Heather Barr
@heatherbarr.bsky.social
2.6K followers 1.5K following 260 posts
Women's rights associate director, Human Rights Watch. Alaskan in Cape Town. Queen of typos.
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heatherbarr.bsky.social
Excited to share this new piece on why @hrw.org is calling for gender apartheid to be recognized as a crime under international law. This comes after long & careful discussion w/many colleagues about if there is need for such a law and any potential downsides. www.justsecurity.org/116780/gende...
Gender Apartheid Should Be an International Crime
All States should ensure the inclusion of gender apartheid in international law, including in the draft crimes against humanity treaty.
www.justsecurity.org
Reposted by Heather Barr
angryblacklady.blacksky.app
"Black people are tired. Not metaphorically tired—actually tired. The kind of tired that turns every group chat into a mix of gallows humor and emotional triage."

I write about white ignorance and how exhausting it is to hear white ppl insist "this isn't who we are, when it's ALWAYS who we've been.
White People’s Performative Ignorance Is Exhausting—Opinion
Disbelief over authoritarianism in America isn’t a cutesy personality trait. It’s a confession: You haven’t been paying attention.
rewirenewsgroup.com
heatherbarr.bsky.social
Oct 31 is the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, & Security. Resolution 1325 has never been more important than today, as we face a global backlash against women’s rights & escalating wars & crises around the globe.
www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...
No women, no peace
This month sees the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security. Adopted in October 2000, Resolution 1325 established that women should be ful...
www.hrw.org
Reposted by Heather Barr
oliviamesser.bsky.social
I kind of can’t believe this Bari Weiss quote is even real, and yet www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/b...
“I know that there are some people in this room who don’t believe that my marriage should have been legal … and that’s ok. Because we’re all Americans who want lower taxes.”
Reposted by Heather Barr
heatherbarr.bsky.social
“More astonishing still was the Taliban’s open celebration of the mission of a foreign woman ostensibly tasked with defending Afghan women against ongoing abuses, honoring her in a public gathering and wishing her further success.” 8am.media/eng/otunbaye...
Otunbayeva and a Mission That Ended in Disrepute
Roza Otunbayeva, who for three years headed the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), recently completed her tenure and
8am.media
heatherbarr.bsky.social
“More astonishing still was the Taliban’s open celebration of the mission of a foreign woman ostensibly tasked with defending Afghan women against ongoing abuses, honoring her in a public gathering and wishing her further success.” 8am.media/eng/otunbaye...
Otunbayeva and a Mission That Ended in Disrepute
Roza Otunbayeva, who for three years headed the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), recently completed her tenure and
8am.media
Reposted by Heather Barr
kartikraj.bsky.social
Germany’s government is set to make major social security cuts, and replace the only recently-created “Citizen’s Income” with a more punitive “New Income for Jobseekers”.

These plans will increase poverty.

Human rights can help guide the debate back to what matters.

www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...
A single mother in low-wage work shows her monthly household budget to Human Rights Watch during an interview, Baden-Württemberg, February 2023.
© 2023 Kartik Raj/ Human Rights Watch
Reposted by Heather Barr
marisakabas.bsky.social
every birthday message to epstein is like "dear jeff, you're so rich and so handsome but probably the thing about you i love most is that you're a prolific child predator. never change <3"
heatherbarr.bsky.social
The situation in Afghanistan is the most serious women’s rights crisis in the world. An inadequate international response poses grave dangers to the rights of women and girls everywhere. reliefweb.int/report/afgha...
Gender Apartheid as an International Crime - Afghanistan
News and Press Release in English on Afghanistan about Gender and Protection and Human Rights; published on 2 Sep 2025 by HRW
reliefweb.int
Reposted by Heather Barr
almazteffera.bsky.social
@hrw.org published a Q&A on #reparations for historical & ongoing colonial atrocities ahead of a AU-CARICOM summit.

