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After the 1979 revolution in Iran, women have been forced to wear the hijab in public. Back then, more than 100,000 women and men took to the streets to protest against the law and opposition to it has never gone away. In 2018, 112 women were arrested in Iran for defending women’s rights, many for peacefully protesting against Iran’s mandatory hijab law. Masih Alinejad In 2017, after the reelection of … Read more →

Image Credit: Kiki Machado As a human rights defender and spokesperson for the favela, Marielle Franco was a thorn in the side of the powerful. As a poor, black, lesbian, single mother, she was an affront to Brazil’s evangelical right wing. In life, she was a powerful voice for the oppressed that many reactionaries were glad to see silenced. In death, she has become a symbol of the struggle against … Read more →

The resignation of Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on 26 February has seen a number of events highlighting Iran’s ongoing poor human rights record leading up to and after the resignation. In an interview with BBC’s Lyse Ducet, Zarif apologised for any “shortcomings” during his time in government and said: “Iran saw human rights not only as a “moral nicety,” but as a “security requirement.” However, after continued pressure … Read more →

“The internet is changing the way that sex is sold, leading to fresh models of exploitation.” Gavin Shuker MP Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade. The internet and digital technology are fuelling a worldwide growth in human sex trafficking. According to the ILO, 4.8 million individuals worldwide are victims of forced sexual exploitation, 21% of whom are children. And the ways in which the online … Read more →