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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  • The War for Girls' Education

    The War for Girls' Education

    The war for girls' education in Afghanistan - 16 years after the US & allies toppled the Taliban and promised to get Afghan girls back into school, why are more than half of them still out of school?

  • Child Marriage: South Sudan

    Child Marriage: South Sudan

    Almost half of South Sudanese girls between ages 15 and 19 are married, some as young as age 12. An egregious violation of women and girls’ human rights, child marriage in South Sudan exacerbates the country’s high levels of poverty, low levels of literacy, pronounced gender gaps in education, and soaring rates of maternal mortality—currently among the highest in the world.

Take Action

Support Access To Birth Control

Support Access To Birth Control

Birth control gives women and girls freedom – the freedom to go to school, advance their careers, and plan families when they’re ready. The Trump administration is threatening this freedom for the 62.4 million women whose birth control is covered under the Affordable Care Act. Officials want to give employers who don’t believe in contraception for religious or moral reasons the power to cut this essential benefit from their insurance. Now is your chance to speak up. Tell the Trump administration to keep their hands off our birth control! Email acting Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Eric Hargan now.

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