Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) in the United States (co-publishing with the Global Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School [GHRC]) and Physicians for Human Rights -Israel (PHRI) published two independent reports documenting the severe harm to women and children’s health in Gaza since October 7, 2023, when Hamas’ brutal attacks on […]
Executive Summary After Hamas’ brutal October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, subsequent Israeli military operations in Gaza have caused devastation and displacement. Beginning early in the conflict, humanitarian actors and civil society raised significant concerns about the likely impact on the health and survival of pregnant women1 and infants – two groups granted specific protection […]
Israel must urgently allow food, medicine, and aid to reach people in Gaza, notwithstanding the downgrading of food insecurity conditions in Gaza to Level 4 (Emergency) from Level 5 (Catastrophe) by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) today, said Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Global Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School (GHRC). PHR and GHRC have interviewed scores of clinicians in Gaza […]
Since assuming office in January, the second Trump administration has actively pursued a variety of detention and deportation practices that tear parents from their children and leave them at risk of long-term, even permanent separation. Over six days in late November 2025, the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) traveled to […]
As the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence unfolds around the world, conversations often center on the scale of the problem. We hear about alarming statistics, stories of harm, and the persistent barriers survivors face in their pursuit of justice, like how only 14 per cent of all women and girls worldwide (about 557 […]
As part of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, evidence is mounting of widespread torture and sexual violence perpetrated against Ukrainians. Survivors often face compounded harm from stigma, limited accountability pathways, and the challenges of navigating domestic justice systems. Against this backdrop, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is sharing our specialized experience using survivor-centered, trauma-informed methods […]
U.S. federal law enforcement repeatedly misused rubber bullets, pepper balls, tear gas cannisters, and flash-bang grenades in harmful and dangerous ways against journalists, medics, and peaceful protestors during demonstrations in Los Angeles, California over the summer of 2025, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) argues in a new amicus brief filed in L.A. Press Club v. […]
Any proposal for an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine must include accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today. Instead, the proposed 28-point peace plan’s offer of amnesty to perpetrators encourages further violations and betrays victims and survivors. “When accountability is treated as essential rather than optional, societies emerging […]
Trump administration immigration enforcement actions have led to health care disruptions for children and adults across the United States. Health care workers report consequences including children presenting at hospital emergency rooms unaccompanied, delayed diagnoses of life-threatening illnesses, and children as young as six presenting with anxiety due to fears of family separation, according to new data from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN). A survey of 691 health care workers […]
As leaders from Africa’s Great Lakes region and around the world meet in Paris this week to address the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) warns of an escalating humanitarian and health crisis, including immense violence, mass displacement, infectious disease, and acute malnutrition. Conflict related sexual violence is also surging in the region, with more than 11,000 new cases of sexual violence […]
