Poverty
    Sep 16, 2012

    Bangladesh’s discriminatory personal laws on marriage, separation, and divorce trap many women and girls in abusive marriages or drive them into poverty when marriages fall apart. In many cases these laws contribute to homelessness, hunger, and ill-health for divorced or separated women and their children. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have recorded significantly higher levels of food insecurity and poverty among female-headed Bangladeshi households. 

  • Protecting the domestic front
    Sep 14, 2012

    It would be a wonderful gift for the many domestic workers if a treaty, which could signal better protection of their rights, was signed before Christmas. 

  • More than lies about rape
    Aug 31, 2012
    Voices from across the political spectrum condemned the Missouri Senate candidate for Senate, Todd Akin, for his recent offensive and scientifically inaccurate reasoning to deny rape survivors’ access to abortion. 
  • Iraqi Kurdistan: Law Banning FGM Not Being Enforced
    Aug 29, 2012
    The practice of female genital mutilation continues in the Kurdistan region of Iraq a year after a landmark law banning it went into effect because the Kurdistan Regional Government has not taken steps to implement the law. The Family Violence Law, which went into effect on August 11, 2011, includes several provisions to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM), recognized internationally as a form of violence against women.
  • Nepal: Protect, Don’t Ban Young Women Migrating to Gulf
    Aug 13, 2012
    The Nepali government should revoke its new ban on women under the age of 30 from working in Arab Gulf countries and instead should improve protections so domestic workers can migrate safely – such as by ensuring full monitoring and accountability of recruitment agencies in Nepal.
  • Letter to Prof. Amara Pongsapich Re: Labor Minister’s Plan to Deport Pregnant Migrant Workers
    Jul 17, 2012

    We are writing to urge the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand to urgently review the Labor Minister’s recently announced plan to deport pregnant migrant workers, make public its findings on how this proposal may violate human rights, and provide recommendations to the government.

  • Around the world in 18-hour days
    Jun 18, 2012
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