The resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan in August 2021 cast a long shadow of oppression over the nation, disproportionately impacting women and the LGBTQ+ community. While the violence against women has garnered significant international attention, the plight of LGBTQ+ individuals remain largely obscured, a silent atrocity demanding urgent global intervention. A comprehensive report, drawing [...]
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Meta Oversight Board calls for stricter rules to remove child marriage content
The Meta Oversight Board on Tuesday upheld Meta’s decision to take down an Instagram post showing an Iranian beautician preparing a 14-year-old girl for her wedding, citing a policy against the promotion of forced child marriages. The Board also urged Meta to clarify in its policy that forced marriages include any child marriage involving individuals [...]
Amnesty International reports increased use of death penalty in Saudi Arabia
Amnesty International reported on Sunday that Saudi Arabia has put to death over 198 individuals in 2024 so far, the highest toll in the country in decades. The group found the state to have “ramped up executions while routinely failing to abide by international fair trial standards and safeguards for defendants,” with many sentenced to [...]
Explainer: Rights Organizations Call for Action on Afghanistan’s Human Rights Catastrophe
Three years since the Taliban took control, Afghanistan has descended into one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. Millions of Afghans, especially women and girls, face systematic repression. The Taliban have enacted increasingly restrictive measures aimed at erasing women and girls from public life, leading to widespread subjugation and violations of their human rights and [...]
The German Far-Right: A Critical Examination of the AfD Manifesto
Far-right movements gaining popularity in many European countries are primarily anti-immigrant and anti-Islam. This study examines Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), a far-right political party in Germany. Founded in 2013, the party launched the AfD manifesto, a public document approved at its Federal Party Congress held in Stuttgart from April 30 to May 1 2016. Presently, [...]
HRW decries Iraqi draft bill that would allow child marriage
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday decried an Iraqi draft law that would permit marriages of children as young as nine years old. The draft, an amendment to Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law, was officially brought before the Iraqi Parliament on August 4, 2023 by Ra’ad al-Maliki. It seeks to amend Article 7(1) of the [...]
In August 2021, the Taliban regained control of the Afghan capital of Kabul. In the two decades that had passed since their previous rule, a generation of women and girls experienced the gradual but powerful onset of expanded rights and freedoms. After the Taliban’s resurgence, these rights were systematically dismantled vis-a-vis the regime’s strict interpretation [...]
Hypocrisy of The Taliban: Three Years of Ban on Girls' Education
The author, a visiting scholar at Cornell University School of Law, explores the impact on three years of since the Taliban banned education for girls in Afghanistan. It has been three years that the Taliban imposed a ban on secondary and university education for girls in Afghanistan. The initial ban was decreed by the Taliban’s [...]
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a report regarding human rights in the country on Tuesday, providing reports of arbitrary arrest, torture, and killings. UNAMA’s latest report is based on monitoring undertaken by its Human Rights Service and covers the period from April to June 2024. UNAMA Human Rights documented “at least [...]
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. – Viktor E. Frankl Content warning: This essay briefly describes a suicide attempt. If you or someone you know are/is struggling with thoughts of suicide or self-harm, please [...]