The AJWS community has a lot to say about what's happening in the world. Read our insights about the struggle for justice and human rights around the globe.
Three years after AJWS made a film about Khushi’s life, she’s gone from driving cabs to training a new generation of girls just beginning their careers. When I first met Khushi Prajapati, her story was already unusual. As a teenager, she’d worked as a maid to try to help her family make ends meet. It …Read More
When Claudia Samayoa woke up on September 1st, 2018, everything had changed. The news from the day before was alarming: Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales had declared himself above the law, announcing his intention to shut down the powerful, UN-backed anti-corruption commission that’d been working in Guatemala since 2006. Armored vehicles patrolled Guatemala City. Thousands of …Read More
Welcome to “Stories of Hope,” a new feature that shines a spotlight on AJWS’s work to build a better world! Here you’ll find stories of action and activism that give us hope in times of brokenness and division. These include a story about a monumental step forward for LGBTI rights in India won by our …Read More
Just recently, the New York Times shared the tragic story of Donelda Pulex Castellanos, whose 6-year-old daughter was held in an immigration detention center for two months. Castellanos and her daughter were then reunited and abruptly deported back to their home in Santa Rosa de Lima, a poor rural municipality in Guatemala.[1] The article reminded …Read More
I am elated today because our grantee partners in India have achieved an historic victory for LGBTI rights. Earlier today, the Indian Supreme Court struck down a colonial-era law that criminalized consensual sex between same sex adults. As India is home to nearly one-fifth of the world’s population, this single ruling removes the threat of …Read More
It’s been a decade since Maria Hererra’s sons disappeared. First, Jesús Salvador and Raúl. Then Gustavo and Luis Armando, who had gone looking for their missing brothers. Maria may never know what happened to them. When I met her earlier this month, she spoke of her sons in the present tense—even though she, like so …Read More