Rothna Begum
Rothna Begum is an associate director of the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. She focuses on discrimination and violence against women and girls in the Middle East and North Africa region, including leading the research and advocacy on the abuse and exploitation of migrant domestic workers, domestic violence against women and girls, child marriage, sexual violence in conflict, discriminatory family laws, and male guardianship policies. She has conducted research and advocacy in countries including Iraq, Japan, Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Tanzania, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
Rothna also led the advocacy for Human Rights Watch on a new global International Labour Organization (ILO) treaty relating to violence and harassment at work, which was adopted in June 2019. Rothna is also, in her individual capacity, a member of the ILO Regional Office for Arab States’ Migration Advisory Group.
Rothna previously worked for Amnesty International (2008-2013) researching and campaigning against a wide range of human rights violations in the Gulf states. Rothna holds a LLB in Law and a LLM in Legal Theory from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She qualified in subjects such as international human rights law, public international law and Islamic law.
Articles Authored
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January 26, 2018
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January 18, 2018
Respect the Rights of Domestic Workers that Oman Depends On
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December 8, 2017
#MeToo, Say Domestic Workers in the Middle East
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September 29, 2017
The Brave Female Activists Who Fought to Lift Saudi Arabia’s Driving Ban
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August 24, 2017
Middle East on a Roll to Repeal 'Marry the Rapist' Laws
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July 19, 2017
The Saudi Dress Code Debacle
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June 16, 2017
Gulf States’ Slow March Toward Domestic Workers’ Rights
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May 23, 2017
Algeria Needs to Do More to End Domestic Violence
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April 3, 2017
Ethiopian Worker Survives Fall From Kuwait Building
Reports Authored
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Trapped
How Male Guardianship Policies Restrict Women’s Travel and Mobility in the Middle East and North Africa
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"I Already Bought You"
Abuse and Exploitation of Female Migrant Domestic Workers in the United Arab Emirates