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1) Can you go to prison for being gay? Can you be sentenced to death?
As of February 2025, 65 countries worldwide criminalise homosexuality, with 10 countries – Iran, Northern Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Brunei, Mauritania, Qatar and Uganda – imposing a possible death sentence for private, consensual same-sex sexual activity.
https://www.lgbthero.org.uk/which-countries-criminalise-homosexuality
2) In Afghanistan, can women travel anywhere without a male chaperone (who has to be a family member)?
Theoretically, women can travel 72 Km (45 miles) alone. However, in practice, women are generally unable to leave the house without a male family member as an escort, even to go to the market, work, or a clinic. Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, they have been banned from public spaces, such as parks, gyms or health clubs.
This causes huge limitations on the lives of women, especially if they have no surviving or healthy male relatives, causing many to give up working, casting them into poverty.
In addition, there is a very strict dress code for women and limits on their visibility, even in the home: windows at street level must be covered or painted over to avoid being seen from outside.
3) Can you peacefully protest?
In the UK, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression are protected by the Human Rights Act. However, those rights aren’t absolute: restrictions can be lawful in certain circumstances. Amnesty International has raised concerns about restrictions on peaceful protest in the UK.
In many parts of the world, peaceful protests have led to violent disruption by authorities, leading to injury and deaths. People have been imprisoned and executed for peaceful protests. Since 28 February, the Iranian authorities have arbitrarily executed at least 36 individuals in politically motivated cases, including 14 people arrested in connection with the nationwide protests in January 2026. And at least 78 more protesters, dissidents and others accused of having links to banned opposition groups are under sentence of death, including 41 people arrested in connection with the protests.
4) Can women drive in all countries?
For centuries, women faced numerous restrictions regarding driving and mobility. Societal norms and cultural beliefs often limited women’s roles, confining them to domestic responsibilities. In many regions, the ability to drive was seen as a privilege reserved for men, reflecting broader gender inequalities. This historical context is crucial to understanding current driving laws and societal attitudes towards women in various countries.
Here are examples of some current driving restrictions:
Saudi Arabia: Since 2018, women have been able to drive, but social barriers persist.
Afghanistan: Women often face bans on driving under Taliban rule.
Iran: Women can drive, but must adhere to strict dress codes and are often subject to harassment.
Yemen: While not explicitly banned, cultural norms discourage women from driving.
In Saudi Arabia, women were banned from driving in 1957. Protests in the 1990s led to the “Women to Drive Movement”, which advocated for women to be able to obtain a driver’s license and drive cars on public roads
Determined, peaceful protesters pushed the Saudi Arabian government to overturn its ban on women driving.
The Saudi authorities arrested many for their peaceful protests.
The authorities overturned the ban in June 2018.
5) Can you be sent to prison for using TikTok?
Ana da Silva Miguel (aka online Neth Nahara) is a 32-year-old singer and mother of two young children in Angola. Fed up with the lack of schools, employment, and opportunities, and with the fact that so many people live in poverty, in September August 2023, on her TikTok channel, she openly criticised the President. The next day she was arrested, tried and sentenced to 6 months in prison. In September, the sentence was increased to 2 years.
Neth Nahara was one of the people highlighted in Amnesty International’s worldwide Write for Rights campaign in 2024. In early 2025, she was released following a presidential pardon.
6) In how many countries does Amnesty International examine the state of their human rights?
The 2026 edition of Amnesty International’s annual report, The State of the World’s Human Rights, assesses national, regional and global developments across a wide range of human rights themes in 144 countries.
Find out more about the group
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