Effective Law Enforcement, Access to Shelter, Financial Support Are Critical

Democratic Republic of Congo authorities have made no apparent progress investigating the September 2020 prison riot at Kasapa Central Prison in Lubumbashi, Human Rights Watch said. For three days, inmates repeatedly raped several dozen female detainees, including a teenage girl. The authorities should provide survivors with adequate medical care and mental health support. They should credibly and impartially investigate the incident, including officials who ignored repeated warnings of the impending riot, and fairly prosecute those responsible for abuses. Illustrations and animations by Edizon Musavuli.

Greatest Harm for Indigenous, Afro-Descendent People Living in Poverty

(New York, October 29, 2020) – Women and girls in Bangladesh are facing increased domestic violence during the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighting long-term systemic barriers to legal recourse, protection, and social services, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. This crisis comes as Bangladesh enters the final phase of its national plan to build “a society without violence against women and children by 2025.”

Three women have accused Gambia’s former president, Yahya Jammeh, of rape and sexual assault while he was in office. Fatou "Toufah" Jallow is the first survivor to tell her story publicly.

Many survivors of sex and labor trafficking struggle with unaddressed health challenges, poverty, and abhorrent conditions upon their return to Nigeria. Nigerian authorities have failed to provide the assistance that survivors need to rebuild their lives and have unlawfully detained many of the already traumatized women and girls in shelters.

Three women have accused Gambia’s former president, Yahya Jammeh, of rape and sexual assault while he was in office, Human Rights Watch and TRIAL International said today. Former Gambian officials said that presidential aides regularly pressured women to visit or work for Jammeh, who then sexually abused many of them.

Zimbabwe security forces used excessive lethal force to crush nationwide protests in mid-January 2019.

The Polish government is attacking women’s rights activists and organizations, putting women’s rights and safety at risk. More than two years after the first Black Protests, when thousands took to the streets to protest efforts to further restrict access to abortion, the ruling Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) party is targeting women’s rights activism through raids on groups’ offices, denial of funding, public smear campaigns, and disciplinary action.

Survivors of acid violence in Cambodia are unlawfully denied free medical care and face pressure to accept inadequate settlements. The Cambodian government should enforce its laws that require legal, social, and medical support to survivors of acid attacks.