When a government stops talking about security, health, or the economy and starts talking about “gender ideology,” it’s probably not solving the country’s problems. It’s looking for a scapegoat. Timely Op-Ed by @cristianfergo.bsky.social (in Spanish)

Cristian González Cabrera@cristianfergo.bsky.social · 2d ago

Cuando un gobierno deja de hablar de seguridad, salud o economía para hablar de “ideología de género”, probablemente no está resolviendo los problemas del país. Está buscando un chivo expiatorio. Mi artículo de opinión en @elpais.com: elpais.com/america-futu...

LGBT+ Afghans experienced heightened threats and abuse following the Taliban takeover. Many tried to flee the country. @hrw.org documented threats, beatings, and sexual violence against LGBT people, as well cases of arbitrary detention by Taliban forces. www.hrw.org/news/2022/01...

Afghanistan: Taliban Target LGBT Afghans

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Afghans and people who do not conform to rigid gender norms in Afghanistan have faced an increasingly desperate situation and grave threats to their safet...

hrw.org

Fereshta Abbasi@fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social · 3d ago

Taliban have entrenched one of the worst human rights crises and systematically dismantled the rights of women and girls since taking power five years ago. Afghanistan is also facing a humanitarian crisis with 40% of the population in need of assistance. www.hrw.org/news/2026/08...

Georgia is using repressive laws, funding restrictions & criminal investigations to dismantle independent civil society. www.hrw.org/news/2026/07... This includes LGBT+ organizations. Here are some examples from @hrw.org's recent analysis & documentation of these measures:

Georgia: New Laws Devastate Independent Civic Groups

Georgian authorities’ use of increasingly repressive laws and politically motivated criminal investigations is decimating independent civil society and silencing critical voices, Human Rights Watch sa...

hrw.org

As debates over gender-affirming care intensify, we risk becoming trapped in the wrong question: is there enough evidence to justify treatment? The key question is what frameworks we employ when evidence is incomplete and uncertainty is unavoidable? www.jurist.org/commentary/2...

We’re Having the Wrong Fight Over Youth Gender-Affirming Care

As debates over gender-affirming care intensify across many countries, lawmakers, physicians and human rights advocates risk becoming trapped in the wrong question. Public discussion often revolves ar...

jurist.org

In this moment of moral panic, debates over youth gender-affirming care have become politicized and hyperbolic. We need to re-ground them in int’l human rights principles & evidence-based medicine, two complimentary frameworks. Here’s how: www.jurist.org/commentary/2...

We’re Having the Wrong Fight Over Youth Gender-Affirming Care

As debates over gender-affirming care intensify across many countries, lawmakers, physicians and human rights advocates risk becoming trapped in the wrong question. Public discussion often revolves ar...

jurist.org

Germany's government plans to restrict access to public records, including for civil society organizations and journalists. This is a significant threat to political transparency and accountability.

Almaz Teffera@almazteffera.bsky.social · 4w ago

#Germany's government plans to gut 🇩🇪's Freedom of Information Act. The right to seek & receive information, incl. civil society's & the media's access to public records, is an essential democratic safeguard which ensures political transparency & accountability. @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2026/07...

#Ghana's Parliament has approved one of West Africa's harshest anti-LGBTQI+ bills, joining a growing regional trend. Leila Lariba from One Love Sisters Ghana warns this bill is being used to divert attention from governance challenges. Read more: web.civicus.org/Leila-Lariba #CIVICUSLens

🚨 New op-ed: @hrw.org calls on African states to stop ‘third-country’ deportation deals w/ the US. So far 3/10 African states who received people have forcibly repatriated asylum seekers, violating int’l law. One woman’s story in @africanarguments.bsky.social 👇 africanarguments.org/2026/07/afri...

