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Early Signs of War Crimes and Human Rights Abuses Committed by the Russian Military During the Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine

Written Testimony by Bonnie Docherty Before The House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment and Cyber

"Chair Keating, Ranking Member Fitzpatrick, and Members of the Committee. Thank you for inviting me to participate in this hearing today. I would like to highlight two types of weapons that Russian forces are using widely and with devastating effects…
Smoke rises after shelling by Russian forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 4, 2022.
News

Florida: Reject Dangerous 15-Week Abortion Ban

Human Rights Watch Letter to Florida Legislature

February 16, 2022 Chris Sprowls Speaker, Florida House of Representatives 402 South Monroe Street Tallahassee, FL 32399 Senator Wilton Simpson President, The Florida Senate 404 South Monroe Street Tallahassee, FL 32399 Re: House Bill 5/…
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“We Need Access”

Summary Cervical cancer is not a disease that anyone should die from. It just doesn't make any sense. We know too much about it for it to be something that people die from. —Dr. Favors, obstetrician gynecologist in Albany, Georgia, June 6,…
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US: Cervical Cancer Disproportionally Kills Black Women

Rural Women in Georgia Need Better Access to Care, Information to Reduce Risks

(Atlanta) – The United States federal and many state and local governments are not doing enough to end cervical cancer deaths, the Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative for Economic and Social Justice (SRBWI) and Human Rights Watch said in a report…
Illustration of three Black women reading a poster titled "HPV Vaccine: Cancer Prevention"
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US: The Texas Abortion Ban

The following is a joint statement about the Texas abortion law by the Global Justice Center, Amnesty International USA, and Human Rights Watch; The United States Supreme Court is holding oral arguments on November 1, 2021 on procedural questions…
News

Illinois: Legislature Repeals Harmful Abortion Restriction

Move Will Protect Young People’s Rights, Dignity, Access to Health Care

(Chicago) – Illinois state lawmakers have voted to repeal a harmful abortion restriction that forced anyone under age 18 to involve a parent in an abortion decision, Human Rights Watch said today. Governor J. B. Pritzker should sign the bill into law…
Abortion rally in Chicaco, Illinois, US.
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: Include Maternal Health in Climate Change Action

Pregnant People, Infants, Children Particularly Vulnerable

(Washington, DC) – The administration of United States President Joe Biden should take concrete action to ensure that the country’s maternal health crisis, dominated by racial inequities, is a central focus of US domestic climate policy, a coalition…
US President Joe Biden signs a series of executive orders on tackling climate change on January 27, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Report

“The Only People It Really Affects Are the People It Hurts”

Summary When “Elena” (not her real name) discovered she was pregnant at age 16, she carefully considered her options and decided she was not ready to parent. She knew she wanted an abortion, but she wasn’t able to discuss her decision with her mother…
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

Illinois: Repeal Forced Parental Notice of Abortion

Law Violates Young People’s Human Rights, Can Delay Their Care

(Chicago) – An Illinois law that requires a young person seeking an abortion to involve an adult family member is dangerous for youth in the state, violates their human rights, and threatens their health and safety, Human Rights Watch and the American…
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 Hospital to Stop Harmful Intersex Surgeries on Children

Hospital is First Institution to Make This Change and Apologize for Harm Done

In a victory for intersex people, a hospital in Chicago pledged earlier this year to stop performing medically unnecessary surgeries on children born with intersex traits. The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital also became the first…
Intersex activist Sean Saifa Wall protests outside Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago for Intersex Awareness Day on October 26, 2017.
News

Key Rights at Stake in US Supreme Court Pick

The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18, 2020 leaves a vacancy on the United States Supreme Court and enormous uncertainty over the court’s future role in the protection of fundamental human rights. A nominee for Justice Ginsburg’s…
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Comprehensive Sex Ed for All Can Improve People’s Health

Last July, I spoke with Sky H., a 20-year–old who identifies as non-binary and grew up in a very conservative rural town in the Black Belt region of Alabama. In school, Sky received abstinence-only…
Desks in an empty classroom
News

US: Join Allies in Banning Cluster Munitions

Ban Treaty Marks 10th Anniversary

(Washington, DC) – The United States should reverse its ill-considered 2017 policy to continue to use, acquire, and stockpile unreliable cluster munitions and join the treaty banning these indiscriminate weapons, Human Rights Watch said today. August…
Submunición M77 DPICM sin explotar tendida en el suelo.

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