Disability Rights

Disability Rights

Globally, many of the world's one billion individuals with disabilities struggle for access to education and employment, for the right to live in the community instead of being locked up in institutions, to express their sexuality and have children, and to participate in political and social life. Individuals with physical and mental disabilities often face increased violence and discrimination, yet they remain invisible in their communities. Download the complete brochure.

A health worker administers a voluntary HIV test at Chreso Ministries VCT (Voluntary Counseling & Testing) and ART (Anti Retroviral Treatment) Centre in Lusaka.

© 2014 Justin Purefoy for Human Rights Watch

Zambia: People With Disabilities Left Behind in HIV Response

(Lusaka) – The nearly two million people with disabilities in Zambia face significant barriers to HIV prevention, testing, and treatment, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. While the Zambian government has made significant progress scaling up its response to HIV generally, few programs are accessible to people with disabilities and social stigma prevents their access to HIV services on an equal basis with others.

Unraveling The Myth: People with Disabilities Do It Too

Aug 1, 2014
Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee on Concerns and Recommendations on Spain

Jul 31, 2014
Dispatches: One Billion Left Behind in AIDS Fight

Jul 23, 2014
Zambia: People With Disabilities Left Behind in HIV Response

Jul 15, 2014

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Reports

“We Are Also Dying of AIDS”

Barriers to HIV Services and Treatment for Persons with Disabilities in Zambia
Without Dreams

Children in Alternative Care in Japan
"They Treat Us Like Animals"

Mistreatment of Drug Users and "Undesirables" in Cambodia’s Drug Detention Centers

Disability Rights

Human Rights Watch Submission to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities regarding Croatia

Aug 25, 2014
Unraveling The Myth: People with Disabilities Do It Too

Aug 1, 2014
Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee on Concerns and Recommendations on Spain

Jul 31, 2014

Human Rights Watch welcomes the upcoming review of Spain by the Human Rights Committee. This briefing provides an overview of our main concerns with regard to Spain’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). We hope it will inform the Committee’s pre-sessional review of Spain and that the areas of concern highlighted here will be reflected in the list of issues submitted to the Spanish government ahead of the review.
Dispatches: One Billion Left Behind in AIDS Fight

Jul 23, 2014
Zambia: People With Disabilities Left Behind in HIV Response

Jul 15, 2014

(Lusaka) – The nearly two million people with disabilities in Zambia face significant barriers to HIV prevention, testing, and treatment, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. While the Zambian government has made significant progress scaling up its response to HIV generally, few programs are accessible to people with disabilities and social stigma prevents their access to HIV services on an equal basis with others.
Witness: Deaf, and Shut Out from HIV Information

Jul 15, 2014

Faith learned she was HIV positive two years ago, after giving birth to her daughter. The Zambian government prides itself on its HIV prevention outreach, and every pregnant woman is supposed to be tested for the virus, to prevent passing it on to their babies. But Faith, now 25, is deaf, and was never tested before the baby was born. Nor did she receive even basic information about HIV.
Dispatches: For Russian Orphans With Disabilities, a Life of Obstacles

Jul 6, 2014
Tajikistan: Dam Resettlement Undermines Livelihoods

Jun 25, 2014

The Tajikistan government has shortchanged hundreds of families resettled to make way for a large-scale hydroelectric dam. Despite government commitments to comply with international standards on resettlement that protect the rights of those displaced, it has not provided the necessary compensation to displaced families to replace their homes or restore their livelihoods.
Written Statement of Amanda Klasing, Women’s Rights Researcher, Human Rights Watch, to US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women’s Issues

Jun 24, 2014
Letter to the UN General Assembly Open Working Group 12 on Sustainable Development Goals ahead of the 12th Session

Jun 20, 2014

As you may be aware, the Co-Chairs of the United Nations General Assembly Open Working Group on Sustainable Development released on June 2 their “zero draft” of suggested sustainable development goals and related targets. This was mandated by the Rio+20 outcome document, and is in preparation for next week’s informal consultations in advance of Open Working Group Session 12. These informal consultations are a very important moment for governments to build on the many positive features of this draft, but also to strengthen it in some significant areas.

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