In Afghanistan, women's rights activists feared for their lives, now they are disappearing. In September, Forouzan Safi joined other activists to protest against the Taliban tearing down the rights of women in Afghanistan.
By late October, she had been killed. She reportedly left the house that day with her passport and degrees, believing she was meeting up with someone who would help her get out of Afghanistan. Her body was found riddled with bullets alongside three other women who had also been killed. News of their deaths has been reverberating around the community of activists who are fighting for the advancement of women and girls and who have lived in fear since the Taliban regained power. Thousands march in France against male violence, sexual harassment and abuse.
Tens of thousands of protesters have marched through Paris and other French cities to demand more government action to prevent violence against women.
More than 220,000 women suffer physical or sexual abuse at the hands of their partner each yearRights groups say 101 women have been killed by a partner or ex-partner in France since JanuaryDemonstrators want President Emmanuel Macron to earmark 1 billion euros ($1.5 billion) a year to tackle the problem The demonstrations on Saturday come amid growing outrage in France over women killed by their partners and as French women are increasingly speaking out about sexual harassment and abuse.
Protesters marched in Paris behind a large banner saying: "Stop sexist and sexual violence. " Australia's Human Rights Commission takes fight against racism to a new level. The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has flipped the onus in tackling crowd-based racism to encourage the sports themselves, and the venues they are played in, to be proactive in calling out such behaviour.
Key points: The commission has introduced new guidelines for addressing spectator racism in sportThe guidelines encourage sports to commit to a zero-tolerance approach to racial discriminationSuggestions include appointing game-day integrity officers and the training of players, officials, and staff in identifying referral pathways and de-escalation techniques. Instead of the victims or targets of racial abuse having to shoulder the burden of reporting incidents, the AHRC hopes venues, sports bodies and clubs all sign on to a new national framework designed to make the industry itself responsible for fighting the scourge.
Racism in sport an ongoing issue There are 20 organisations joining as signatories The AFL is not alone. Creating change at a grassroots level. Sarah Baartman was exploited throughout her life. Her shameful treatment casts a long shadow today. Not even her early death could put an end to the abuse she endured in life.
It took a president's lobbying and the fight of her people to finally lay her to rest. It's a Saturday night in London's Piccadilly Circus. The year is 1810. An excited crowd gathers outside a theatre at the end of a laneway. Afghanistan children suffer with malnutrition as unpaid doctors and Taliban bosses clash in hospitals. In Kabul's main children's hospital, two-year-old Guldana is sitting up in her bed, but she's too exhausted to even open her eyes.
Her tiny body is wrapped in a blanket, only her emaciated face showing. Key points: Anti-abortion law Senate Bill 8 is so complicated, the US Supreme Court must first decide if anyone is even allowed to challenge it. It's been two months since abortion became effectively illegal in Texas.
On September 1, the Lone Star state enforced Senate Bill 8, known as "SB8", which deputises private citizens as bounty hunters to police anyone who helps someone get an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. The bill makes no exceptions for pregnancies that are the result of rape or incest. Many women have been forced to travel out of state to seek abortions, while those without the means try to self-abort or carry their unwanted pregnancies to full-term. It's the most restrictive abortion ban in the country, but the law's unique legal structure is what makes it the most difficult to unpick. Described by some lawyers as "evil, sinister genius", SB8 places the onus on private citizens to enforce the law. Amnesty International closes Hong Kong offices due to China's national security law. Amnesty International says it will close its two offices in Hong Kong this year, becoming the latest non-governmental organisation to cease its operations amid a crackdown on political dissent in the city.
Key points: Amnesty says the national security law makes it "effectively impossible" for rights groups to operate in Hong KongGroups disbanded under the law include NGOs and several leading trade unionsHong Kong authorities say allegedly smuggled Australian lobsters pose a national security threat to China The human rights group said its local office in Hong Kong would close this month while its regional office will close by the end of the year, with regional operations moved to other offices in the Asia Pacific region. "The environment of repression and perpetual uncertainty created by the national security law makes it impossible to know what activities might lead to criminal sanctions. " Ethiopian refugee Ahmed Omer came to Hobart with very little English — now he's captain of his school. When Ahmed Omer started at Cosgrove High School in Hobart's northern suburbs, he knew very little English.
The 16-year-old said he initially experienced some racist comments and "dirty looks" from other students. "Students didn't really understand where I came from and what was my story," he said. But three years later, he is school captain, helping to stamp out racism and passionate about sharing his story. Ahmed says he starts each day early with prayers and his faith is something that inspires him to help others. It has been a constant in his life, even as he fled conflict and lost both of his parents at a young age. Jailbreak shines light on mass incarceration of Palestinians.
