Activists from Around the Globe Reflect on Successes, Challenges

October 10 is a historic day in Iran – For the first time, women will be allowed the basic right to attend a FIFA World Cup qualifier match. But why is there a seat limit for women? Iran’s Azadi (Freedom) Stadium holds 85,000 people, but only 3,000 seats are allocated for women.

Mobile Unit Helps Keep People Out of the Hospital

Ray Ekins, 78, has dementia and was prescribed olanzapine, an antipsychotic prohibited for use in older people with dementia. His daughter Susan asked his geriatrician about significant changes in his mood and behavior. He told her that her father was old, and she and Ray would just have to accept it. Susan moved Ray to a new facility in 2014 which helped to wean him off the drugs.

Monica has dementia and lives with her husband in a facility near Melbourne. Her son realized she was being given a cocktail of drugs when he asked to see her charts. After extensive negotiation, Monica’s doctor and facility staff agreed to wean her off the drugs. Monica went from being hunched and unbalanced to being able to sit, eat, greet people, and dance when her grandson visits and sings.

Detention is fundamentally harmful to children, yet many countries use it as their first response to difficult circumstances, rather than the last. Governments should invest in alternatives that not only protect children’s rights but produce much better outcomes for children, families, and society overall.

More than half the Afghan population, including many survivors of conflict-related violence, struggle with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, but fewer than 10 percent receive adequate psychosocial support from the state, according to government documents. The Afghan government and international donors should expand mental health services and outreach campaigns.

Families of victims of the September 2009 massacre by Guinea’s security forces are still awaiting justice 10 years later, 6 human rights groups said today.

The Indonesian government is failing to protect the rights of Indigenous peoples who have lost their traditional forests and livelihoods to oil palm plantations in West Kalimantan and Jambi provinces.

The Tajik government takes little action to investigate or prosecute domestic violence cases and is doing far too little to help survivors.