Women's Rights

Despite great strides made by the international women’s rights movement over many years, women and girls around the world are still married as children or trafficked into forced labor and sex slavery. They are refused access to education and political participation, and some are trapped in conflicts where rape is perpetrated as a weapon of war. Around the world, deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth are needlessly high, and women are prevented from making deeply personal choices in their private lives. Human Rights Watch is working toward the realization of women’s empowerment and gender equality—protecting the rights and improving the lives of women and girls on the ground.

© 2014 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch
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    Human Rights Watch believes that decisions about abortion belong to a pregnant woman without interference by the state or others.

    The denial of a pregnant woman's right to make an independent decision regarding abortion violates or poses a threat to a wide range of human rights. Any restriction on abortion that unreasonably interferes with a woman's exercise of her full range of human rights is unacceptable.

    Governments should take all necessary steps, both immediate and incremental, to ensure that women have informed and free access to safe and legal abortion services as an element of women's exercise of their reproductive and other human rights.

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    Q&A: Human Rights Law and Access to Abortion

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Saudi Arabia: End Male Guardianship

Saudi Arabia: End Male Guardianship

Under Saudi Arabia’s discriminatory male guardianship system, every woman must have a male guardian – a father, brother, husband, or even a son – who has the authority to make a range of critical decisions on her behalf. Women are required to receive guardian approval to apply for a passport, travel outside the country, study abroad on a government scholarship, get married, or even exit prison.

In April 2017, King Salman ordered all government agencies to allow women to access any government services without a male guardian’s consent unless existing regulations require it, and that government agencies provide a list within three months of procedures that require male guardian approval.

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