Search Results

Sort by
News

Florida Advances 'Don’t Say Gay' Bill

Censoring Discussions Jeopardizes Children’s Rights

On February 17, a Florida committee advanced a bill that would restrict discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. The bill would ban discussing these issues in primary schools and restrict how they are discussed in other…
201712lgbt_flag_protest_generic
News

Texas and US Supreme Court Deal Blow to Reproductive Rights

New Law Prohibits Nearly All Abortion Essentially After Six Weeks of Pregnancy

The US state of Texas and the United States Supreme Court dealt a severe blow to women’s (and pregnant people’s) human rights last week. Dozens of US states have been passing destructive laws limiting abortion access for years, but courts usually…
Protesters march from City Hall to the federal courthouse in protest of the new state abortion law in Houston, Texas on September 5th, 2021.
News

Protest Demands End to Harmful Surgeries on Intersex Children

Hospital Should Halt Medically Unnecessary Surgeries

Protesters picketed Weill-Cornell, a private institution that is part of the New York Presbyterian Hospital system, earlier this month, demanding the hospital cease medically unnecessary surgeries on children born with intersex traits, and investigate…
Demonstrators gather for an #EndIntersexSurgery protest outside Weill-Cornell hospital in New York City in August 2021. 
News

US State of Alabama Removes Anti-LGBT Language from Sex Ed Law

Children and Youth Have a Right to Comprehensive Information

Alabama’s Governor Kay Ivey has signed a bill that will update the US state’s sexuality education law, removing inaccurate and stigmatizing language about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Previously, Alabama state law required…
Pride Flag
News

Interview: The Law Putting Illinois' Young People at Risk

Forcing Parental Involvement in Abortion Violates Rights

A law in the US state of Illinois that forces people under 18 to involve an adult family member in their abortion decision is failing some of the state’s young people and violating their human rights. In a new joint report with the American Civil…
An illustration of scales imposed over a woman's torso
News

Trump Administration Moves to Entrench Global Gag Rule

Regulation Would Expand Funding Cuts for Reproductive Rights

With attention turning toward what the administration of President-elect Joe Biden should do to protect sexual and reproductive rights, the administration of President Donald Trump is trying to further entrench rules that restrict work on these issues…
A woman walks past a mural on a Family Health Options clinic in the Kibera slums in Nairobi, Kenya, May 16, 2017. © 2017 Reuters
News

US Study Suggests Hurricanes May Trigger Early Births

Most Vulnerable Communities May See Biggest Effects

A new study of almost 20 million births in the eastern United States suggests a pregnant person’s exposure to hurricanes may be associated with higher chances of a preterm birth. The report suggests severe storms could trigger early births because of…
201905americas_puertorico_hurricanemaria
News

Massachusetts Medical Society Supports Intersex Rights

Elective Surgeries Should Be Patient’s Choice

The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) passed a resolution supporting the principle that intersex children should not be operated on until they are old enough to make the decision themselves. This deferral of all medically unnecessary…
A poster by intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis
News

US Medical Association Stands Against Unnecessary Intersex Surgeries

Policy is Part of Growing Momentum to Respect Bodily Diversity

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), one of the United States’ oldest and largest medical organizations, has issued a policy opposing medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex children. “Intersex” refers to the up to 1.7 percent…
Main image for Intersex Report
News

Chicago Protest Demands Informed Consent for Intersex Patients

Medically Unnecessary High-Risk Surgeries Should Stop

  This afternoon in Chicago, the Intersex Justice Project (IJP), a US-based advocacy group, is staging a protest outside the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, asking the institution to stop allowing medically unnecessary surgeries…
Intersex activist Sean Saifa Wall protests outside Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago for Intersex Awareness Day on October 26, 2017.
News

Surgery Conference Cuts Intersex Patients Out

Intersex Advocates Demand Inclusion and Informed Consent

This weekend when urologists from around the world gather in San Francisco for the American Urological Association’s (AUA) annual conference, dozens of patient advocates will participate – yet a key group of people will be missing. The intersex…
Intersex Interact campaign
News

Calling on California To Respect Intersex Children

Surgeons’ Opposition to Senate Resolution Exposes Persistent Stigmatization

I testified before California’s senate judiciary committee today to support Senate Concurrent Resolution 110, which supports the autonomy of intersex Californians to decide if and when their bodies get surgically altered. The resolution, authored…
A poster by intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis
News

Intersex Kids Need US Pediatricians’ Support

Time For American Academy of Pediatrics to Oppose Unnecessary Surgeries on Intersex Kids

“As pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists, we care about the health and dignity of all children,” the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) wrote in response to a report on intersex youth that Human…
A group of Doctors meet in the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi October 4, 2013.
News

Intersex Infant Surgery Settlement Highlights Regulatory Gaps

Such Surgeries Should be Banned for Children

A legal settlement in South Carolina last week will award US$440,000 to a 12-year-old intersex child, born with sex characteristics not quite typically male or female, who was operated on as an infant to make his body appear like a girl. The surgery was…
A father plays with his daughter, who was born with atypical sex characteristics. Despite pressure from doctors, the parents chose not to elect medically unnecessary surgeries on their child.
News

Interview: Intersex Babies Don’t Need ‘Fixing’

What are some of the misconceptions around being born intersex? Unfortunately, in our society we’re still at a point where most people don’t know the basic facts about being intersex. People think it is very rare, but really, up to two percent of the…
A poster by intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis
News

‘Mama’s Bail Out Day’ Campaign Aims to Help Jailed Mothers

Children Suffer When Moms Can’t Bail Out

The bail system punishes mothers when their children get held in jail. Mothers have to arrange visits and pay for phone calls. Mothers borrow money to pay bail bond fees. Mothers cut food budgets and scrape together rent, while making…
Women walk along a corridor at the Los Angeles County women's jail.
News

Utah Repeals ‘No Promo Homo’ Law

Legislature’s Vote Sets Example for Other US States

In a major victory for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students, Utah has repealed its “no promo homo” law restricting discussions of homosexuality in schools. On Monday, Governor Gary Herbert signed SB 196, revising a state law…
Josh Greer, a student who has been the target of bullying and discrimination in school, writes in his journal in his bedroom in Cache Country, UT, October 2016.
News

Don’t Try New York Children as Adults

Join the Raise the Age Campaign

Ensuring that children in conflict with the law are treated justly and effectively has been a global concern of Human Rights Watch for 20 years. We have advocated against the death penalty for children in Iran, Sudan, and Yemen, and against life…
Raise the Age
News

South Dakota Lawmakers Withdraw Bill Targeting Transgender Youth

Other States Should Abandon Discriminatory Proposals

Lawmakers in South Dakota have withdrawn a discriminatory bill that would have barred transgender students from using locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. The Senate Education Committee was scheduled to hear testimony on the bill, SB…
The South Dakota State Capitol building in Pierre, South Dakota, February 2016.
News

South Dakota Governor Pledges to Veto Anti-Transgender Bill

State Lawmakers Double Down on Baseless Fearmongering

Yesterday, South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard pledged to veto a discriminatory bill that would restrict transgender students from accessing locker rooms and facilities that match their gender identity. The bill, SB 115, was introduced this week…
The South Dakota State Capitol building in Pierre, South Dakota, February 2016.

Refine Search

Filter by Country
Filter by Topic
Filter by Type
Filter by News Category