Last weekend, the people of Taiwan overwhelmingly voted to renew the mandate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and President Tsai Ing-wen for another four years, in an election that saw the incumbent win more votes than any other presidential candidate in Taiwan’s history. On Saturday 11 January, Ms Tsai secured just over 57% of … Read more →
At the end of last year, the Merriam-Webster dictionary named non-binary singular pronoun ‘they’ the word of 2019. Non-binary identities have taken centre stage over the past few years and more people have started to openly identify as non-binary. In the UK, non-binary people make up one per cent of the population – about 630,000 … Read more →
Sally’s Tale Residing in Moria, notorious as Europe’s most dangerous camp, is twenty-year-old Sally, one of the thousands suffering on the Greek island of Lesbos. Pregnant with her first child, Sally lives in a makeshift tent for two. ‘Come, let me show you what it’s like inside the camp. I’m here with my husband living … Read more →
Women’s rights in Russia is far from an under-reported topic. The decriminalisation of some forms of domestic violence in early 2017 gained widespread attention and condemnation in the Western media – just last month, the Ministry of Justice caused an outcry by claiming that the domestic violence crisis faced by the country’s women is “exaggerated”, … Read more →
From government leaders such as Robert Mugabe labelling homosexual men as “worse than pigs and dogs” to the classification of homosexuality as a disease, and no legal ramifications for those who participate in homophobic behaviour, life within Sub-Saharan African countries can be very difficult for LGBTQ+ people. Surveys taken in Zimbabwe show that 50% of gay … Read more →
A bill before the Russian parliament that would expand the status of “foreign agents” to private persons, including bloggers and citizen journalists, should be a source for serious concern. This legislative initiative would have a detrimental impact on the already restrictive environment for independent journalism in Russia and become a strong tool to silence opposition … Read more →
As the Impeachment Inquiry against President Trump rumbles on, Ukraine dominates the headlines. But in this moment when Western analysis of Ukraine is obscured by U.S. political squabbles, it is more important than ever to hone in on the lives of the Ukrainian population themselves – and human rights offers an ideal lens with which … Read more →
On the afternoon of the 12th of October, Hevrin Khalaf was pulled from her vehicle, beaten and shot in an execution style murder on the side of a road, south of the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, also known as Gire Spi. She was also raped, and her body was mutilated. Her murderers were male … Read more →
On Saturday, London saw the gathering of over a thousand people outside the Lebanese embassy in solidarity with the protestors in Lebanon. Millions of people all across Lebanon have been protesting for the last week. To an unfamiliar spectator, the current crisis in Lebanon may seem as if it has appeared all of a sudden, … Read more →
Between Saturday 21 September and Wednesday 25 September the seaside city of Brighton played host to this year’s Labour Party Conference. Following a successful fringe event at the Liberal Democrat Conference in Bournemouth last week, the International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR) once again ventured to the south coast to raise issues relating to citizenship … Read more →
