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May 12, 2022 News

UK: Afghan Women Evacuees in Limbo

Home Office Should Expedite Long-Term Housing, Support Services

(London) – The uncertainty and crowding in temporary housing is causing growing tensions for Afghan evacuees in the United Kingdom, especially women. Eight months after emergency evacuations from Afghanistan, many Afghan evacuees to the UK are…

Refugees from Afghanistan wait to be processed after arriving on an evacuation flight at Heathrow Airport, London, on August 26, 2021.

March 31, 2022 News

Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

November 2022

Introduction 1. Human Rights Watch submits the following information regarding the United Kingdom’s (UK) implementation of recommendations it accepted through its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2017, as well as information about additional…

Protesters hold placards during a rally urging the government to help people with their energy bills, London, United Kingdom, January 31, 2022.

March 31, 2022 News

Human Rights Watch Statement to Donors and Governments at the UN Donors Conference for Afghanistan, March 31, 2022

My name is Fereshta Abbasi and I am speaking on behalf of Human Rights Watch. Afghanistan has spiralled into a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe following the Taliban’s takeover last year. Millions of Afghans are facing acute food insecurity—…

Women walking Nadir Khan Overlooking Kabul womens rights us withdrawl

September 14, 2021 News

HRW submission to the Home Office of the Government of the UK

Open Consultation on Domestic Abuse Act statutory guidance

Comments on Chapter 2 (‘Understanding Domestic Abuse’) We write to note concerns regarding Chapter 2 of the draft Statutory Guidance, particularly regarding response to Black, Asian, migrant and other women in marginalized groups who experience…

August 23, 2021 News

The International Community Must Send a Message to the Taliban and Stand with Afghanistan’s Women

No entity that treats women as the Taliban did in 2001 should be taken seriously on the global stage

The day after the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, a handful of women protested on the city’s streets. They held up signs and chanted, demanding women’s rights. Two days later, protesters – led by women – marched with the…

July 22, 2021 News

UK Leaves Out Pregnant People from Heat Health Warnings

Government Should Include Pregnant People in Heat Action and Climate Adaptation Plans

As the UK bakes in record-setting temperatures, its meteorological service issued its first-ever extreme heat warning this week. Public Health England extended its own heat health alert through July 23, as soaring day- and night-time temperatures…

A woman walks under a parasol to shelter from the sun in Birmingham, U.K., on Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The U.K.'s Met Office has issued its first-ever Extreme Heat weather warning, stating that continuing high temperatures will lead to public health impacts.

June 14, 2021 News

Signs of Hope in Fight Against Child Marriage

Fifth US State Ends Marriage Under 18; UK Pledges to do the Same

Last week, a breakthrough in the global fight to end child marriage came when the United Kingdom government pledged to raise the minimum age of marriage in England and Wales to 18, without exception. Just days before, Rhode Island became the fifth US…

A demonstrator wearing a bridal gown takes part in a protest urging legislators to end Massachusetts child marriage

March 19, 2021 News

Human Rights Watch Submission to the House of the Lords

Briefing on the Need for Urgent Amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill November 2, 2020

Human Rights Watch Submission to the House of the Lords Briefing on the Need for Urgent Amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill November 2, 2020 Introduction: Human Rights Watch is pleased that the government of the United Kingdom has…

February 12, 2021 News

Submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Italy

80th pre-session

This submission derives from Human Rights Watch’s documentation of rights violations in Italy and focuses on access to reproductive health care and access to education, including during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as complicity in abuses faced by…

November 25, 2020 News

Sex Workers’ Safety in the Balance in Scotland

Consultation Ignores Safest Option for Workers — Full Decriminalization

The Scottish government is holding a consultation on “how best to challenge men’s demand for prostitution in Scotland, reducing the harms associated with prostitution and supporting women involved to exit.” Scotland’s laws currently criminalize many…

People take part in an International Women's Day march in London, England, against criminalization of sex work