The escape of six prisoners who tunnelled out of an Israeli penitentiary earlier this month has shone a light on Israel's mass incarceration of Palestinians, one of the many bitter fruits of the conflict.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have passed through a military justice system designed for a temporary occupation that is now well into its sixth decade. Nearly every Palestinian has a loved one who has been locked up in that system at some point, and imprisonment is widely seen as one of the most painful aspects of life under Israeli rule. The saga of the six, who were eventually recaptured, also underscores the irreconcilable views Israelis and Palestinians hold about the prisoners and, more broadly, what constitutes legitimate resistance to occupation.
Israel classifies nearly every act of opposition to its military rule as a criminal offence, while many Palestinians see those acts as resistance and those engaged in them as heroes, even if they kill or injure Israelis. US special envoy to Haiti Daniel Foote resigns in protest of 'inhumane' expulsions of migrants. The Biden administration's special envoy to Haiti has resigned in protest of "inhumane" large-scale expulsions of Haitian migrants to their homeland as it is wracked by civil strife and natural disaster.
Key points: Daniel Foote was appointed to the position in JulyThe US State Department has criticised Mr Foote for resigning at a critical time Images showed US border guards using aggressive tactics against migrants earlier this week Daniel Foote was appointed to the position only in July, following the assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moise. Even before the migrant expulsions from the small Texas border town of Del Rio, the career diplomat was known to be deeply frustrated with what he considered to be a lack of urgency in Washington and a glacial pace in efforts to improve conditions in Haiti.
Mr Foote wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying he was stepping down immediately "with deep disappointment and apologies to those seeking crucial changes". Indigenous prisoner whose clothes were forcibly removed during strip search had her human rights breached, report finds. A review into an incident at Canberra's jail where an Indigenous woman was forcibly strip-searched has found that she had her human rights violated. Key points: The woman had recently been a victim of sexual assault, which she said added to her "absolute fear" and "horror" at the strip searchCEO of Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services Julie Tongs has called for an inquiry into the prison more broadlyA report by the Inspector of Correctional Services found officers did not "properly consider" the woman's human rights The 37-year old woman was held down and had her clothes removed, or cut off, during an incident at Canberra's Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) earlier this year.
British diplomat uses social media to draw attention to removal of Chinese mosque minarets. A senior UK diplomat has taken to social media to comment on the removal of minarets at several mosques in western China, drawing attention to the ongoing crackdown against Muslims in the country. Key points: The ancient Dongguan Mosque appears to have had its green dome and minarets removedPresident Xi Jinping has overseen a campaign to "Sinicise" Islam and other religionsThe UK and other Western parliaments have declared treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang to be genoide.
Australian women mobilise to rescue Afghan women at risk from Taliban. Marwa Moeen is huddled in an apartment in Kabul with 15 other young women. The 20-year-old university student is in hiding, fearing for her future. "The Taliban has made my home a jail for us," she said. Ms Moeen was in a business lecture when her mother called her in a panic asking her to rush home — the Taliban had taken the capital.
"In that class every girl’s mum called at the same time. My mum was crying. "Given the rush of people outside, it was dangerous, so they told their daughters to go home with me.” Life changed overnight for the entrepreneur, who ran a women’s clothing shop as she finished her education. Australian Uyghur provides emotional testimony to UK tribunal about husband detained in China. Chinese authorities are arbitrarily detaining and torturing Muslim minorities, including the husband of Melbourne woman Mehray Mezensof, the Uyghurs Tribunal, an independent people's tribunal based in the UK, has heard.
Key points: The Chinese government is accused of crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minoritiesChina has dismissed the independent Uyghur Tribunal as "ironic and ridiculous"More than 40 countries have called for China to allow UN investigators into Xinjiang The quasi-legal proceedings are investigating "China's alleged genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghur, Kazakh and other Turkic Muslim populations". The United Nations, rights groups and Western governments including Australia have raised concerns about mass incarceration, forced labour and other human rights abuses against largely Muslim ethnic minorities in China's Xinjiang region. The last US plane has departed Kabul, so what now for the people of Afghanistan?
