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Articles by Amanda Klasing
Amnistía Internacional pide a EE.UU. divulgar investigación del ataque a escuela en Minab
Amnistía Internacional exige publicación de investigación Amnistía Internacional ha demandado al Departamento de Defensa de Estados Unidos la publicación urgente de su investigación interna sobre el ataque aéreo estadounidense en la escuela primaria Shajare Tayebé, ubicada en el sur de Irán. Este ataque, ocurrido al inicio del conflicto con la República Islámica en febrero de este año, resultó en la muerte de casi 150 personas, en su mayoría niñas.
Marco Rubio Burned Down the House to Fix a Sink
Argument An expert’s point of view on a current event. United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio adjusts his hair following his arrival at al-Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi on June 23. United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio adjusts his hair following his arrival at al-Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi on June 23.
No Guns, No Drugs—Why Did We Blow Up These Boats?
(Photo Illustration by The Bulwark / Photos Getty, Shutterstock, Department of Defense) SENATORS TIM KAINE AND RAND PAUL made a shocking revelation last week about the U.S. military’s boat strikes in the East Pacific and Caribbean—attacks legal experts agree are illegal.
Law and Policy Guide to US Arms Transfers to Israel
Hamas’ attacks and the Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza that followed have rightly drawn critical attention to the applicable international humanitarian law standards governing the conduct of hostilities. As U.S. weapons transfers to Israel increase, and in light of the unparalleled U.S. security assistance and arms sales relationship with Israel, relevant U.S. policies and laws that apply to arms transfers merit similar attention.
The future of technology: Lessons from China-and the US
PREMIUM In provinces such as Xinjiang, China, authorities have what is probably the most intensive government surveillance in the world; in some places, there are police checkpoints every 200 meters. But much of surveillance elsewhere is less blatant and overt—if just as pervasive and omnipotent.
Governments Call for Protection of Sexual and Reproductive Rights
Women sing slogans during a march to commemorate International Women's Day, Friday, March 8, 2019, in Asuncion, Paraguay. Thousands of people marched in Asuncion's downtown to demand women's rights. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz) © 2019 AP Photo/Jorge Saenz During a global crisis, it can be a heavy lift to get many countries to agree on anything.
Alabama Law Finds Another Pregnant Woman to Punish
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey delivers the annual State of the State address at the Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, January 9, 2018. © 2018 AP Photo/Brynn Anderson When I predicted that the extreme abortion law just passed in the US state of Alabama would be used to punish women, I was told that I should read the law more closely because it has a specific article that says it will punish the people who perform abortions, not the women who have them.
Alabama’s Abortion Ban Is A Dark Day for Women
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey delivers the annual State of the State address at the Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, January 9, 2018. © 2018 AP Photo/Brynn Anderson Late last night, the Alabama Senate passed a draconian abortion law criminalizing abortion and attempted abortion. Last minute attempts to carve out an exception for victims of sexual violence were rejected.
US Again Cuts Women from State Department’s Human Rights Reports
Once again, the Trump administration has cut most mentions of key human rights abuses that disproportionately impact women and girls around the world from the US State Department’s annual human rights reports. In the reports released today, March 13th, 2019, the State Department decided to remove analysis of women’s reproductive health and rights, including country-level analysis of maternal mortality and unmet contraceptive needs.
No, Tucker Carlson, Child Marriage is not a ‘Different Lifestyle’
In this March 2, 2017, file photo, Tucker Carlson, host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight," poses for photos in a Fox News Channel studio in New York. © 2017 AP Photo/Richard Drew, File Newly uncovered audio has US political media personality Tucker Carlson defending a man who received a felony conviction for arranging child marriages in the US. The audio was recorded more than a decade ago, during appearances by Carlson on the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show.
No, Tucker, Child Marriage is not a ‘Different Lifestyle’
Newly uncovered audio has US political media personality Tucker Carlson defending a man who received a felony conviction for arranging child marriages in the US. The audio was recorded more than a decade ago, during appearances by Carlson on the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show. In subsequent audio recordings, Carlson uses racist and homophobic slurs. Protesters from Unchained at Last speak in front of the Massachusetts State House in Boston to end child marriage in Massachusetts, May 2017.
