Human Rights Watch and transgender people

by Andrea James Reviewed June 10, 2025 2 min read

Human Rights Watch is an international nongovernmental organization (NGO) that frequently reports on anti-LGBTQ human rights violations around the world.

Their coverage has examined healthcare disparities and outright bans for transgender youth, anti-trans violence, transgender athletes, transgender prisoners, religious discrimination, and advocacy for people with differences of sex development.

Background

According to their website:

Human Rights Watch was founded in 1978 as “Helsinki Watch,” when we began investigating rights abuses in countries that signed the Helsinki Accords, most notably those behind the Iron Curtain. Since then, our work has expanded to five continents. We investigated massacres and even genocides, along with government take-overs of media and the baseless arrests of activists and political opposition figures. At the same time, we expanded our work to address abuses against those likely to face discrimination, including women, LGBT people, and people with disabilities.

HRW frequently posts news articles about anti-LGBTQ rights violations around the world, and they publish longer-form in-depth reports on topics related to sex and gender minorities.

References

Baum, S. (June 4, 2025). Human Rights Watch Issues Scathing Report on Anti-Trans Healthcare Bans in the US. Erin In The Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/human-rights-watch-issues-scathing

Tsammy, Fiona (February 4, 2025). HRW: US trans youth’s access to lifesaving healthcare is in jeopardy. Jurist News https://www.jurist.org/news/2025/02/hrw-us-trans-youths-access-to-lifesaving-healthcare-is-in-jeopardy/

Selected HRW reports

Smallens, Yasemin (June 3, 2025). “They’re Ruining People’s Lives”: Bans on Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender Youth in the US. Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/06/03/theyre-ruining-peoples-lives/bans-gender-affirming-care-transgender-youth-us

Kilbride, Erin (February 14, 2023). “This Is Why We Became Activists”: Violence Against Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer Women and Non-Binary People. Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/02/14/why-we-became-activists/violence-against-lesbian-bisexual-and-queer-women-and-non

Thoreson, Ryan (November 18, 2021). “I Just Try to Make It Home Safe”: Violence and the Human Rights of Transgender People in the United States. Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/11/18/i-just-try-make-it-home-safe/violence-and-human-rights-transgender-people-united

Human Rights Watch, Payoshni Mitra, and Katrina Karkazis (December 4, 2020). “They’re Chasing Us Away from Sport”: Human Rights Violations in Sex Testing of Elite Women Athletes. Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/12/04/theyre-chasing-us-away-sport/human-rights-violations-sex-testing-elite-women

Thoreson, Ryan (July 23, 2018). “You Don’t Want Second Best”: Anti-LGBT Discrimination in US Health Care. Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/07/23/you-dont-want-second-best/anti-lgbt-discrimination-us-health-care

Thoreson, Ryan (February 19, 2018). “All We Want is Equality”: Religious Exemptions and Discrimination against LGBT People in the United States. Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/02/19/all-we-want-equality/religious-exemptions-and-discrimination-against-lgbt-people

Knight, Kyle (October 16, 2017). A Changing Paradigm: US Medical Provider Discomfort with Intersex Care Practices. Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/10/26/changing-paradigm/us-medical-provider-discomfort-intersex-care-practices

interACT and Human Rights Watch (July 25, 2017). “I Want to Be Like Nature Made Me”: Medically Unnecessary Surgeries on Intersex Children in the US. Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/07/25/i-want-be-nature-made-me/medically-unnecessary-surgeries-intersex-children-us

Frankel, Adam (March 23, 2016). “Do You See How Much I’m Suffering Here?” Abuse against Transgender Women in US Immigration Detention. Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/03/23/do-you-see-how-much-im-suffering-here/abuse-against-transgender-women-us