After the last American plane left Kabul, the city's skyline lit up with gunfire — a Taliban celebration of the "complete independence" they have achieved over Afghanistan. Many Afghan people watched on from their homes or hideouts, fearful of what happens next and unsure how they will pay for their next meal. Key points: A financial and humanitarian crisis is gripping Afghanistan As the last US flight left, citizens of Kabul were left feeling betrayed, while several women told the ABC they were in imminent danger The UN says aid organisations and foreign governments must continue to help the Afghan people "The Taliban are celebrating now in Kabul, lots of gunfire, but the regular people are at home, unhappy," one young woman inside the city told the ABC.
Their sorrow is steeped in the betrayal many feel towards the foreign forces and governments that promised them so much. Bill to ban Chinese slave labour imports gains support as Uyghurs long for missing relatives. Slavery still exists in Australia today. These are the people fighting back. Queensland mayor issues historic apology over blackbirding slavery of Pacific Islanders. The stone walls that stretch along Bundaberg's farms are a stark and lasting reminder of the history of slavery in the region, but today the community takes a step forward to begin the healing process. Human Rights Watch reveals harassment, surveillance of Chinese students studying in Australia. China's secretive 'residential surveillance' jail system is booming under Xi Jinping, says human rights group.
China is expanding the use of a little-known form of extra-judicial detention that allows police to exclude lawyers and cut suspects off from the outside world, with a new report saying it is being used in thousands of cases each year. Bipartisan call for ban on goods from China's Xinjiang and all imports using forced labour. Goods made using forced labour anywhere in the world would be blocked from entering Australia under a series of measures recommended by the Senate foreign affairs committee. Government 'backed into a corner' over asylum seekers, says former Bakhtiari guardian. The government's decision to allow a family of asylum seekers to temporarily live in Perth was less about "compassion" and more about being "backed into a corner", says a former guardian of another high profile asylum-seeker family deported nearly two decades ago.
Sheikh Jarrah: The tiny neighbourhood at the centre of a dispute threatening to spiral into war. Two African refugees set up a sports platform to prevent other refugees from being trapped in human trafficking. Wesley Mukerinkindi understands the feeling of utter desperation. Key points: The Search Your Team platform helps athletes secure professional contracts or sports scholarships in soccer and basketball through videos of players in actionNewcastle-based NSL player Musa Kamara hopes the sports platform will get him back to EuropeThe platform aims to place 50 per cent of female athletes and is working in collaboration with the Olympic Committee of IDF (CROSIF) He was a little boy when his family escaped his home county of Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. Around 800,000 people were slaughtered by ethnic Hutu extremists in horrifying scenes.
China ramps up media war on Xinjiang as censors blur Western brands. Cambodia condemns VICE for images by artist who added smiles to Khmer Rouge victims. The Adani Group denies engaging with Myanmar’s military leadership over port deal but video suggest otherwise. China tells UN Australia's offshore detention centres violate human rights, don't have adequate conditions. Writing Black Lives Matter: Maxine Beneba Clarke and Angie Thomas on their latest books for children and young people. Human Rights Watch alarmed at Australian company developing high-tech weapons system in the United Arab Emirates.
Mohammad was placed on a temporary protection visa as a child — now he's seemingly stuck with it for life. Hoda Afshar documents Australian government whistleblowers in new photography and film project. SBS to temporarily stop airing Chinese state TV amid concerns over forced prisoner confessions. They've left South Asia, but they can't escape the discrimination and division of its caste system. China bans Clubhouse app as thousands share stories about Xinjiang and Tiananmen Square. Uyghur advocates speak out after horrifying accounts of rape and torture in Xinjiang camps in China. Rio Tinto and BHP battle Apache tribes to build North America's biggest copper mine at sacred Oak Flat site.
Woman in custody at Canberra's jail allegedly strip-searched in front of male inmates in 'degrading' act. China is building border walls with Vietnam and Myanmar to keep people out, but also in. Uyghur Muslims call on Australia to join United States in accusing China of genocide in Xinjiang. Thai court gives record 43-year sentence for insulting king under lese majeste law. Australian professor Lukman Thalib and son Ismail Talib, detained in Qatar without charge for five months, are released. Hong Kong civil servants given four weeks to pledge loyalty to the Chinese Government. Australian Van Kham Chau subject to 'hard labour' in Vietnamese prison, former inmate says. US to designate Yemen's Houthis a terrorist group to deter Iran, despite famine warnings. Papua New Guinea town of outcasts gearing up for David and Goliath battle to save community of Bushwara.
