In 2017, Kazakhstan decriminalized beatings and other acts causing “minor” physical harm, with the punishment reduced to an arrest, fine, or warning. Now, the high-profile trial of Kuandyk Bishimbayev, a businessman and former Minister of Economy who has been found guilty of murdering his wife, Saltanat Nukenova, has sparked national debate and legal reform. 

Our recent submission to the 2024 Human Rights Dialogue between the EU and Kazakhstan called for Kazakhstan’s legislation on sexual and gender-based violence should be brought into line with international standards.

Read our recent press release on the recent reckoning on domestic violence in Kazakhstan.

Argentina’s new government, under the leadership of President Javier Milei, has recently completed its first 120 days, with alarming implications for women’s rights. The new president’s anti-feminist rhetoric is fueling an assault on efforts to address gender-based violence, and his promotion of regressive measures threatens the hard-won equality initiatives championed by the feminist movement over the past decade.

Read the latest op-ed from Sofia Quiroga, our Strategic Partnerships and Advocacy Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Program Officer in Argentina.

Last week we launched new research which found that discrimination against women and girls remains widespread in family laws across Africa. Our analysis of 20 African countries reveals gender inequality in marriage, divorce, custody, and property rights is being perpetuated by sex discrimination institutionalized within legal systems and customary laws.  While some significant legal reforms have been achieved, progress has been slow, inconsistent, and hampered by setbacks, lack of political will, and weak implementation. 

Explore Gender Inequality in Family Laws in Africa: An Overview of Key Trends in Select Countries.

On the one-year anniversary of the enactment of the FGM/C Bill in Washington State, one of the most progressive FGM bills in the United States, we sat down with Mariya Taher, the US Executive Director of Sahiyo, an international organization working to empower Asian and other communities to end female genital cutting (FGC) that is leading on the implementation of the Washington State Bill, about why implementation is so important and how other states can learn from Washington’s example.

Read the full interview with Mariya to learn more about survivor-led legislation.