Women are the "invisible victims" of human rights abuse in the 1990s, subjected to rape in wars and deeply rooted discrimination, Amnesty International said Tuesday.
In a 135-page report, the rights group accused governments of ignoring violations of women's rights and giving "the green light to their forces to torture and rape."It announced a yearlong campaign to lobby governments to try to combat the abuse of women and said it would circulate petitions demanding that governments make specific commitments to protect women's rights.
"Simply speaking out against governments has cost women their lives or their liberty," Amnesty International's media director Anita Tiessen told a news conference.
Release of the report, "Human Rights are Women's Rights," was timed to coincide with International Women's Day on Wednesday.
Women around the world are denied human rights because of deeply rooted discrimination, wars and civil conflicts and repression of political or social activism, it said.
"Women are raped in custody. They're flogged for violating dress codes. They risk being stoned to death for so-called sexual offenses or they find themselves jailed because of their family connections," Tiessen said.
Most casualties of war are women and children, and women fleeing conflicts make up 80 percent of the world's refugee population, the report said.