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AJWS Blog

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 — and meet the activists on the frontlines of the fight to build a better world.

March 24, 2016 by Angela Cave

AJWS Staff Joins Rally Demanding Justice for Murdered Honduran Activist

On March 3rd, unknown assailants murdered Berta Cáceres, a Honduran human rights defender and environmental activist who dedicated her life to protecting the land and human rights of indigenous people. Berta and the organization she founded and directed, AJWS grantee Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indigenas de Honduras (COPINH), had received violent threats in recent months because of its work to resist the construction of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam, which was threatening the survival of the indigenous Lenca people.

March 23, 2016 by Nikhil Aziz

Women Lead for a Lasting Peace: Reflections from Burma

They are all young women in their 20s and 30s. All of them are Kachin and passionate about their common cause: the human rights of Kachin women, and of Kachins generally. And they are all members of AJWS grantee the Kachin Women’s Association of Thailand (KWAT).

March 21, 2016 by Jacqueline Hart

Fear of female sexuality: addressing an unspoken driver of early and child marriage

We all know that adolescence is, by definition, a time when children begin to mature into adults: physically, mentally and emotionally. In many communities, it’s also a time fraught with anxiety about the emerging sexuality of adolescent girls—a time when, driven by fear, some families exert tight control over where girls can go, who they can talk to, and how they dress. Because the roles of women and girls remain restricted in patriarchal societies across the world, families often marry off daughters at this age, believing their honor hinges on keeping girls virgins until marriage. In addition, families often pay lower dowries if they marry their daughters at younger ages.

March 21, 2016 by Angela Cave

Journey Over Destination: After Trip, Rabbis Stand in Solidarity with Dominicans of Haitian Descent

Earlier this year, 10 American rabbis demanded justice for the hundreds of thousands of Dominicans stripped of their citizenship status by the Dominican government mainly because of their Haitian ancestry.

And they were heard.

March 4, 2016 by AJWS Staff

Mourning the Death of Berta Cáceres, a Human Rights Hero

Yesterday, we received the tragic news that Berta Cáceres, a champion of human and environmental rights in Honduras and longtime AJWS grantee, was murdered in her home. We are devastated by her loss. Berta was a hero to so many of us at AJWS. She was a globally-recognized human rights leader who gave a voice to the indigenous people of Honduras, as she bravely fought for their land and water rights.