ABAR15 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection
Country: AustraliaYear: 2016
Court: Federal Court of Australia
Citation: (No 2) [2016] FCA 721
Health Topics: Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to bodily integrity
This case addresses whether a protective visa under Australia’s Migration Act should be granted when appellant fears for her safety on return to her country because of domestic violence at the hands of her husband. A 54-year-old Vietnamese woman (appellant) was detained for being an unlawful non-citizen in Australia in 2014. She had remained in …Read more
D.G. v The Netherlands
Country: NetherlandsYear: 2015
Court: Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
Citation: Communication No. 52/2013; UN Doc. CEDAW/C/61/D/52/2013
Health Topics: Poverty, Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Right to housing, Right to social security
DG, arrived in the Netherlands from Bulgaria in 2007. She worked at a restaurant and then as a prostitute. She stated in her complaint that she left prostitution after a client held her hostage at gunpoint. Unable to pay her rent, DG became homeless in December 2008. DG applied for shelter under the Social Support …Read more
Equality Now and Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) v. Federal Republic of Ethiopia
Country:Year: 2015
Court: African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
Citation: Communication 341/2007
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to bodily integrity, Right to due process/fair trial
A 13-year-old girl was abducted and raped by Aberew Jemma Negussie (accused) and his accomplices. The medical report proved non-consensual sexual intercourse. The accused was released on bail and he abducted the girl again and forced her to sign a marriage contract. The girl managed to escape. The accused was sentenced to 10 years of …Read more
In the Matter of the Law on Termination of Pregnancy in Northern Ireland
Country: United KingdomYear: 2015
Court: The High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland, Queen’s Bench Division
Citation: [2015] NIQB 96; 2014 No. 125661/01
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Disabilities, Health care and health services, Health systems and financing, Informed consent, Sexual and reproductive health, Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to life, Right to privacy
The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (“Commission”) brought an application alleging that the rights of women in Northern Ireland who are or become pregnant with a serious malformation of the fetus (SMF), fatal fetal abnormality (FFA) or who are pregnant as a result of sexual crimes were being breached by Section 58 and Section 59 …Read more
X and Y v. Georgia
Country: GeorgiaYear: 2015
Court: Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
Citation: Communication No. 24/2009; U.N. Doc. CEDAW/C/61/D/24/2009
Health Topics: Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination
X and her daughter Y claimed a long history of physical and sexual assault at the hands of X’s husband, who was Y’s father. X was raped by him in 1987 and later married him, believing that Georgian social and cultural norms defining virginity as essential to female virtue compelled her to marry him or …Read more
Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford
Country: CanadaYear: 2013
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: 2013 SCC 72
Health Topics: Occupational health, Poverty, Violence
Human Rights: Right to favorable working conditions, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to work
Three applicants, who were all current or former prostitutes, challenged the constitutionality of three provisions of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985. The three provisions outlawed “bawdy-houses” (also referred to as brothels), “living on the avails” (living off of a prostitutes profits), and public communication with prostitutes. Prostitution was legal in Canada, however, Parliament was allowed …Read more
Kichwa Peoples of the Sarayaku Community v. Ecuador
Country: EcuadorYear: 2012
Court: Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Citation: Case No. 12.465; Series C No. 245, June 27, 2012
Health Topics: Diet and nutrition, Environmental health, Health care and health services, Medicines, Violence
Human Rights: Freedom of expression, Freedom of movement and residence, Right to bodily integrity, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to life, Right to participation, Right to property
This case concerned the Kichwa nation of the Ecuadorian Amazon, which encompassed two Peoples who shared the same linguistic and cultural tradition. The State of Ecuador had granted a private oil company a permit to carry out oil exploration and exploitation of activities in the ancestral territory of the Kichwa nation. The State did not …Read more
R v. DAI
Country: CanadaYear: 2012
Court: The Supreme Court of Canada
Citation: [2012] SCC 5
Health Topics: Disabilities, Mental health, Violence
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person
The Crown alleged that the complainant, a 26-year-old woman with the mental age of a three to 6-year-old was repeatedly sexually assaulted by her mother’s partner D.A.I during the four years that he lived in their home. The Crown sought to call the complainant to testify about the alleged assaults. The trial judge found that …Read more
S.V.P. v. Bulgaria
Country: BulgariaYear: 2012
Court: Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
Citation: Communication No. 31/2011; UN Doc. CEDAW/C/53/D/31/2011
Health Topics: Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Right to bodily integrity
A mother brought a case on behalf of her daughter who was suffering affective disorder for having been a victim of an act of sexual violence in 2004, when she was seven years old. In 2006, the indictment against the perpetrator was issued. After two years, and in less than two months, the court approved …Read more
The Rio Negro Massacres v. Guatemala
Country: GuatemalaYear: 2012
Court: Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Diet and nutrition, Health care and health services, Health information, Health systems and financing, Hospitals, Poverty, Violence, Water, sanitation and hygiene
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Freedom of movement and residence, Freedom of religion, Right to bodily integrity, Right to development, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to family life, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to life, Right to privacy, Rights to the benefits of culture
This case deals with the destruction of the Mayan community of Río Negro by a series of massacres perpetrated by the Guatemalan army and members of the civil self-defence patrols in 1980 and 1982 which, according to the IACmHR, included the persecution and elimination of members of the Mayan community, subsequent violations directed against the …Read more