Julian Assange's extradition to the US rejected by UK court over mental health fears. Australian Zara Kay, campaigner for ex-Muslim women, left 'traumatised' by arrest in Tanzania over social media post. Former Huawei employee speaks out on Shenzhen's '996' culture as Chinese city enforces paid leave. Australia's Baha'i community pleads for help as arbitrary arrests and home raids escalate in Iran. China jails 10 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who attempted to flee to Taiwan by speedboat. The United Arab Emirates is trying to rebrand its image by making changes to its 'antiquated' legal system. Vietnamese truck deaths: UK court finds two men, Eamonn Harrison and Gheorghe Nica, guilty of manslaughter. Donald Trump may leave office holding the record for the most federal executions in 130 years. Australia's Future Fund 'in bed with Adani' after freedom of information request reveals $3.2 million investment - ABC News.
Queensland's Human Rights Commissioner raises concerns over handling of youth and vulnerable people during coronavirus lockdown - ABC News. Nigerian farmers slaughtered, beheaded in retaliation after villagers stand up to gunman - ABC News. Protests in Paris turn violent in wake of footage showing police bashing black music producer Michel Zecler - ABC News. The British stole Benin's bronzes. It's a theft that still hurts - ABC News. Border controls leave an army of invisible workers trapped on floating sweatshops - ABC News. Ethiopia faces 'full-scale humanitarian crisis' as fighting in Tigray continues, UN says - ABC News. Australian fruit picking exploitation claims prompt push on protections against 'modern slavery' - ABC News. Wagina Island residents win bid to stop bauxite mining plan in Solomon Islands - ABC News.
'Second-class citizens': Call for action over the Australian visa the UN says is a problem - ABC News. Donald Trump's border wall is 'desecrating' sacred Indigenous sites, tribal leaders say. Could the US election change this? - ABC News. Human rights groups call on Qatar to stop criminalising sex outside marriage after treatment of women on Sydney-bound flight - ABC News. Woman on same Qatar airways flight as women who were invasively searched thought plane was being 'hijacked' - ABC News. Lebanese families are taking the treacherous journey across the sea to Cyprus. Little Mohammed didn't make it - ABC News.
Pussy Riot activist stars in dissident theatre group's Australian show - ABC News. We've investigated aged care for the past three years. These are the stories that shocked us - ABC News. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has dreams for a $700 billion megacity. This woman wants to stop him - ABC News. Hundreds of thousands of people shackled for mental health issues globally, Human Rights Watch says - ABC News. Victorian Government received 'assurances' forced Uyghur labour not used for state's new trains, Daniel Andrews says - ABC News. Darwin man faces 12 years imprisonment for trafficking wife into India, Australian Federal Police says - ABC News. Afghanistan allows mothers' names on birth certificates in 'significant' milestone for women's rights - ABC News. Queensland Government investigates whether new trains use parts made by slave labour from Chinese Uyghur camps - ABC News. US adds 11 companies to economic blacklist over China's treatment of Uyghurs - ABC News.
Uyghur father in Australia fears for his wife and children trapped in Xinjiang - ABC News. COVID-19 has killed more than 500,000 people. But some still don't know the pandemic exists - ABC News. Tonnes of hair products believed to be from China's Xinjiang internment camps seized in US - ABC News. Facial recognition technology prevents crime, but at what cost to human rights and privacy? - ABC News. Untitled. Indonesia condemns abuse of fishermen aboard Chinese boats after release of corpse video - ABC News. Sudan moves to ban female genital mutilation with landmark law - ABC News. Saudi Arabia scraps executions for those who commit crimes as minors, human rights body says.
The Netherlands will pay reparations to Indonesian victims of colonial atrocities. Could the UK do the same? Violence forced the Rohingya to flee Myanmar. Now the coronavirus is threatening their refugee camp. Aboriginal mothers fear there will be a new generation of stolen children. Saudi Arabia executed a record 184 people last year, Amnesty reports. Almost 400 starving Rohingya refugees rescued off Bangladesh coast, 32 dead after months at sea. Coronavirus might be giving some European governments an excuse to tighten grip on power. 'Urgent action' needed over high proportion of Indigenous women in prison, report says.
This is what moving to regional Australia is like when you're a migrant. Jinwar, the Middle East's first feminist commune for Arab, Kurdish, and Yazidi victims of Islamic State. Female seasonal workers gain more than just fruit from their labour - ABC Rural - ABC News. From 'perfect Chinese daughter' to Communist Party critic, why Vicky Xu is exposing China to scrutiny. Extinction Rebellion climate protester testing Human Rights Act on public nuisance charge. Children in the Democratic Republic of Congo mine for coltan and face abuse to supply smartphone industry. Julian Assange, Wikileaks co-founder, asks to be released from dock for extradition hearing to sit with lawyers. Blackbirding and the boys from Tanna who never came home.