Women

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A teenage girl stands outside her class with her baby in Tanzania

CFJ participated in a landmark case before the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights to challenge Tanzania’s policy of expelling and banning married and pregnant girls from school.  This policy impacts more than 1 in 4 Tanzanian girls who are either pregnant or married before the age of 18. After the case was initiated the government announced a reversal of...

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Tanzania: Giving Married and Pregnant Girls the Right to Education

CFJ participated in a landmark case before the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights to challenge Tanzania’s policy of expelling and banning married and pregnant girls from school.  This policy impacts more than 1 in 4 Tanzanian girls who are either pregnant or married before the age of 18. After the case was initiated the government announced a reversal of this discriminatory policy in a major U-turn that will benefit a quarter of the population of adolescent girls in the country.

Evelyn Hernandez, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for a suspected abortion, attends a hearing in Ciudad Delgado, El Salvador El Salvador

Evelyn Hernandez was prosecuted for aggravated homicide based on an obstetric emergency she suffered while giving birth. TrialWatch monitored her case, and she was ultimately acquitted. CFJ did not stop there and intervened in support of Salvadorian women more broadly in a landmark case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights challenging El Salvador’s prosecution of women who...

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El Salvador: The Case Against Evelyn Hernandez

Evelyn Hernandez was prosecuted for aggravated homicide based on an obstetric emergency she suffered while giving birth. TrialWatch monitored her case, and she was ultimately acquitted. CFJ did not stop there and intervened in support of Salvadorian women more broadly in a landmark case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights challenging El Salvador’s prosecution of women who have undergone obstetric emergencies.

The Court ordered $200,000 in compensation for the victim’s family, legal reforms to women’s healthcare, for women seeking treatment at hospitals, and training on gender bias for people working in the justice sector to prevent such abuses in the future.

A direct consequence of El Salvador’s policies is the stigmatization of women, especially the most vulnerable. Prosecutions such as that of Ms. Hernandez have no place in a society that upholds the rights of its citizens.

TrialWatch Report
Stella Nyanzi Uganda

Ugandan women’s rights activist Dr. Stella Nyanzi’s conviction was overturned on the basis of violations identified by a TrialWatch report submitted to a Ugandan appeals court.

Dr. Nyanzi was prosecuted for posting a poem critical of the Ugandan President on Facebook in a trial which TrialWatch monitored and graded a “D”.

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Uganda: Stella Nyanzi’s Conviction Overturned

Our Impact - Women’s Rights Activist Freed in Uganda

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Ugandan women’s rights activist Dr. Stella Nyanzi’s conviction was overturned on the basis of violations identified by a TrialWatch report submitted to a Ugandan appeals court.

Dr. Nyanzi was prosecuted for posting a poem critical of the Ugandan President on Facebook in a trial which TrialWatch monitored and graded a “D”.

[Thanks to TrialWatch] my case was immediately elevated. And the prosecutors… the magistrate… they should have been on alert to know that someone else other than themselves was monitoring the process and going to give a grade.

Stella Nyanzi Women’s Rights Activist

CEHRI and CFJ file case in Austria against Russian servicemen for sexual crimes committed in Ukraine

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Crimes Against Humanity
Amal Clooney (left) addresses the attendees of a free legal clinic in Malawi in November 2023 with Chikondi Chijozi (right) interpreting

In Malawi, Amal Clooney, Michelle Obama, Melinda French Gates Reaffirm Their Commitment to Ending Child Marriage

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Child Marriage
An armed man stands between makeshift homes in Cameroon

A Year After Being Granted Bail, A Cameroonian Mother & Her Child Are Still In Prison

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Women
Demonstration for the decriminalization of abortion during the World Day of Action for Legal and Safe Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean in Caracas

Teacher Prosecuted in Venezuela for Providing Abortion Pills to Child Rape Survivor

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Reproductive Rights
A protester with red painted hands and inscription "Iran" takes part outside the Iranian Consulate during the demonstration.

Justice for Iranian Protesters Means Gathering Evidence Before It is Lost

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Crimes Against Humanity
From left to right, Sara Sidner moderates a panel with Amal Clooney, Wanjiru Wahome, Michelle Obama, and Melinda French Gates

Michelle Obama, Melinda French Gates, and Amal Clooney Announce Collaboration to Support Adolescent Girls’ Education and Help End Child Marriage

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Child Marriage
Women protest in Iran by burning the headscarves they are forced to wear

Clooney Foundation for Justice Condemns Iran’s Violent Crackdown on Women

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Democracy Defenders
Mexican indigenous rights activist Kenia Hernandez speaking at an event

Under Siege in the Mexican Criminal Justice System, a Female Human Rights Defender Faces Decades in Prison

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Democracy Defenders
A woman holds a sign reading "I am a mother and I support legal and safe abortion" during a demonstration to mark International Women's Day, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 8, 2022.

Brazil’s Criminalization of Abortion Results in Discrimination and Fair Trial Violations

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Reproductive Rights
Paola Ugaz

Peru Court Faces Crucial Free Speech Decision

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Criminalizing reporting
Kazakh freelance investigative journalist Aigul Utepova

Journalist Convicted Under Unfair Anti-Extremism Law in Kazakhstan Should Have Conviction Overturned

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Citizen Journalism
Mexican indigenous rights activist Kenia Hernandez

Female Activist Faces More Than 11 Years in Prison After Unfair Trial in Mexico

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Minorities
A collage of pictures representing some of the work of CFJ's Waging Justice for Women initiative

Tackling Gender Injustice Head On

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Waging Justice for Women
Female inmates look out of the Top Chico prison in Monterrey

Women and Girls Face Discrimination in Courtrooms Around the World

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Policing Women’s Conduct

Cruelty in Russian Activist’s Case Shows True Damage of ‘Undesirable Organization’ Law

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Democracy Defenders