Opinion: Making the most of the US 'umbrella initiative' for women's empowerment
A woman uses a power tiller for farming, a skill she learned from USAID trainings. Photo by: USAID Asia Today, the U.S. administration is launching a long-anticipated, inter-agency “umbrella initiative” designed to advance women’s economic empowerment globally. This could be an important opportunity for advancing gender equality in U.S. foreign policy.
Pushing Back Trump’s Attack on Reproductive Choice
A woman walks past a mural on a Family Health Options clinic in the Kibera slums in Nairobi, Kenya, May 16, 2017. © 2017 Reuters United States lawmakers – including many female legislators elected in the recent mid-term elections – are pushing back against President Donald Trump’s attacks on the reproductive rights of women outside the US. Today, lawmakers re-introduced the Global Health, Empowerment and Rights Act (Global HER Act).
How the US State Department Downplays Reporting on Women
Earlier this year, the US State Department issued its annual human rights report for 2017, with some glaring omissions. The section that typically provides detailed analysis of violence against women in various countries was conspicuously truncated. References to government action or inaction related to gender-based violence disappeared.
Dispatches: Why Flint’s Tainted Water is a Human Rights Disaster
Nearly two years ago, the city of Flint, Michigan switched to a less expensive water source that turned out to be highly corrosive and led to lead poisoning of many children. Public outrage pushed the government to find a safer source, but the damage is done. Lead is pernicious. There is no safe level of lead exposure and pregnant women and children are particularly vulnerable. The full story of what officials knew and when they knew it is unfolding.
Water Is a Human Right - in Flint, in Michigan, and the US
The top of a water tower is seen at the Flint Water Plant in Flint, Michigan January 13, 2016. © 2016 Reuters Choices by Flint and Michigan’s government officials led to massive contamination of drinking water – some tests showed water had more than 100 times the legal level of lead. The poisoning of Flint’s water was an unmitigated disaster.
US to Strip Funding from Women’s Health Providers
The Trump Administration today proposed a policy that would ban organizations providing abortion services in the US from receiving federal family planning money, known as Title X funding. This proposed rule is aimed at defunding Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of women’s health care in the country. It will inflict tremendous harm on poor women and women of color in the US, who are more likely to depend on healthcare providers who receive this funding.
US to Strip Funding from Women’s Health Providers
The Trump Administration today proposed a policy that would ban organizations providing abortion services in the US from receiving federal family planning money, known as Title X funding. This proposed rule is aimed at defunding Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of women’s health care in the country. It will inflict tremendous harm on poor women and women of color in the US, who are more likely to depend on healthcare providers who receive this funding.
How Congress can help mothers every day
Though there is dissent about its origin, the first celebration of Mother’s Day was a war protest, one envisioned as a day of peace by Julia Ward Howe — a fascinating woman — whose proclamation in 1870 urged women to come together first to “bewail and commemorate the dead” and then to “solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace.” Far from being a celebration of motherhood, it was a powerful call to action.
US Congress Should Back Bill Supporting Women’s Economic Empowerment
Earlier this week, the House Foreign Affairs committee approved a new bipartisan bill addressing women’s entrepreneurship and economic empowerment. It’s not comprehensive legislation on women’s economic empowerment – it doesn’t address family planning, for example. But it does address certain barriers women face in the economy. The bill, if adopted, would require that United States development assistance be used to reduce those barriers, a welcome step in the promotion of gender equality.
Valuing Black Women’s and Infants’ Lives in the US
Around the world every single day 800 women and girls die from preventable causes during and after pregnancy. Human Rights Watch has documented some of the root causes of these deaths – lack of accountability of health professionals to poor quality care to considerable cost barriers to care. In many countries, this number is dropping. But in the United States – one of the world’s richest countries – it’s rising.
US State Department Backtracks on Women’s Rights
A woman walks past a mural on a Family Health Options clinic in the Kibera slums in Nairobi, Kenya, May 16, 2017. © 2017 Reuters The US State Department will cut sections dealing with women’s reproductive rights and some types of discrimination, such as against LGBT people, in its annual human rights report, a department spokesperson said today.
Dois anos de vida com zika
Gabi é uma entre milhares de crianças que nasceram com a síndrome congênita do zika no Brasil nos últimos dois anos e meio. Quando a conhecemos, durante uma pesquisa no Nordeste sobre os impactos da epidemia nos direitos humanos, ela tinha 8 meses de idade.
