Reports

“I Always Remember That Day”

Access to Services for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region

The 89-page report, “‘I Always Remember That Day’: Access to Services for Gender-Based Violence Survivors in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region,” documents the serious health impact, trauma, and stigma experienced by rape survivors ages 6 to 80 since the beginning of the armed conflict in Tigray in November 2020. Human Rights Watch highlighted the human cost of the Ethiopian government’s effective siege of the region, which has prevented an adequate and sustained response to survivors’ needs and the rehabilitation of the region’s shattered healthcare system.

Search

Filter by

  • Afraid and Forgotten

    Lawlessness, Rape, and Impunity in Western Côte d’Ivoire

    This report documents the often brutal physical and sexual violence in the western administrative regions of Moyen Cavally and Dix-Huit Montagnes.

  • Dignity on Trial

    India’s Need for Sound Standards for Conducting and Interpreting Forensic Examinations of Rape Survivors

    This 54-page report documents the continued use of the archaic practice and the continued reliance on the "results" by many defense counsel and courts.

  • “I Used to Think the Law Would Protect Me”

    Illinois’s Failure to Test Rape Kits

    This 42-page report collected comprehensive testing data from 127 of 264 jurisdictions in Illinois and found that only 1,474 of 7,494 sets of physical evidence, known as "rape kits," booked into evidence since 1995 could be confirmed as tested. That suggests 80 percent of rape kits may never have been examined in the state.

  • “Welcome to Kenya”

    Police Abuse of Somali Refugees

    Based on interviews with over 100 refugees, this 99-page report documents widespread police extortion of asylum seekers trying to reach three camps near the Kenyan town of Dadaab, the world's largest refugee settlement.

  • Bloody Monday

    The September 28 Massacre and Rapes by Security Forces in Guinea

    This 108-page report describes in detail the killings, sexual assaults, and other abuses at an opposition rally in a stadium in Conakry, the capital, committed largely by members of Guinea's elite Presidential Guard, and the evidence suggesting that the attacks must have been planned in advance.

  • Soldiers Who Rape, Commanders Who Condone

    Sexual Violence and Military Reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo

    This 56-page report documents persistent sexual violence by the army, and the limited impact of government and donor efforts to address the problem. The report looks closely at the conduct of the army's 14th brigade as an example of the wider problem of sexual violence by soldiers.

  • Testing Justice

    The Rape Kit Backlog in Los Angeles City and County

    The 68-page report reveals that the backlog of untested rape kits in Los Angeles County is larger and more widespread than previously reported.

  • Hidden in the Mealie Meal

    Gender-Based Abuses and Women’s HIV Treatment in Zambia

    While acknowledging the significant overall progress made by the Zambian government in scaling up HIV treatment generally, this report documents how the government has fallen short of its international legal obligations to combat violence and discrimination against women.

  • "My Heart Is Cut"

    Sexual Violence by Rebels and Pro-Government Forces in Côte d’Ivoire

    Pro-government and rebel forces in Côte d’Ivoire have subjected thousands of women and girls to rape and other brutal sexual assaults with impunity. This 135-page report details the widespread nature of sexual violence throughout the five-year military-political crisis.

  • A Question of Security

    Violence against Palestinian Women and Girls

    This 101-page report, based on field research conducted in the West Bank and Gaza in November 2005 and early 2006, documents dozens of cases of violence ranging from spousal and child abuse to rape, incest and murders committed under the guise of family “honor.” There is increasing recognition of the problem, and some PA of

  • Reconciled to Violence

    State Failure to Stop Domestic Abuse and Abduction of Women in Kyrgyzstan

    This 140-page report concludes that although Kyrgyzstan has progressive laws on violence against women, police and other authorities fail to implement them. As a result, women remain in danger and without access to justice.

  • Uprooted and Forgotten

    Impunity and Human Rights Abuses in Northern Uganda

    This 76-page report documents how the ongoing lack of accountability and civilian protection in the north has fueled atrocities by both sides. In each of the displaced persons camps visited, Human Rights Watch found cases of abuse by Ugandan government forces as well as rebel combatants.

  • A Dose of Reality

    Women’s Rights in the Fight against HIV/AIDS

    Governments around the world have done far too little to combat the entrenched, chronic abuses of women’s and girls’ human rights that put them at risk of HIV. Misguided HIV/AIDS programs and policies, such as those emphasizing abstinence until marriage, ignore the brutal realities many women and girls face.

  • Seeking Justice

    The Prosecution of Sexual Violence in the Congo War

    This 52-page report documents how the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken insufficient steps to prosecute those responsible for wartime rape.