African States Shouldn’t Help the US Endanger Refugees | African Arguments

Disembarking at an airport in Cameroon a few weeks ago, two Cameroonian women shook with fear. They had fled their country over a year before to seek asylum in the United States, but were summarily de...

africanarguments.org

Around the globe, illiberal governments are invoking children to demonize LGBT people and justify crackdowns on human rights. To effectively resist those restrictions, advocates need to champion the rights of children, including LGBT children. www.thenation.com/article/worl...

Protecting Children Means Defending LGBT Rights

Around the world, governments are scapegoating LGBT people to build popular support for their erosion of individual rights—often under the guide of protecting children.

thenation.com

Nepal has a proud history of protecting the rights of LGBT people. Now access to legal gender recognition has stalled. The new government should put procedures in place to ensure that all people can have identity documents that correspond to their gender identity. www.hrw.org/news/2026/04...

Nepal: Transgender Rights Progress Stalls

Nepali authorities have stopped processing applications for transgender people to change their legal gender on identity documents, regressing on years of progress and undermining the fundamental right...

hrw.org

Nepal has a proud history of protecting the rights of LGBT people. Now access to legal gender recognition has stalled - the new government should ensure that procedures are in place so that all people have identity documents that correspond to their gender identity. www.hrw.org/news/2026/04...

Nepal: Transgender Rights Progress Stalls

Nepali authorities have stopped processing applications for transgender people to change their legal gender on identity documents, regressing on years of progress and undermining the fundamental right...

hrw.org

A Senegal court has sentenced a man to 6 years in jail for consensual same-sex acts, the first conviction under the new law. This prison sentence is unlawful under international law. Senegal is bound by treaty obligations that protect every person’s right to dignity, privacy and equality.

x.com/hrw/status/2...

Idaho’s bathroom ban doesn’t just threaten prison time. It fuels suspicion, reporting, and everyday policing of trans people’s existence. That’s not protection. It’s persecution. apnews.com/article/idah...

Idaho transgender bathroom bill is the strictest in the nation and likely veto-proof

Idaho lawmakers passed a sweeping bathroom bill Friday that makes it a crime for transgender people to use bathrooms matching their gender identity.

apnews.com

The SAVE America Act would create new barriers to voting for millions of Americans — disproportionately impacting women, trans people, and voters of color. The Senate should reject the bill! More from @hrw.org here: www.hrw.org/news/2026/03...

SAVE Americas Act Would Harm Women, Trans People

The US Senate is currently debating the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a bill claiming to address voter fraud but that would in fact create unnecessary barriers to voting for million...

hrw.org

NEW: Iranian forces appear to have deliberately targeted at least two civilian commercial ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz on March 11, 2026, which would amount to war crimes. The attacks may also contribute to significant global cost increases. Read more: https://bit.ly/3NxItRH

Israeli forces have expanded ground operations in southern Lebanon after indicating an intent to forcibly displace residents, destroy civilian homes and conduct strikes that could target civilians.

Israeli Officials Signal Stepped-Up Atrocities in Lebanon

Israeli forces have expanded ground operations in southern Lebanon after indicating an intent to forcibly displace residents, destroy civilian homes and conduct strikes that could target civilians, Hu...

hrw.org

El Salvador is forcibly disappearing and arbitrarily detaining Salvadorans deported from the United States. Deportation cannot mean enforced disappearance. Read more from HRW:

US/El Salvador: Deportees Forcibly Disappeared

El Salvador is forcibly disappearing and arbitrarily detaining Salvadorans deported from the United States.

hrw.org

Want to hear rare good news? A Belgian court opened a criminal trial against a former Belgian official for his alleged involvement in the killings of Lumumba, the DRC's first PM, & two senior officials during decolonization. Justice delayed shouldn't be justice denied. www.hrw.org/news/2026/03...

Landmark Trial for Belgian Colonial Crimes to Go Ahead

A Belgian court ruling on March 17 has paved the way for the last surviving former Belgian official, Étienne Davignon, to face a criminal trial for alleged involvement in the killing of Patrice Émery ...

hrw.org

ECCHR - European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights@ecchr.bsky.social · 5mo ago

A historic moment in the quest for justice for the assassination of Lumumba, first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo: After decades of impunity, the Belgian judiciary has decided to open trial against former diplomat Davignon for his role in the murder. www.ecchr.eu/en/press-rel...