August 11, 2020 News

A Step Forward for Abortion Rights in Italy

Revised Medical Abortion Guidance Will Help Ensure Safe, Legal Care

Italy will soon make a long-awaited and important move towards women and girls’ ability to exercise their reproductive rights. Minister of Health Roberto Speranza announced last weekend on social media revisions to outdated national guidance, which…

Striscioni e poster di un sit-in di attiviste Pro-Choice, organizzato dalla Rete Italiana Contraccezione Aborto, presso il Ministero della Saluta a Roma il 2 luglio 2020. Le attiviste e le organizzazioni hanno chiesto una contraccezione gratuita e accessibile e la garanzia dell’accesso all’aborto.

July 30, 2020 News

Italy: Covid-19 Exacerbates Obstacles to Legal Abortion

Inadequate Measures Heighten Existing Risks for Health, Lives

(London) – Government inaction has left women and girls facing avoidable obstacles to accessing legal abortion in Italy during the Covid-19 pandemic, putting their health and lives at risk, Human Rights Watch said today. The government’s failure to…

Banners and posters from a sit-in by pro-choice activists at the Ministry of Health in Rome on July 2, 2020.

June 25, 2020 News

New Guide Gives Good Advice on Interviewing Rape Survivors

UK Program Behind the Guide Needs Better Strategy to End Rape During Wartime

The UK government signaled this week that it wants to reignite its initiative designed to end rape during war. As such, members of the initiative and their partners are seeking input for a guide on interviewing victims of conflict-related sexual violence…

June 8, 2020 News

UK Failing Domestic Abuse Victims in Pandemic

Enact Legislation Protecting Those Most At Risk

(London) – The government of the United Kingdom is stalling on establishing a robust legal framework to address violence against women and girls even as reported domestic abuse spikes during the pandemic, Human Rights Watch said today. …

People walk past a graffiti reading ‘End abuse against women’ on Euston Road, in London, Friday March 6, 2020.

March 31, 2020 News

England Leads Way in UK after U-Turn on COVID-19 Abortion Access

Rest of UK, Europe Should Follow

The UK’s Department of Health and Social Care has confirmed it will allow women in England temporarily to manage medical abortions at home in light of the lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Health authorities in Northern Ireland,…

Demonstrators take part in the Abortion Rights Campaign's annual March for Choice, September 29, 2018.

March 6, 2020 News

UAE: Free Dubai Ruler’s Captive Daughters

UK Court Concludes They Were Abducted, Forced Back to Dubai

(Beirut) – United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities should secure the freedom of two daughters of the ruler of Dubai, who a United Kingdom court found are being confined against their will, Human Rights Watch said today. On March 5, 2020, a UK family…

October 24, 2019 News

Northern Ireland Strikes Victory for Equality

Legal Green Light for Abortion Services, Same-Sex Marriage Only a First Step

Clocks over Northern Ireland were counting down as the region prepared for a leap toward furthering equality. At midnight on Monday, legislation came into force that decriminalized abortion and legalized same-sex marriage in…

Equal marriage supporters at Maverick Bar, Belfast, celebrate the change to abortion and same sex marriage laws in Northern Ireland

August 19, 2019 News

UK Rape Survivors Face ‘Digital Strip Searches’ and Other Deterrents to Justice

New Home Office data has revealed that a mere 1.5 percent of rapes reported to police in England and Wales led to a charge or summons between April 2018 and March 2019, down from nearly 14 percent three years earlier. And an analysis released July 31 of…

A rally held in support of the woman at the centre of the Belfast rape trial in which all four defendants including Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding were acquitted of all charges, Belfast, March 31, 2018.

July 31, 2019 News

UK Sets Example on HPV Vaccine for Boys

US, Others Should Follow Suit and Improve Health Protection

The UK is taking a step toward ending preventable forms of cervical cancers, and some other cancers, by offer free HPV vaccines to boys ages 11 and 12. HPV causes nearly all cervical cancers and most throat and mouth cancers,…

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