Reports

Systemic Age and Gender Discrimination Against Women at Work in South Korea

The 92-page report, “Too Old and a Woman: Systemic Age and Gender Discrimination Against Women at Work in South Korea,” documents that social attitudes toward education, unfair treatment in hiring, disrupted careers due to family responsibilities, limited promotion opportunities, glass ceilings, and sexual harassment create a disadvantage for South Korean women throughout their working lives. As women get older, their work opportunities narrow to a handful of low-paid, insecure jobs, and the gender pay gap increases. By the time they are eligible for pensions, women face a significant gender pension gap.

Cleaner at work in a Seoul metro station, Seoul, South Korea.
A man holds a flower and the message "Humanity for All" in front of a line of soldiers

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  • June 25, 2014

    Rights Violations Linked to Resettlements for Tajikistan's Rogun Dam

    The 81-page report examines serious shortcomings in the government’s resettlement of 1,500 families since 2009. The Rogun Dam and Hydropower Plant stands to displace over 42,000 people before it is operational. The major problem, people said, was that they were not given enough compensation to replace their homes.

  • May 1, 2014

    Children in Alternative Care in Japan

    This 119-page report is Human Rights Watch’s first major report on Japan since the launch of its Tokyo office in April 2009. The report examines the alternative care system’s organization and processes, problems found in the institutionalization of children and infants, and abuses that take place.
  • December 8, 2013

    Mistreatment of Drug Users and "Undesirables" in Cambodia’s Drug Detention Centers

    The 55-page report documents the experiences of people recently confined in the centers, who described being thrashed with rubber water hoses and hit with sticks or branches. Some described being punished with exercises intended to cause intense physical pain and humiliation, such as crawling along stony ground or standing in septic water pits.

  • November 19, 2013

    Burst Pipes, Contaminated Wells, and Open Defecation in Zimbabwe’s Capital

    The 60-page report describes how residents have little access to potable water and sanitation services, and often resort to drinking water from shallow, unprotected wells that are contaminated with sewage, and to defecating outdoors. The conditions violate their right to water, sanitation, and health.

  • September 11, 2013

    Lack of Accessibility for People with Disabilities in Russia

    This 118-page report is based on 123 interviews with people with disabilities and their families in 6 cities across Russia. It documents the everyday hurdles people with disabilities meet when going to government offices, shops, healthcare centers, and places of employment, and accessing public transportation.

  • July 15, 2013

    Barriers to Education for Persons with Disabilities in China

    This 75-page report documents the struggles of children and young people with disabilities to be educated in mainstream schools in their communities.

  • October 2, 2012

    Abuses against Persons with Mental Disabilities in Ghana

    This report describes how thousands of people with mental disabilities are forced to live in psychiatric institutions and spiritual healing centers, often against their will and with little possibility of challenging their confinement. In psychiatric hospitals, people with mental disabilities face overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.</p>

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  • June 21, 2012

    Arbitrary Detention in South Sudan

    This 105-page report documents violations of due process rights, patterns of wrongful deprivation of liberty, and the harsh, unacceptable prison conditions in which detainees live. The research was done during a 10-month period before and after South Sudan’s independence, on July 9, 2011.

  • May 15, 2012

    Barriers to Political Participation for People with Disabilities in Peru

    This 89-page report documents the legacy of a policy, changed only in October 2011, that arbitrarily denied people with sensory, intellectual, and psychosocial disabilities their right to vote, considering them legally incompetent to exercise such a decision.

  • August 24, 2011

    Barriers to Education for Children with Disabilities in Nepal

    This 76-page report documents the hurdles that children with disabilities face in obtaining a quality education in Nepal. Some children with disabilities experience abuse and neglect at home and in their communities, making it harder for them to gain access to schooling.

  • July 14, 2011

    Health, Hard Labor, and Abuse in Ugandan Prisons

    This 80-page report documents routine physical abuse and the failure of the criminal justice system to protect the rights of prisoners. Prisoners at rural prisons, including the elderly, individuals with disabilities, and pregnant women, are frequently caned, or are even stoned, handcuffed to a tree, or burned, when they refuse to perform hard labor.

  • June 15, 2011

    A Public Health Crisis in Four Chinese Provinces

    This 75-page report draws on research in heavily lead-contaminated villages in Henan, Yunnan, Shaanxi, and Hunan provinces. The report documents how, despite increasing regulation and sporadic enforcement targeting polluting factories, local authorities are ignoring the urgent and long-term health consequences of a generation of children continuously exposed to life-threatening levels of lead.

  • February 21, 2011

    Human Rights in Iraq Eight Years after the US-Led Invasion

    This 102-page report calls on the government to protect the rights of vulnerable groups and to amend its penal code and all other laws that discriminate against women and violate freedom of speech. The report also urges Baghdad to open independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of abuse against detainees, minorities, and journalists.
  • September 23, 2010

    Deinstitutionalization of Persons with Intellectual or Mental Disabilities in Croatia

    This 74-page report documents the plight of the more than 9,000 persons with intellectual or mental disabilities living in institutions in Croatia and the lack of community-based programs for housing and support.

  • August 26, 2010

    Discrimination and Violence against Women with Disabilities in Northern Uganda

    This 73-page report describes frequent abuse and discrimination by strangers, neighbors, and even family members against women and girls with disabilities in the north. Women interviewed for the report said they were not able to get basic provisions such as food, clothing, and shelter in camps for displaced persons or in their own communities.