Two women are currently in custody in Uganda for allegedly kissing in public. The pair, whom Ugandan police arrested on February 18, are detained under the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, one of the most draconian anti-LGBT legislations in the world.

Ugandan Police Arrest Two Women for Allegedly Kissing

The pair are detained under the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, one of the most draconian anti-LGBT legislations in the world.

hrw.org

NEW: Haitian security forces and private contractors working with them have conducted extensive and apparently unlawful lethal drone strikes. Dozens of ordinary people, including many children, have been killed and injured in these drone operations.

Haiti: Drone Strikes Put Residents at Risk

Haitian security forces and private contractors working with them have conducted extensive and apparently unlawful lethal drone strikes.

hrw.org

Amid US/Israeli airstrikes & brutal repression, Iranians are entering day 8 of an internet shutdown, placing civilians at risk, restricting their ability to access lifesaving info & reach loved ones, and contributing to psychological harm. Iranian authorities should urgently restore internet access

Human Rights Watch@hrw.org · 5mo ago

Iranian authorities should immediately end the ongoing internet shutdown and communications restrictions. These shutdowns violate human rights and place civilians at further risk of serious harm.

Lawmakers in Ghana have reintroduced a draconian bill that jeopardizes the rights of LGBT people. This bill should be scrapped. www.hrw.org/news/2026/03...

Ghana's Parliament Revives Dangerous Anti-LGBT Bill

Lawmakers in Ghana have reintroduced a draconian bill that jeopardizes the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.

hrw.org

#EU leaders should never belittle role of int'l law or apply it selectively - as they've done since #USA/#Israel's strikes on #Iran & retaliatory strikes on neighboring countries. It goes against #EU values & its long-term interests. Our take 👇 www.hrw.org/news/2026/03... @eudiplomacy.bsky.social

As conflict escalates in the Middle East after the US/Israel strikes on Iran and Iranian retaliatory strikes on Israel and Gulf states, all parties are obligated to respect int'l humanitarian law and prioritize civilian protection. HRW's statement:

US/Israel/Iran: All Parties Should Respect Laws of War

The United States and Israel on February 28, 2026 carried out airstrikes on Iran, which retaliated with strikes against Israel and Gulf states. All parties to the conflict are obligated to respect int...

hrw.org

New US foreign aid requirements want to gag organizations into silence on trans rights, DEI and reproductive justice. These are attempts to close civic space and further authoritarian governance worldwide. www.washingtonblade.com/2026/02/25/t...

The global cost of Trump’s foreign aid ideology

Expanded global gag rule polices people’s identity

washingtonblade.com

“It is as if we have become hired workers for someone, not landowners” - a cotton farmer from the Khorezm region. A new @hrw.org - @uzbekforum.bsky.social report examines the coercive state production system of cotton & wheat in #Uzbekistan. More here: hrw.org/news/2026/02...

This week, prosecutors filed criminal charges against Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony for organizing the city’s 2025 Pride march. This is yet another example of the erosion of the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms in Hungary.

Budapest Mayor Charged for Holding Pride March

This week, prosecutors filed criminal charges against Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony for organizing the city's 2025 Pride march.

hrw.org

The EU’s LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy 2026–2030 reaffirms that equality and democracy are inseparable. The EU and its member states should now back their words with concrete action—political, legal, and financial—both at home and abroad. 📄 @hrw.org : www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Sri Lanka was once a global leader in education. New @hrw report documents low tax revenues starved schools of funding and squandered this lead www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Sri Lanka: Ruinous Tax Policies Stoke Inequality

Sri Lanka’s tax policies played a driving role in the country’s devastating 2022 economic crisis and have contributed to the chronic underfunding of education and other public services.

hrw.org