Lawyers and campaigners have drawn up a framework to take long-overdue action against these coercive practicesBaroness Helena Kennedy QC is chair of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights InstituteIn May, at the opening of parliament, the Que…
Britney Spears’ father suspended from conservatorship in victory for singer
Star has sought liberation from Jamie Spears’ control of her finances and personal life for yearsA Los Angeles judge has suspended Britney Spears’ father from the conservatorship that has controlled her life for 13 years, marking a major victory for th…
ICC asked to relaunch inquiry into Taliban and IS ‘war crimes’
Move shows court’s determination to investigate contemporary as well as past crimes against humanityThe international criminal court’s new prosecutor has asked the court to relaunch an inquiry into alleged crimes against humanity committed by the Tali…
Home Office planned speedy removal of Vietnamese trafficking victims
Documents seen by Guardian refer to fast-track system not intended to be used in trafficking casesThe Home Office detained more than 100 Vietnamese nationals who arrived on small boats in May but planned to speedily remove them from the UK despite them…
Spice Girl among stars to begin phone-hacking claims against Murdoch empire
Melanie Chisholm, Boyzone’s Shane Lynch and S Club 7’s Hannah Spearritt latest to allege voicemail interceptionA group of 1990s pop stars are among the latest individuals to launch phone-hacking cases against Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, as the scand…
‘We buried our sportswear’: Afghan women fear fight is over for martial arts
Female taekwondo and karate trainers are forced to practise in secret since the Taliban takeover and fear they may never compete againOn the morning of 15 August, when the Taliban were at the gates of Kabul, Soraya, a martial arts trainer in the Afghan…
Woman with Down’s syndrome loses UK abortion law case
Heidi Crowter argued that allowing pregnancy terminations up to birth if the foetus has Down’s syndrome is discriminatoryA woman with Down’s syndrome who took Sajid Javid to court over the UK’s abortion law has lost her case in the high court.Heidi Cro…
Power of attorney doesn’t help in tackling predatory marriage | Letters
Daphne Franks on one of the many horrendous gaps in procedure that are failing elderly and vulnerable peopleThank you for publishing Anna Moore’s article about our campaign against predatory marriage – we have received many supportive emails from …
Delaying UK novichok poisonings inquiry ‘could put more lives at risk’
Family of Wiltshire victim Dawn Sturgess calls on home secretary to initiate full judge-led investigationThe family of a woman killed in the Wiltshire novichok poisonings has warned that delaying the start of a full judge-led investigation into her dea…
Climate crisis leaving ‘millions at risk of trafficking and slavery’
Droughts and floods forcing workers from rural areas, leading to their exploitation in cities, report warnsMillions of people forced to leave their homes because of severe drought and powerful cyclones are at risk of modern slavery and human traffickin…