Vulnerable Groups Women and Girls

Trials of Women and Girls

Women and girls in many countries around the world can be prosecuted for ‘moral’ offenses such as adultery or ‘acts incompatible with chastity.’ Here are some of the trials TrialWatch monitored involving women and girls:

• The Mexican authorities violated indigenous activist Kenia Hernandez’s rights to a fair trial, to freedom from discrimination, and to freedom from arbitrary detention, a TrialWatch report found, giving her recent aggravated robbery trial a grade of D.
• The trial in Uganda of Stella Nyanzi, a prominent women’s rights activist who was convicted of cyber harassment and sentenced to eighteen months in prison for the allegedly unpalatable content of a poem she posted about the country’s President on Facebook.  See preliminary report here. See full Fairness Report here. See CFJ statement on the appeal court’s reversal of her conviction here.
• The trial in El Salvador of “Diana” for aggravated homicide after she sought urgent medical care in the wake of a home delivery and pregnancy complications. See full Fairness Report here.
• The trial in El Salvador of Evelyn Beatriz Hernandez Cruz for aggravated homicide after pregnancy complications.  See CFJ statement upon her acquittal here and preliminary report here. See also full Fairness Report here.
• The trial in Kyrgyzstan of a woman charged with premeditated homicide for killing her husband, where the woman claims that she acted in self-defense after her husband repeatedly subjected her to physical abuse, in the context of ongoing debate in Kyrgyzstan regarding the appropriate response to domestic violence. See full Fairness Report here and CFJ statement and amicus brief in support of the defendant’s appeal here. See also CFJ statement on Ms. Pasanova’s Cassation Complaint to the Kyrgyz Supreme Court.
• The trial in Egypt of Haneen Hossam and Mawada al-Adham on charges of violating “family principles and values in Egyptian society” for posts on social media showing them singing and dancing.  See CFJ statement on their conviction here.