Reports

Doula Care for Justice in Maternal Health in Florida

The 62-page report, “Witness, Ally, Advocate, Climate Worker: Doula Care for Justice in Maternal Health in Florida,” found that the state provides inadequate financial and programmatic support for doula care, including under state-based Medicaid plans on which almost half of all women who are pregnant or give birth in the state rely. Doulas are non-clinical health workers who provide expert support during birth and provide individualized information about health care options, rights, and resources. Academic and US government research suggests that doula services can help improve the availability, accessibility, and quality of health care services for pregnant people. One multi-country analysis of evidence found continuous labor support by doulas may reduce rates of cesarean delivery and improve Apgar scores (indications of good health in newborns) and women’s ratings of the experience.

A woman stands in front of a boy on a swingset

Search

  • October 28, 2019

    Threats to Independent Media and Civil Society in Tanzania

    This report found that President John Magufuli’s government has adopted or enforced a raft of repressive laws that stifle independent journalism and severely restrict the activities of nongovernmental organizations and the political opposition.

    201910AFR_tanzania_cover
  • October 24, 2019

    Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Thailand

    This report documents the use and abuse of a range of broad and vaguely worded laws and orders to criminalize peaceful expression, including debates on matters of public interest, and provides specific recommendations for the repeal or amendment of those laws. Focusing largely on the period between the military coup in May 2014 and nationwide elections in March 2019, Human Rights Watch documented the Thai government’s use of repressive laws and orders against pro-democracy activists, opposition politicians, critics of the junta, and ordinary citizens.

    201910ASIA_thailand_cover
  • October 23, 2019

    A Guide for First Nations Communities and Advocates

    This report provides an overview of the legal framework behind the human right to water and recommendations on how to work with government officials and other towards the realization of this right.

    201910wrd_water_cover
  • October 15, 2019

    How Aged Care Facilities in Australia Chemically Restrain Older People with Dementia

    This report found that instead of providing support to older people with dementia, facilities use drugs to control their behavior, a practice known as chemical restraint. Many of the drugs used to control people in aged care facilities are antipsychotics that are not approved in Australia for older people with dementia. In addition to the physical, social, and emotional harm for older people restrained with these drugs, the use of these drugs in older people with dementia is also associated with an increased risk of death.
     

    map content
    video content
    201910DIS_Australia_cover
  • October 2, 2019

    Lack of Access to Inclusive Quality Education for Children with Disabilities in Iran

    This report documents discrimination and barriers to education in the country’s public school system for most children with disabilities. A major obstacle is a mandatory government medical test that can exclude them from education altogether, the groups found. Additional barriers include inaccessible school buildings, discriminatory attitudes of school staff, and lack of adequate training for teachers and school administrators in inclusive education methods.

    201909MENA_Iran_cover
  • September 22, 2019

    Oil Palm Plantations and Rights Violations in Indonesia

    This report examines how a patchwork of weak laws, exacerbated by poor government oversight, and the failure of oil palm plantation companies to fulfill their human rights responsibilities have adversely affected Indigenous peoples’ rights to their forests, livelihood, food, water, and culture in Bengkayang regency, West Kalimantan, and Sarolangun regency, Jambi. The report, based on interviews with over 100 people and extensive field research, highlights the distinct challenges Indigenous people, particularly women, face as a result.

    map content
    video content
    201909WRD_Indonesia_reportcover
  • September 19, 2019

    Weak State Response to Domestic Violence in Tajikistan

    This report and its recommendations focus on violence against women by male partners and their relatives, including mothers-in-law. Dozens of survivors of domestic violence all across Tajikistan, from cities and villages alike, told Human Rights Watch harrowing stories of the worst kinds of abuse, including sadistic violence committed by perpetrators who span nearly every socioeconomic category.

    map content
    video content
    201909ECA_Tajikistan_cover
  • September 17, 2019

    How Violence and Impunity Fuel Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon

    This report documents how illegal logging by criminal networks and resulting forest fires are connected to acts of violence and intimidation against forest defenders and the state’s failure to investigate and prosecute these crimes. 