Girls in Afghanistan, and Everywhere Else, Need Toilets - The Wire
London/Washington: “I never come here, just because of boys,” Atifa says, pointing at the door of the stall. “They’re opening the door.” Atifa, a sixth grader in Kabul, Afghanistan, attends a school of 650 girls. Since they study in tents in a vacant lot, the only toilets the girls have access to are on the far side of the boys’ school next door. The school is one of the very few for girls in the area, so some students walk over an hour each way to get there.
Girls in Afghanistan-and Everywhere Else-Need Toilets
Girls in Afghanistan -- And everywhere else -- Need toilets (London/Washington D.C.) -- “I never come here, just because of boys,” Atifa says, pointing at the door of the stall. “They’re opening the door.” Atifa, a sixth grader in Kabul, Afghanistan, attends a school of 650 girls. Since they study in tents in a vacant lot, the only toilets the girls have access to are on the far side of the boys’ school next door.
Girls in Afghanistan-and Everywhere Else-Need Toilets
Heather Barr and Amanda Klasing are senior women’s rights researchers at Human Rights Watch. LONDON/WASHINGTON DC, Nov 15 2017 (IPS) - “I never come here, just because of boys,” Atifa says, pointing at the door of the stall. “They’re opening the door.” Atifa, a sixth grader in Kabul, Afghanistan, attends a school of 650 girls. Since they study in tents in a vacant lot, the only toilets the girls have access to are on the far side of the boys’ school next door.
Six Week Abortion Bill a Dangerous New Low for US
The United States Congress held a hearing today on a bill that would ban abortion after six weeks’ gestation. It’s easy to brush this off as an extreme bill that won’t gain traction, but in fact it points to a dangerous normalization of greater restrictions on abortion in the US. State legislators around the country, and the US Congress, have been trying to pass laws for years to limit access to abortion.
Don’t let Congress throw away our right to health
I spent 3 days last week sitting in a cancer care center. No one wants to be there, yet we’re all grateful that we are. That’s the thing about health insurance. You can’t really understand its value until you urgently need it, and most of us can’t predict when that will be.
What Brazil could teach US about Zika
Amanda Klasing is a senior women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch . The views expressed in this commentary are solely hers. (CNN) For 10 months, my Human Rights Watch colleagues and I have been researching the impact of the Zika epidemic on women and girls in northeastern Brazil. We interviewed 183 people, including 98 women and girls. Before heading out each day, our team would conscientiously spray ourselves down with DEET and inspect any exposed skin.
Trump's new executive order on religion hurts women
(Washington, DC) – An executive order issued by President Donald Trump on May 4, 2017, opens the way to overriding regulations that protect women’s health, Human Rights Watch said today. While media attention has largely focused on the order’s efforts to roll back limits on political speech by religious leaders, its other and less sensational provisions could harm the rights of millions of women.
Sanitation as a Global Right
(Washington, DC) – A high-level international meeting on sanitation should address barriers to realizing the human right to sanitation with privacy and dignity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
US Congress Finds New Route to Attack Planned Parenthood
Yesterday, President Donald Trump said that, “Only by enlisting the full potential of women in our society will we be truly able to … make America great again.” Today, he sent Vice President Mike Pence to the Senate to help Congress roll back support for women’s health. My colleagues and I at Human Rights Watch have spoken to women from many different United States communities and in a range of different circumstances about their health care over the years.
‘A Day Without a Woman’
The soundtrack of my childhood is Tanya Tucker belting out “Delta Dawn,” a song about a 41-year-old woman destined to walk the streets of town because a man of low degree left her, and radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh raging against “feminazis.” I am always amazed at the deep contradictions on gender I learned as a child.
‘A Day Without a Woman’ Time to Ask the Tough Questions
(WOMENSENEWS)—The soundtrack of my childhood is Tanya Tucker belting out “Delta Dawn,” a song about a 41-year-old woman destined to walk the streets of town because a man of low degree left her, and radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh raging against “feminazis.” I am always amazed at the deep contradictions on gender I learned as a child.
Defunding Planned Parenthood is an Attack on Women’s Health
I spent my lunch hour today getting a breast exam. Last month, I had localized pain in my left breast, and I felt what I thought was a mass. My doctor saw me right away, and sent me for a diagnostic mammogram. Luckily, it came back normal. Today was a follow-up, just to be sure. When I got out of my appointment, I saw the breaking news that the Speaker of the House in the US Congress has pledged to include a provision to defund Planned Parenthood in a budget reconciliation bill he plans to submit.