A unified African-Caribbean rights-based position on reparations shaped w civil society & communities would be a gamechanger for the reparations movement.

www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...
Q&A: Reparations for Historical and Ongoing Colonial Atrocities
In this Q&A, Human Rights Watch examines the application of the right to reparation to redress past and present harms stemming from colonial atrocities, including enslavement, systemic racial inequali...
www.hrw.org
Reposted by Heather Barr
heatherbarr.bsky.social
The escalating women’s rights crisis in Afghanistan demonstrates a gap in international protection of rights of women and girls. The international community should fill this gap by making gender apartheid a crime against humanity under international law.
gjia.georgetown.edu/2025/09/02/g...
Gender Apartheid as an International Crime: Taliban Oppression in Afghanistan Triggers Campaign - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
The escalating women’s rights crisis in Afghanistan demonstrates a gap in international legal protections of the rights of women and girls.
gjia.georgetown.edu
heatherbarr.bsky.social
The escalating women’s rights crisis in Afghanistan demonstrates a gap in international protection of rights of women and girls. The international community should fill this gap by making gender apartheid a crime against humanity under international law.
gjia.georgetown.edu/2025/09/02/g...
Gender Apartheid as an International Crime: Taliban Oppression in Afghanistan Triggers Campaign - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
The escalating women’s rights crisis in Afghanistan demonstrates a gap in international legal protections of the rights of women and girls.
gjia.georgetown.edu
heatherbarr.bsky.social
I'm not always optimistic about the impact of online petitions. But in this case--where four countries promised to do something, and lots of people are watching and wondering when those promises will be kept--I think this could be useful. Hope you'll sign.
secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/...
If we can’t speak, why live?
The Taliban is trying to erase women. But last year, a group of countries vowed to hold Afghanistan accountable, possibly even at the world’s top court. Join the global call for justice now – urge the...
secure.avaaz.org
heatherbarr.bsky.social
September 1-2, South Africa’s Western Cape High Court will hear a case that could finally end criminalization of sex work in the country. It’s a moment decades in the making, which could bring real gains for the safety, dignity, & equality of sex workers. www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...
Standing with Sex Workers: Why This Case Matters
At the beginning of September, South Africa’s Western Cape High Court will hear a case that could finally end the criminalization of sex work in the country.
www.hrw.org
Reposted by Heather Barr
karanslade.bsky.social
I didn’t know until now that in the original Rosie the Riveter painting, she is crushing a copy of Mein Kampf under her foot. Happy feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, remembering all the women who crush the serpents of Satan under their heel.
heatherbarr.bsky.social
“Warning against perception Taliban rule is inevitable, experts urged an “all-tools” approach combining diplomatic pressure, intl accountability, codification of gender apartheid as a crime, & greater support for Afghan civil society, especially women-led organisations.” kabulnow.com/2025/08/un-e...
UN Experts Demand Global Rejection of Taliban’s ‘Violent and Authoritarian’ Rule – KabulNow
They said the Taliban are running an illegitimate government that enforces an “institutionalised system of gender oppression,” silences dissent, punishes critics, and erases independent media, while s...
kabulnow.com
Reposted by Heather Barr
thereelrandom.bsky.social
My wife shared this with me and I’m tellin you… it’s worth the read.
Reposted by Heather Barr
billfrelick.bsky.social
My thoughts: the US Congress shld question why women shld have to shoehorn their claims into a narrow understanding of membership of a particular social group & thereby have less consistent or predictable protection than racial, religious, nationality & political groups. www.hrw.org/news/2025/08...
US Should Fix the Gender Gap in Refugee Protection
In a recent decision denying asylum to a Salvadoran woman being stalked by gang members, the Board of Immigration Appeals — the highest administrative body for interpreting U.S. immigration law — foun...
www.hrw.org
heatherbarr.bsky.social
“A 2016 law, meant to ensure that more perpetrators were punished, made it impossible for the victim’s family to pardon the accused in such cases, among other measures. But the killings continued and even increased in number over the past few years.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/w...
Another Pakistani Woman Is Killed for ‘Honor,’ but She’s Not Forgotten
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Heather Barr