Category: Human Rights

(Nairobi) – A bill introduced in Uganda’s Parliament criminalizing same-sex conduct and sexual and gender identity, if adopted, would violate multiple fundamental rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Among others, such a law would violate the rights to freedom of expression and association privacy, equality, and nondiscrimination. On March 9, 2023, Asuman Basalirwa, a member […]

(Beirut) – Lebanese authorities have failed to uphold the right to electricity by mismanaging the sector for decades, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 127-page report, “‘Cut Off from Life Itself’: Lebanon’s Failure on the Right to Electricity,” argues that electricity is fundamental to nearly every aspect of living and participating […]

For women in South Korea, this International Women’s Day marks a year of increasing adversity. Access to safe abortions remains impeded, an attempt to broaden the legal definition of rape was blocked, and there was another uptick in digital sex crimes. President Yoon Seok Yeol pandered to anti-feminist voters during his presidential campaign last year […]

Last night in Tbilisi, Georgia, police used massive amounts of teargas and water cannons to disperse thousands of peaceful demonstrators who spontaneously gathered to protest a draft “foreign agents” bill, which the ruling majority rammed through parliament in first reading. Police detained dozens of people, who now face various administrative and criminal charges. I observed […]

(Beirut) – Saudi Arabia’s first codified law on personal status, issued on International Women’s Day in 2022, formally enshrines male guardianship over women, Human Rights Watch said today. The law contains discriminatory provisions against women concerning marriage, divorce, and decisions about their children. The Personal Status Law, issued on March 8, 2022, came into effect […]

If adopted, the new bill would deny the right to seek refugee protection to people arriving irregularly in the UK, such as those risking their lives to cross the English Channel in small boats. Instead, these asylum-seekers would face detention and deportation, without having their individual circumstances examined. “This would be a clear breach of […]

Nepal’s constitution guarantees equal rights to men and women and prohibits gender-based discrimination. Yet, it also contains provisions that blatantly discriminate against women, for instance, by limiting their ability to confer citizenship to their children. Nepal’s new government is reportedly preparing to bring the long-awaited Nepal Citizenship Act (Amendment) Bill back to parliament. The bill […]

International Women’s Day, commemorated every year on the 8th of March, marks women’s achievements and spurs us all to focus more on women’s rights and gender equality. But across northwest Syria, the mood is sombre. More than 1 month has passed since the earthquake, and the road to recovery will be arduous for Syrian women […]

While much of the focus in the UK’s domestic media this week is likely to be on the latest iteration of increasingly cruel immigration legislation and an upcoming budget, what happens in a conference room in Geneva may prove just as important in the long term. The government’s vague assertions about its economic and social […]

For this year’s International Women’s Day, we spoke with Ingeborg Hasli, a woman at the forefront of European civil protection operations. She exemplifies the ideas of perseverance, confidence determination in the face of real dangers and hardships. Ingeborg Hasli, during the deployment in Türkiye, February 2023. © European Union 2023 “Life is not easy for […]