For more than nine years, two Indigenous women in Mexico have taken on the military and the authorities to demand justice after they were raped by soldiers in the southern state of Guerrero in 2002.

Despite a lengthy investigation and Inter-American Court rulings in favour of Inés Fernández Ortega and Valentina Rosendo Cantú last August, their attackers have remained at large, seemingly shielded by Mexico’s military justice system. Meanwhile the women and their families have faced threats as the legal battle continued.

By a member of Amnesty International’s Iran team

As a human rights worker I am used to hearing shocking stories. However, a recent spate of gang-rapes and sexual assaults in Iran highlights increasing violence against women in a country where women’s rights are already under extreme pressure.

Most disturbing of all is the response of Iranian officials to a series of up to six separate, brutal attacks over the past few months.

A military court in Bahrain has sentenced a poet to one year in prison for reading out a poem criticizing the country’s King.

Ayat al-Qarmezi, 20, a poet and student was sentenced in a Manama court today following her arrest in March for reading out a poem at a pro-reform rally. She has reportedly been tortured while in detention.

She was charged with taking part in illegal protests, disrupting public security and publicly inciting hatred against the regime.

The Egyptian authorities must bring those responsible for ordering or conducting forced ‘virginity tests’ to justice following a senior military figure’s admission that the army subjected female protesters to them, Amnesty International said today.

A senior Egyptian general told CNN that women detained on 9 March at Cairo’s Tahrir Square had been forced to undergo ‘virginity tests’, which the government has previously denied.  

The Saudi Arabian authorities must release a woman detained for her involvement in campaigning against the ban on women driving in the Kingdom, Amnesty International said today.

Manal al-Sharif, a 32-year-old computer security consultant, was arrested on 22 May, the day after she was stopped by police while driving in al-Khobar city in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. She had previously uploaded a YouTube video of herself driving a car on 19 May in support of an online campaign, “Woman 2 Drive”, which calls for Saudi Arabian women to be permitted to drive.

Adoptée et ouverte à la signature, à la ratification et à l'adhésion par l'Assemblée générale dans sa résolution 34/180 du 18 décembre 1979

Entrée en vigueur : le 3 septembre 1981, conformément aux dispositions de l'article 27 (1)

Les Etats parties à la présente Convention,

Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 34/180 of 18 December 1979

entry into force 3 September 1981, in accordance with article 27(1)

The States Parties to the present Convention,

Noting that the Charter of the United Nations reaffirms faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women,

Released on July 13, 2010

Amnesty International has condemned an overwhelming vote by the lower house of the French parliament to ban the wearing of full-face veils in public.  

Three hundred and thirty six parliamentarians voted for the measure on Tuesday, with only one opposing it.

Published on March 08, 2009

Victims of rape and sexual violence worldwide are denied access to justice due to gender discrimination and assumptions about the sexual behavior of victims of rape, Amnesty International said in two regional reports released on Monday.

Published on March 8, 2010

Survivors of rape in Cambodia face limited access to justice, medical services and counselling, Amnesty International said in a report issued on Monday, as rapes of women and girls appear to be increasing,