• Syria: Detention and Abuse of Female Activists
    Jun 24, 2013
    Syrian military and pro-government forces known as shabiha have arbitrarily detained female opposition activists as well as female relatives and neighbors of pro-opposition activists and fighters, and in a number of cases, subjected them to torture and sexual abuse, Human Rights Watch said today.
  • Canada: Safety of Indigenous Women Under UN Scrutiny
    Apr 30, 2013
    The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted today the report on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Canada’s human rights record, which included a large set of questions, recommendations, and comments from countries across the world about violence against indigenous women and girls. The attention should spur Canada to take decisive action to address the hundreds of murders and disappearances of indigenous women and girls over the last four decades, Human Rights Watch said today.
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Domestic Violence

  • The Violence against Women Epidemic
    Jun 24, 2013
    “He always hit me in the stomach, chest, and head,” said Amina, an Egyptian mother of four, describing the domestic violence her husband perpetrated for nearly 20 years. “It happened every day. I used to lock myself in a room for a week to stay away from him. He kept yelling. When I opened the door he came in and beat me.”
  • Syria: Detention and Abuse of Female Activists
    Jun 24, 2013
    Syrian military and pro-government forces known as shabiha have arbitrarily detained female opposition activists as well as female relatives and neighbors of pro-opposition activists and fighters, and in a number of cases, subjected them to torture and sexual abuse, Human Rights Watch said today.
  • Canada: Safety of Indigenous Women Under UN Scrutiny
    Apr 30, 2013
    The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted today the report on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Canada’s human rights record, which included a large set of questions, recommendations, and comments from countries across the world about violence against indigenous women and girls. The attention should spur Canada to take decisive action to address the hundreds of murders and disappearances of indigenous women and girls over the last four decades, Human Rights Watch said today.
  • US: Violence Against Women Act Renewed
    Feb 28, 2013
    Bipartisan efforts to ensure the safety of all domestic violence victims should continue following the vote in Congress on February 28, 2013, to renew the Violence against Women Act (VAWA), Human Rights Watch said today. The bill includes provisions aimed at improving access to justice and services for victims from a range of backgrounds, and continuing efforts should include advancing protections for immigrant victims of violence during the process of comprehensive immigration reform, Human Rights Watch said.
  • US House: Don’t Fail Violence Victims Again
    Feb 27, 2013
    The United States House of Representatives should approve a Senate-passed bill to renew the Violence against Women Act (VAWA), not a weaker House version that undermines protections, Human Rights Watch said today. Approving the Senate-passed bill would ensure that all women who are victims of violence have access to protection and services, Human Rights Watch said. The House is expected to vote on renewing the act this week.
  • Don’t Overlook Domestic Violence
    Feb 18, 2013
    According to December 2011 figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four women in the U.S. has been a victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in her lifetime. Nearly one in five has been raped.
  • Canada: Abusive Policing, Neglect Along ‘Highway of Tears’
    Feb 13, 2013
    The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in northern British Columbia has failed to protect indigenous women and girls from violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Women and girls Human Rights Watch interviewed also described abusive treatment by police officers, including excessive use of force, and physical and sexual assault.
  • DC Police Should Release Documents
    Feb 6, 2013
    Comments by the Washington, DC police chief Cathy Lanier reported in the news media suggest that the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) may not have provided documents it was legally obligated to release in response to a freedom of information request and a settlement agreement, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Chief Lanier.
  • China: Commute Death Sentence in Domestic Violence Case
    Jan 30, 2013
    The Chinese government should immediately commute the death sentence against Li Yan, a woman convicted of killing her husband following months of violent abuse
  • Making sure the D.C. police take sex assault seriously
    Jan 25, 2013
    In spring 2011, a federal government employee in her 30s was sexually assaulted in the District by a man she met on an Internet dating site. At Washington Hospital Center, where she went for a forensic exam so medical personnel could collect evidence from her body, a female detective from the Sexual Assault Unit of the city’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) questioned the woman for three hours, interrupting her frequently in a manner — as the woman saw it — meant to discourage her from reporting the assault and to minimize the seriousness of what had happened to her.
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