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Ahmed Ezz, a mechanical engineer, talks about his voluntary work with Operation Anti-Sexual Harrassment/Assault (OpAntiSH), an activist organization based in Cairo, Egypt, known for intervening in sexual assaults by mobs in Tahrir Square.

When people find out that a woman has been sexually harassed and assaulted, their first reaction is “what was she wearing?”. They always lay the blame on the women themselves. I’ve witnessed this so many times.

It is not safe at all in Cairo for women and girls. Their freedom of movement is constantly constrained. Some avoid using the metro, and spend more money on taking taxis or multiple buses, simply to minimize the risk of harassment and assault. If women and girls complain about sexual harassment, people around them just try to calm them down, belittle their concerns or accuse them of unjustly pointing the fingers at harassers.

Finding a solution

A case before the Supreme Court could mark an important turning point for the rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada. At stake is the right of the Tsilhqot’in Nation to own lands at the heart of its traditional territory in British Columbia.

Amnesty International and Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers) have joined together to urge the Court to seize this moment to give practical application to human rights standards affirmed in international law. This includes rights to lands and territories affirmed in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Read our joint statement on the case

Want to know more?

By Alex Neve, Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada, in N’Djamena, Chad
 

Tension is building fast along the Chad/Sudan border. The signs of a worsening human rights situation in Sudan’s neighbouring Darfur region have been growing for months, including while we have been travelling in areas close to the border during this mission. Fighting and human rights violations are always more prevalent during the dry season. And the end of the rainy season this year has certainly brought a sharp increase in violence.

Fighting is raging between various ethnic groups on the Darfur side of the border, particularly between two Arab tribes, the Salamat and Misseriya, who have been allies in the past. More villages are being attacked and left in ruins. That means more people killed and injured. It also means more women and girls being raped, though it is as of yet impossible to get a clear read on how widespread that has become. Homes and businesses are being set on fire and destroyed.  Looting and theft, of livestock and personal property, is pervasive.

By Jackie Hansen, Major Campaigner and Women's Rights Campaigner

Basic freedoms are under threat in Russia. Restrictive new laws are making it difficult for NGOs to carry out their work. Our Sochi Winter Olympics campaign, which runs until the end of January, is helping to shine a light on the threats to human rights being faced each and every day by people throughout Russia. The article below is written by one of Amnesty International’s partner organizations in Russia, and details how laws limiting freedom of expression, association, and assembly are impacting their lifesaving work.

Want to learn more about how you can make a difference? Check out our Russia webpage for more information about our Sochi Winter Olympics campaign. And please sign our online petition calling on Russia to respect freedoms of expression, association, and assembly.

Sign  Petition