Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an NYC-based NGO that promotes human rights and justice and defends the rights of people worldwide. HRW achieves change by partnering with local organizations, lobbying the press, making recommendations to governments, and other actions to put pressure human rights abusers.

Videos from Human Rights Watch

Returning Migrants to Danger

Human Rights Watch 02:39 Politics and Advocacy

Refugees seeking asylum in Honduras and other countries disrupted by poverty, warfare and gang violence find themselves sent back to their home countries because they arrived in America without documentation.

Military Sexual Assault Survivors

Human Rights Watch 04:45 Politics and Advocacy

A female airman in the United States Air Force reports a sexual assault by her peer and faces punishment, retaliation, ostracization and the end of her military career for speaking up.

Terrorism Prosecutions

Human Rights Watch 04:36 Politics and Advocacy

People vulnerable to susceptibility, including immigrants, the poor and those with mental illnesses, are being manipulated by the FBI to become involved in terrorist plots.

Teens in Solitary Confinement

Human Rights Watch 03:24 Politics and Advocacy

Teens charged as adults and held in adult prisons are commonly held in solitary confinement, as punishment or protection, which has deleterious effects on their mental health.

Human Rights Watch 04:08 Politics and Advocacy

Minor crimes lead to major consequences for America's most vulnerable who can't afford the high costs of the criminal justice system-- which intentionally preys on the nation's poorest.

Immigration Reform

Human Rights Watch 03:46 Politics and Advocacy

Deporting undocumented immigrants tears apart families and communities and offers little recourse to return to America legally. Many never see their families again.

Immigrants and the Police

Human Rights Watch 03:43 Politics and Advocacy

Undocumented immigrants are vulnerable as reporting crimes committed against them and other interactions with law enforcement leave them open to being detained or deported.

Prisoners With Mental Illness

Human Rights Watch 05:35 Politics and Advocacy

A documentation of the American prison system where inmates with mental illness are subject to excessive brutality, and how jails rarely provide resources for mental health.

Homophobic Violence in Jamaica

Human Rights Watch 04:32 Politics and Advocacy

The LGBTQ community in Jamaica seeks asylum as they face hate crimes, violence and discrimination; advocates fight to protect them and the growing homeless youth population.

Ban Ki Moon Condemns Homophobia

Human Rights Watch 02:21 Politics and Advocacy

Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon rallies for equal rights for the LGBTQ community as African advocates and religious leaders stand firm against discrimination and criminalization.

Hilarion and Japeri

Human Rights Watch 02:39 Politics and Advocacy

An immigrant from Trinidad and Army veteran who served in the Gulf War talks suffering from PTSD and nearly being deported, as he fears being separated from his children.

Angie and Peter Kim

Human Rights Watch 02:31 Politics and Advocacy

Two immigrant siblings, two citizenship statuses: the story of an undocumented woman and DREAMer who struggles without legal status.

Anti LGBT Violence in South Africa

Human Rights Watch 02:59 Politics and Advocacy

Archbishop Thabo Cecil Makgoba of the Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of South Africa in Cape Town advocates for acceptance and equality for the LGBTQ community.

LGBT Violence in Russia

Human Rights Watch 02:55 Politics and Advocacy

Russian activists discuss hate crimes, ostracization and exile they have incurred just for existing as openly LGBTQ as the country legalizes anti-LGBTQ discrimination.

NSA Surveillance

Human Rights Watch 02:49 Politics and Advocacy

Reporters from McClatchy and ABC News talk about protecting sources and whistleblowers in journalism who endanger themselves by explosing the truth, with Edward Snowden's revelation that our government collects data from citizens that tracks our movements.

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Get Involved

All human beings are entitled to certain basic rights, but in many countries around the world people don’t have them and are forced to suffer. Human Rights Watch exists to raise awareness for these injustices around the world and to fight for policy changes that will give innocent people the rights they deserve. The over 400 staff members at Human Rights Watch include country experts, lawyers, journalists and scholars who are all committed to fighting for human rights.

The Human Rights Watch team may be mighty, but they need passionate citizens like you to help them make a real difference. Some issues they fight for include ending child labor, the closure of the Guantanamo detention, banning land mines and more. The volunteer opportunities range in commitment level so there’s something everyone can do no matter how busy they are. Whether it’s writing a note to your local senator or joining one of the 20 HRW committees across the globe, you can make an impact and help HRW fulfill their mission of “protecting rights and saving lives.

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