Women's rights

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and the CIVICUS spoke with Ms. Rajkumari Upadhaya about her experiences as a Woman Human Rights Defenders (WHRD) in Nepal, changing societal attitudes towards women and hope for the future. The interview has also been published as an article by openDemocracy, an independent global media platform. Women in Nepal face […]

Pakistan is a signatory to several international human rights conventions. The country has in its constitution a good set of fundamental rights. Yet, the human rights situation in Pakistan is deteriorating. All human rights are violated in Pakistan with impunity. Rights of women and children; access to justice; labour rights; rights to: housing, life and fair trial, education, […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Shahri Mazdoor Sangthan about a continuous harassment by Police. They forced Indramal Bai, a tribal woman from the Pardhi community, (earlier listed by the British as a habitual criminal tribe), to commit suicide by immolating herself. The cops, identified as Rameshwar Yadav, Sandeep […]

This week Just Asia begins with Burma, which has been called on by the UN Security Council to end the violence in Rakhine state and allow hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya to return. In a unanimous statement backed by China, the Council strongly condemned the violence forcing more than 600,000 Rohingya to flee across […]

by Javeria Younes  Despite lacking legal framework on disappearances Pakistan’s constitution prohibits illegal and arbitrary detention and under article 10. Though the phenomenon of disappearance has been ongoing incessantly for two decade to make matters worse the LEA officials have now adopted the tactic of picking up and disappearing innocent women and children of wanted man as […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) had previously reported on the illegal confinement and subsequent discharge of Sabi Giri from the Indian Navy. Sabi, who transitioned from male to female after seven years of service, has challenged her discharge before the Delhi High Court. While the High Court accepted the Navy’s argument that Sabi’s status as a woman rendered […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the following information from the Terai Human Rights Defenders’ Alliance (THRDA). On 29 October 2017, a 17-year-old Muslim girl, a resident of the Parsauni Rural Municipality-4, Sakhuwa of the Parsa District, had been gang raped. Mukhtar Ansari, 22, son of Ward Chairperson, Jumadin Ansari, and […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Countercurrents and other media regarding the demolition of more than a thousand houses in Kathputali Colony in New Delhi. The demolition rendered thousands of people homeless just before the onset of winter. Also, the use of brutal force by the police during the […]

This week Just Asia begins with Nepal, where a 14-year-old Dalit girl was raped by a 19-year-old youth. After raping the girl on October 28, the non-Dalit Santosh Shrestha tried to kill her by slashing her with a sickle, and gouging out her left eye. The delay in receiving treatment cost the girl her left […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely disturbed by the mysterious death of 16-year-old Priyanka Yadav in police custody on October 29, 2017. The Area Police Office (APO), Mirchaiya arrested Priyanka and 14-year-old Sanjay Sah on October 28 for the murder of Bhavesh Yadav, Priyanka’s 13-year-old cousin brother. The next day, Priyanka was found […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about a 14-year-old Dalit girl who had been raped. It was carried out by a non-Dalit male named Santosh Shrestha (19). He is an eighth-grade student at the local Saraswoti Secondary School. After raping the girl, Santosh tried to kill her by slashing her […]

This week Just Asia begins with Sri Lanka, where a man was shot dead Monday by the Special Task Force of the police while travelling with his friends in a car. The police later claimed that they only began firing after the vehicle fired on them first, but there is no evidence to support this […]

This week Just Asia begins with India, where the Supreme Court ruled that sex with a wife younger than 18 is rape. This is a much needed legal development for child rights, and will help in the fight to end child marriage in the country. Sadly, the fight against marital rape for adult women continues. […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Defend Job Philippines (DJP), a social movement working to promote the human rights of the urban poor in Manila, about the dismissal of the workers of Ming John Plastic Ware. The AHRC has also been informed that the workers were evicted from their […]

By Dr.Rakhshinda Perveen In an inequitable world Women have greater (19%) prevalence rate of disability rate in comparison to men who have 12% of this share. Large-scale researches have established that every minute, more than 30 women are seriously injured or disabled during labor and those 15 – 50 million women generally go unnoticed. Women […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that 55-year-old Mrs. Raj Kumari Upadhaya, resident of Birgunj Metropolitan city, has been accused of being a witch. She was beaten by her neighbors Sarita Shrestha (20), her sister Sonu Karki (24), Sonu’s husband Yogendra Karki, who is a Constable at the Armed Police […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the rape of a blind woman at gun point by the brother of an influential government official. The area police of Pakpatan police refused to file the cases of rape and abduction, torture of her husband and his brother for three days. […]

Dear Friends, According to the information that the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received, Ms. Sashikala Maduwanthi Dharmapalain was severely assaulted by her husband’s family on 14 August 2017. Although she made a domestic violence and sexual assault complaint to the police on the very same day, a month later the police have not […]

An article from Daily Times forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission Dr Rakhshinda Perveen Police is the first respondent to Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG). Their attitude and response can have a dramatic impact on developments, including the prevention of future violent acts and the protection of victims. […]

‘In India, Another Government Critic Is Silenced by Bullets’, is how the New York Times reported the murder of Gauri Lankesh, a gutsy journalist known for her fierce opposition of the religious right wing regime currently in power in India. The heading that the New York Times chose says it all. Yes, Lankesh is ‘another’ victim of […]