South Africa
South Africa’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic exposed existing gaps in the promotion and protection of human rights in the country. The country’s Covid-19 aid programs overlooked people with disabilities, refugees, asylum seekers, and many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Xenophobic violence remains rampant in the country despite the implementation of the National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in 2019. Law enforcement officials often responded with indifference or provided inadequate remedies to xenophobic attacks. Refugees and asylum seekers faced barriers to protection, including a newly enacted law restricting access to asylum and a huge government backlog in processing claims and appeals. South Africa is also facing a crisis of gender-based violence, with as much as 51 percent of South African women experiencing violence at the hands of someone with whom they were in an intimate relationship.

-
EnvironmentOn behalf of Human Rights Watch, an independent organization that monitors and reports on human rights globally in more than 90 countries, we write to urge the South Africa Department of Police to conduct a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into the recent killing of environmental activist Mama Fikile Ntshangase.
-
-
-
-
“Complicit in Exclusion”
South Africa’s Failure to Guarantee an Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities
News
-
Bullying, Violence Common in Schools Worldwide
Governments Should Urgently Tackle Education-Related Abuses
-
-
-
-
South Africa: Widespread Xenophobic Violence
Implement National Action Plan; Hold Attackers Responsible
-
Witness: Being a Scapegoat for South Africa’s Ills
How Xenophobia Has Robbed One Young Girl of Her Sense of Belonging
-
South Africa Should Press Zimbabwe to End Repression
Human Rights Abuses Under ZANU-PF Have Soared During Country’s Crisis
-
Caster Semenya Loses Appeal for Equal Treatment
Swiss Court Upholds Regulations Biased Against Women Athletes
-
Stories of South Africa’s Powerful Women Doing Extraordinary Things
From Fighting Apartheid to Demanding Equality for Women and LGBT People
-