A video was shot in February 2017 at Mangueirão stadium in the northern state of Pará, where arch-rivals Remo and Paysandu were about to face off. Shortly before kick-off, female supporters of both teams are seen walking around the playing field calling for respect for women fans. Their banner reads: “A woman’s place is wherever she wants, including a stadium,” with the hashtag #repeiteasminas (“respect women”). Taking advantage of the anonymity of the crowd, the Remo fans first booed them and then chanted demeaning lyrics about kissing and having sex with Paysandu women.

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.  

Myanmar’s first democratically elected civilian government in decades has prosecuted large numbers of peaceful critics in violation of basic human rights. Concerned governments should press Myanmar to protect the rights to expression and assembly, and reform laws penalizing peaceful speech to bring them in line with international standards. 

Rahaf al-Qunun, the Saudi woman who managed to successfully flee her allegedly abusive family, has shed new light on the countless women trapped under the abusive male guardianship system in Saudi Arabia. Women face systematic discrimination and are left exposed to domestic violence under the male guardianship system and have few places to turn when they face abuse, leading some women to undertake dangerous escape attempts to flee the country.

Most of the 48,000 former residents of the Libyan town of Tawergha, forcibly displaced for seven years, have not been able to return home. Despite reconciliation agreements that should have paved the way for Tawerghans’ return, the massive and deliberate destruction of the town and its infrastructure, and a pervasive feeling of insecurity, have kept all but a few families from returning. 

Pakistan’s government is failing to enforce laws that could protect millions of garment workers from serious labor rights abuses. 

The US government should uphold refugee protections for survivors of domestic violence.

The story of Hakeem al-Araibi, Refugee Football player at risk of return to torture—and how regimes punish those who speak out.

European Union policies contribute to a cycle of extreme abuse against migrants in Libya. The EU and Italy’s support for the Libyan Coast Guard contributes significantly to the interception of migrants and asylum seekers and their subsequent detention in arbitrary, abusive detention in Libya. 

World Report 2019 summarizes key human rights issues in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide, drawing on events from late 2017 through November 2018. In his keynote essay, Executive Director Kenneth Roth says that the big news of the past year is not the continuation of authoritarian trends but the growing opposition to them.