Blog

I will never forget when violence broke out during Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity in 2013-2014. On a very cold winter day in Kyiv, confrontation between police and protesters escalated. I watched a bus burn in front of me on a central street. Even then, it seemed to me like an omen. Those of us who […]

President Trump’s policy agenda looks to compound suffering, threaten public health, and violate fundamental rights.  

The United Nations reports that more than one in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives. Research shows that these traumatic experiences have both short- and long-term effects on a survivor’s health, making them more likely to seek help from a health care provider. This impact goes beyond […]

PHR fights for justice for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and empowers the clinicians that support them.

Recognizing the health harms caused by equipment capable of inflicting torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, PHR has joined organizations around the globe to call for a comprehensive treaty to end the trade of these weapons. 

One year after the international community shut down a United Nations monitoring mechanism, health workers in Ethiopia say the crisis in their country is far from over.

Child-rights experts from Physicians for Human Rights are collaborating with clinicians at HEAL Africa to care for thousands of people displaced by conflict in North Kivu, including children who suffered sexual violence. 

“Imagine providing critical care to patients with no access to medications or equipment, while your salary is withheld, your basic needs are unmet, and the very place you call home is no longer safe. Hospitals are routinely attacked by combatants. Insidious acts of sexual violence persist, and places of healing are turned into death traps. […]

During its 2014 offensive, ISIS waged horrific violence in Iraq. ISIS targeted religious minorities, including the Yazidis, who suffered brutal attacks on their communities. Thousands of Yazidi men, women, and children were killed, forced into flight, or abducted, raped, and enslaved. Today, ten years later, most survivors are still waiting for justice.   Recognizing the […]

The 55th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva concluded last week. Headed by PHR’s Executive Director Sam Zarifi, JD, LLM, the PHR delegation included Christian De Vos, JD, PhD, director of research and investigations, and Uliana Poltavets, Ukraine emergency response coordinator. The team presented several interventions before the Council, partnered […]