Amnesty International

This fact sheet provides information about the creation and significance of CEDAW. The fact sheet sets out to debunk misconceptions about CEDAW and its impact on the US should it be ratified.

This report uses a human rights framework to examine violence against Indigenous women in Canada. The report identifies two central concerns regarding the human rights situation of Indigenous women: the violence itself and the social and economic factors which place Indigenous women at a heightened risk of violence. The report argues that the right to justice is typically violated when these crimes occur. The report includes nine case studies of violence against Indigenous women and the subsequent police action.

Amnesty International (AI) believes that governments are obliged not only to stop and prevent violations of women's human rights, but are also required to promote and protect those rights. AI campaigns for governments to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (the Women's Convention) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

This report focusing on the Millennium Development Goals features sections on womens human rights and indigenous women. The report notes that women account for 70 percent of people living in poverty, due in part to lack of sexual and reproductive health services. The report notes that indigenous women experience increased discrimination in some countries where they experience significantly higher rates of violence and less access to police protection and the justice system, and that there is often a disparity in health maternal risks between indigenous and non-indigenous women.

This report by Amnesty International documents the toll that fear takes on victims of armed conflict. The document is divided into regional overviews, looking at issues in Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe-Central Asia and the Middle East-North Africa. The document begins with an editorial examination of the toll the conflict takes on women and the difficulties involved in addressing these problems; while many actions taken appear to be intended to address crime, they are often more concerned with maintaining the status quo by controlling the population through fear.

This paper looks at some of the reasons why the human rights of women were neglected in the United Nations and important developments that occurred between 1993 and 1995. On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), this paper also looks at some steps that governments and the UN should be taking to implement outstanding commitments and to ensure the full integration of women’s human rights.

This paper provides a human rights analysis of gender-specific factors that make women vulnerable to contracting HIV/AIDS and influence the consequences of contracting the virus. It analyzes social and human rights factors such as gender-based violence, traditional practices, violence against women in conflict, lack of economic independence, sex work, and injected drug use. Intersecting discriminatory categories such as ethnicity, sexual orientation and age are also discussed.

This Amnesty International Report emphasizes the importance of the Optional Protocol to ensuring the human rights of women. The report includes a discussion of the history leading up to the drafting of an Optional Protocol, Amnesty International's views of key elements of a strong Optional Protocol, a discussion of justiciability, NGO participation and some general recommendations.

While reparation awards may be made in cases of human rights violations, these decisions are frequently not enforceable and the victims are left unable to collect their award. This memorandum by Amnesty International (AI) outlines the fundamental principles that AI believes are essential to ensure victims of violations of human rights, international criminal law or international