WUNRN

http://www.wunrn.com

 

http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2015

 

Human Rights Watch World Report 2015 – Women??

 

Direct Link to Full 660-Page Report: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/wr2015_web.pdf

 

INDIVIDUAL COUNTRY REPORTS INCLUDED

World Report 2015 is Human Rights Watch’s 25th annual review of human rights practices around the globe. It summarizes key human rights issues in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide.

WUNRN would like to see far more GENDER/WOMEN inclusion in this important report. Though there are some references to women’s rights and issues (See below – Afghanistan), there is limited gender specificity or intersectionality. However, Human Rights Watch does state:

The World Report does not have separate chapters addressing our thematic work

but instead incorporates such material directly into the country entries. Please

consult the Human Rights Watch website for more detailed treatment of our work

on children’s rights, women’s rights, arms and military issues, business and

human rights, health and human rights, disability rights, international justice, terrorism

and counterterrorism, refugees and displaced people, and lesbian, gay, bisexual,and

transgender people’s rights.

 

http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/wr_cover_image_desktop/WR_2015_cover_tablet_mobile_0.jpg

 

 Excerpt from Country Chapter: AFGHANISTAN

 

Afghanistan - Women’s Rights

 

Women’s rights remained under threat in 2014. In January, a provision in Afghanistan’s draft criminal procedure code became the latest in a series of attempts to roll back the already fragile legal protections for women and girls. As passed by parliament, article 26 of the draft code included “relatives of the accused,” among a list of people who “cannot be questioned as witnesses” in criminal proceedings, thereby making successful prosecutions of those committing domestic violence extremely unlikely. In late February, President Hamid Karzai signed the law but amended article 26 by decree to state that relatives of the accused are permitted to testify voluntarily. It also allows compelled testimony from any “complainant or informant regarding the crime” and slightly narrows the definition of “relatives.” However, the amended article still exempts many family members from being called as witnesses. In June, the government rejected recommendations from UN member countries to abolish prosecution of women for so-called moral crimes. Other setbacks for

women’s rights in 2014 included a continuing series of attacks on, threats toward, and assassinations of, high-profile women, including police women and

activists, of  Afghanistan’s landmark 2009 Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women remained poor, with many cases of violence against women ignored or resolved through “mediation” that denied victims their day in court. More positively, women’s rights activists through hard work and constant advocacy were able to inject some discussion of women’s rights into the election process. This included a successful effort by the Afghan Women’s Network (AWN) to obtain signatures from Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, after both survived the first election round, to commit to following 30 recommendations that support women’s rights. AWN and its member organizations planned to follow up with the new president to ensure his compliance.