    photo gallery
    map content
    video content
    201909ENV_Brazil_reportcover
  • September 12, 2019

    A Case Study of US Law Enforcement

    This report details how policing affects Tulsa, particularly in the segregated and largely impoverished North Tulsa area. Human Rights Watch found that black people are subjected to physical force, including tasers, police dog bites, pepper spray, punches, and kicks, at a rate 2.7 times that of white people. Some neighborhoods with larger populations of black people and poor people experienced police stops more than 10 times the rate of predominantly white and wealthier neighborhoods. Arrests and citations lead to staggering accumulations of court fees, fines, and costs, often for very minor offenses, that trap poor people in a cycle of debt and further arrests for failing to pay.

    video content
    201909US_Tulsa_reportcover
  • September 10, 2019

    Military Detention of Children for Suspected Boko Haram Involvement in Northeast Nigeria

    This report documents how Nigerian authorities are detaining children, often based on little or no evidence. Children described beatings, overwhelming heat, frequent hunger, and being packed tightly in their cells with hundreds of other detainees “like razorblades in a pack,” as one former detainee said.

    video content
    nigeria0919_reportcover_web
  • September 5, 2019

    The Treatment of Unaccompanied Migrant Children in the French Hautes-Alpes

    The 80-page report found that examiners whose job is to certify a child’s status as a minor – that is, under age 18 – do not comply with international standards. Human Rights Watch found that examiners use various justifications to deny children protection. These include children’s minor mistakes with dates, their reluctance to discuss particularly traumatic experiences in detail or work they did in home countries or while in transit, and what examiners deem as unrealistic life goals.

    video content
    201909CRD_France_reportcover
  • September 4, 2019

    Workers’ Rights Under Threat in US Meat and Poultry Plants

    This report describes alarmingly high rates of serious injury and chronic illness among workers at chicken, hog, and cattle slaughtering and processing plants. Human Rights Watch interviewed workers who described serious job-related injuries or illnesses, and nearly all the interviewed workers identified production speed as the factor that made their job dangerous.

    video content
    201909US_MeatPoultry_Cover
  • September 3, 2019

    Systemic Discrimination Against Transgender Women in Lebanon

    Lebanese General Security has banned a group of activists and academics from re-entering Lebanon following their participation in a September 2018 conference on gender and sexuality, Human Rights Watch, the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality (AFE), and Legal Agenda said today. General Security officers attempted to unlawfully shut down the conference and took names of all conference participants from the hotel registry, including those from highly repressive countries. The agency apparently used the information to create a list of people who are not welcome in Lebanon. This appears to be the first time Lebanon has imposed a collective ban on individuals for participating in a conference.

    Lebanon Report Cover LGBT
  • August 27, 2019

    Trafficking of Women and Girls in Nigeria

    This report documents human rights abuses committed against largely Nigerian women and girls who are trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation within and outside Nigeria. It also focuses on the experiences of non-Nigerian women and girls who are trafficked into Nigeria, most of them for domestic servitude. It shows how some assistance measures are further violating survivors’ rights. The report highlights physical, mental, social, and economic impact of these abuses on survivors, and describes significant gaps in, and obstacles to, much-needed support services. It further outlines steps the Nigerian government should take to combat trafficking in persons and provide survivors the medical care, psychological counseling, and financial assistance they need to heal from the trauma and rebuild their lives. 

    map content
    video content
    Cover Image
  • August 23, 2019

    The Impact of Lead Contamination on Children’s Rights in Kabwe, Zambia

    This report examines the effects of lead contamination in Kabwe, a provincial capital, on children’s rights to health, a healthy environment, education, and play. Twenty-five years after the mine closed, children living in nearby townships continue to be exposed to high levels of toxic lead in soil and dust in their homes, backyards, schools, play areas, and other public spaces. The Zambian government’s efforts to address the environmental and health consequences of the widespread lead contamination have not thus far been sufficient, and parents struggle to protect their children.

    201908crd_zambia_cover