Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Report
Do not remain silent: Survivors of Sexual violence in South Sudan call for justice and reparations
Thousands of South Sudanese women and girls -- and some men -- who have been raped in ethnically-charged sexual attacks in the ongoing conflict are battling mental distress and stigma with nowhere to turn for help, Amnesty International revealed in a new report out today.
July 23, 2017
Press Release
El Salvador rape survivor sentenced to 30 years in jail under extreme anti-abortion law
The sentence against a 19-year-old rape survivor of 30 years in prison on charges of “aggravated homicide” after she suffered pregnancy-related complications, is a terrifying example of the need for El Salvador to urgently repeal its retrograde anti-abortion law, Amnesty International said.
July 6, 2017
Report
Criminalizing Pregnancy: Policing Pregnant Women Who Use Drugs in the USA
A set of laws which claim to promote maternal and infant health are in fact driving pregnant women away from vital health services, jeopardizing their well-being and violating their right to health, according to a new report published by Amnesty International.
May 23, 2017
Press Release
100 Ways Trump Has Threatened Human Rights in First 100 Days
As the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s administration come to a close, Amnesty International has compiled a list of 100 ways the Trump administration has tried to threaten human rights in the U.S. and around the world – sometimes succeeding, and sometimes being blocked by a powerful and growing resistance movement.
April 24, 2017
Report
South Africa: Women and girls risk unsafe abortions after being denied legal services
Women and girls risk unsafe abortions that can lead to serious health complications, and even death, due to persistent barriers to legal abortion services, according to research by Amnesty International and the Women’s Health Research Unit of the School of Public Health and Family Medicine at the University of Cape Town.
January 31, 2017
Press Release
Russia: Lawmakers must halt alarming plans to decriminalize domestic violence
Ahead of the second reading of a bill to decriminalize some forms of domestic violence in the Russian State Duma, Anna Kirey, Deputy Director for Campaigns for Russia and Eurasia at Amnesty International, said: “This bill is a sickening attempt to trivialize domestic violence, which has long been viewed as a non-issue by the Russian government. Far too often victims find they cannot rely on the law for protection and their abusers are let off the hook, with only a tiny fraction imprisoned for their actions. “The authors of this legislation, chillingly dubbed the ‘slapping bill,’ are betraying the victims…
January 19, 2017
Press Release
Sierra Leone: Continued pregnancy ban in schools and failure to protect rights is threatening teenage girls’ futures
Sierra Leone must lift a deeply discriminatory ban on visibly pregnant girls attending school and taking exams, which continues to entrench gender inequality in the country and puts thousands of teenage girls’ futures at risk, Amnesty International said today, a year on from its report on the issue.
November 7, 2016
Press Release
Iraq: Yezidi survivors of horrific abuse in IS captivity neglected by international community
Yezidi women and girls who have been enslaved, raped beaten and otherwise tortured by the armed group calling itself Islamic State (IS) are being failed by a lack of adequate support from the international community, said Amnesty International today. Researchers from the organization interviewed 18 women and girls abducted by IS, during a visit to the semi-autonomous Kurdish Region of Iraq in August 2016. The women and girls had either escaped or were released after payment of ransom by their families. Several were driven to the brink of suicide or had sisters or daughters who killed themselves because of the…
October 7, 2016
Press Release
Amnesty International reaction to court decision to overturn burkini ban in France
Responding to the decision of France’s highest administrative court to overturn the ban on the burkini on a French beach, John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Europe Director said.
August 26, 2016
Press Release
France: Upholding burkini ban risks giving green light for abuse of women and girls
Failure to overturn the ban on the burkini would be a missed opportunity to end an assault on women’s freedoms of expression and religion as well as the right to non-discrimination, said Amnesty International as France’s highest administrative court considers a challenge to the ban.
August 25, 2016
Press Release
Women’s rights activists treated as enemies of the state in renewed crackdown in Iran
Iranian authorities have intensified their repression of women’s rights activists in the country in the first half of this year, carrying out a series of harsh interrogations and increasingly likening any collective initiative relating to women’s rights to criminal activity, Amnesty International said today.
August 9, 2016
Press Release
Pakistan: End impunity for so-called ‘honor’ crimes
The Pakistani authorities must end impunity for so-called ‘honor’ killings and other violence against women, Amnesty International said today. “The tragic killing of Qandeel Baloch, at the hands of her brother, has highlighted the need for urgent action to protect women and men from crimes that are justified as a defense of family honor.
July 19, 2016