Canada: Water Crisis Puts First Nations Families at Risk
(Toronto) – Canada has abundant water, yet water in many indigenous communities in Ontario is not safe to drink, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today. The water on which many First Nations communities in Canada, on lands known as reserves, depend is contaminated, hard to access, or toxic due to faulty treatment systems. The federal and provincial governments need to take urgent steps to address their role in this crisis.
Canada : La crise de l’eau met en danger les familles des Premières Nations
« L’eau contaminée et les installations défectueuses dans les réserves des Premières Nations en Ontario mettent en péril la santé des résidents, engendrent une surcharge de travail pour les parents et les personnels soignants, et exacerbent d’autres problèmes dans les réserves », a déclaré Amanda Klasing, chercheuse senior à Human Rights Watch et auteure du rapport.
Dispatches: Chile’s Welcome Move on Abortion
Chile’s chamber of deputies decided to side with women and their human rights yesterday, and approved a bill to partly decriminalize abortion. The new law would permit women to have safe, legal abortions if they are victims of rape, if their lives are in danger, or if they have received a diagnosis of a fatal malformation of their fetus. Before this becomes law, Chile’s Senate will also have to approve the bill. But this vote is a significant advance.
Dispatches: UN - Canada Needs to Address Water in First Nations
In 2005, a Canadian government report concluded that First Nations people living on reserves did not have the same access to safe water as other Canadians. More than a decade later – and while more than one hundred reserves across Canada have advisories from the government indicating drinking water in their community is at high risk of contamination – it’s obvious the problem has not diminished.
Dispatches: UN Resolution Enshrines Rights to Clean Drinking Water, Sanitation
At least one in three people on this planet lacks access to a toilet or other facility that safely manages human waste. Nearly one in seven practices “open defecation.” Access to improved sanitation was one of the most off-track goals of the Millennium Development Goals, a set of targets designed to lift people out of poverty that governments agreed to back in 2000, and which expire this year.
Dispatches: Miscarrying Shouldn’t be Murder in El Salvador
Teresa didn’t know she was pregnant. Then, one day she started to contract and delivered a stillborn baby. For this, she was convicted of murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison – despite a lack of evidence demonstrating that she somehow induced the miscarriage. Teresa is one of at least 15 women imprisoned in El Salvador for a miscarriage, stillbirth, or other obstetric emergency.
U.N. to Spotlight Ecuador's Punitive Abortion Law
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(WOMENSENEWS)--Alejandra, a young woman from southern Ecuador, described what happened after she was raped. Her period was late, but she was afraid to take a pregnancy test, she told a group of women who had gathered to discuss the issue. "I waited and waited like 15 more days until I took a test--and it was positive," said Alejandra, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, at the gathering in Guayaquil, on Ecuador's coast. Her choices were limited.
By Theresa Braine Verified, Robin Hindery, Dominique Soguel Verified, Amanda Klasing, Fabiola Carrion
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Womens E News
Dispatches: 17 Women in El Salvador Need Help This Holiday Season
In El Salvador, 17 women convicted of murder, after being accused of having had an abortion, are sitting in prison for up to 40 years. For some of these women, having a miscarriage or stillbirth was used as evidence to convict them. Activists in El Salvador and around the globe are pressuring the government for their release, hopefully in time for the Christmas holidays. Under El Salvador’s draconian laws, procuring or providing an abortion is a crime – with no exceptions.
Dispatches: Detroit, US Out of Step on Right to Water
On Monday, a US bankruptcy judge delivered the latest blow to poor residents in the US city of Detroit who are struggling to pay for their water. Judge Steven Rhodes, ruling from the bench, declined to stop the city from shutting off water to people who can’t pay their bills – in practice up to 400 households a day – and reportedly stated that there exists no enforceable right to free or affordable water.
“Nobody Remembers Us”
We live in this camp, in the dirt … and nobody remembers us. —Charlise, camp in Delmas 33, Haiti, November 2010 The extreme hardships of people living in post-earthquake Haiti are well-known: many who now live in the informal displacement camps that sprung up after the January 12, 2010 disaster go to bed hungry, live in wind-tattered tents that let in rain, face the same high levels of unemployment as other Haitians, and lack adequate access to clean water and sanitation.
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