Human Rights Law Commons^™

Legal Recognition Of Gender Change For Transsexual Persons In The United Kingdom: The Human Rights Act 1998 And "Compatibility" With European Human Rights Law, Robert E. Rains

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Constitutionalization Of Human Rights In Post-Soviet States And Latin America: A Comparative Analysis, Rett R. Ludwikowski

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Is The United Nations Endorsing Human Rights Violations?: An Analysis Of The United Nations' Combating Defamation Of Religions Resolutions And Pakistan's Blasphemy Laws, Rebecca J. Dobras

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Kosovar Declaration Of Independence: "Botching The Balkans" Or Respecting International Law?, Milena Sterio

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Outsourcing Corporate Accountability, Kishanthi Parella

Scholarly Articles

This Article addresses the problem of preventing human rights violations abroad that result from the globalization of business. It specifically explores the challenge of improving labor standards in global value chains. The modern business has changed dramatically and has “gone global” in order to court foreign markets and secure resources, including labor. Familiar household names, such as Nike and Apple, have “outsourced” many of their functions to suppliers overseas. As multinational buyers, they dominate one end of the global value chain. At the opposite end of the value chain are the local managers and owners of the factories and workhouses …

Hidden In Plain Sight: Exploring The Vulnerabilities Of Street-Working Boys In Se Asia, Jarrett Davis, Glenn Miles

Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking: 6th (2014)

The sexual exploitation of men and boys is often little understood and commonly goes ignored. Internationally, it is said that 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before reaching adulthood and in some nations the exploitation and abuse of boys far outweighs that of girls. Social and cultural norms often assume men and boys to be inherently strong and/or invulnerable to sexual exploitation; however, research in this area continues to show these assumptions to be false. Because of this lack of awareness, the efforts of the organizations and individuals who work to provide for the needs of male victims are …

Analysis Of Human Trafficking Cases In Rhode Island, 2009-2013, Donna M. Hughes, Rachel Dunham, Faith Skodmin, Lucy Tillman, Jessica Wainfor

Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking: 6th (2014)

This presentation is an analysis of seven state and federal cases of human trafficking, including forced labor and sex trafficking, in Rhode Island from 2009 until 2013. In 2009, Rhode Island passed a comprehensive human trafficking law. Since then there have been six cases of sex trafficking and one case of forced labor. Sources for information on the human trafficking cases were police reports, witness statements, court documents and media reports. This presentation will briefly summarize the cases and discuss the similarities and difference among the cases and discuss of some key findings from these cases, which include:
1) Victims …

Human Trafficking To Northern America: The Balkan Connection, Natalya Timoshkina, Naser Miftari, Antonela Arhin

Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking: 6th (2014)

This paper draws on the results of a large multi-method study, which examined human trafficking from the former Eastern Bloc to Northern America (Canada and the United States). The study was conducted in 2011-2013, and funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The analysis is grounded in the findings from 9 countries of the Balkan region included in the study: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. The following data sources were used: (a) national and international reports, media and academic articles, and various documents (in English and official languages …

Human Trafficking, Education And Migration At Ngos In Cambodia And Thailand, Robert Spires, Xinyi Duan

Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking: 6th (2014)

This presentation is based on in-progress collaborative research between researcher Dr. Bob Spires and Hong Kong-based NGO Liberty Asia. The research involves interviews and observations conducted at multiple NGOs in Cambodia and Thailand working to address human trafficking and incorporating educational components into their programs. The study uses comparative lenses to examine issues of education and migration in both the Cambodian and Thai context for human trafficking survivors and at-risk populations. The study is interdisciplinary, drawing on the work on human trafficking in several social science fields. The framework for the research is based on Frank Laczko and Elzbieta Gozdziak’s …

Bra’S For A Cause: A Service Learning Project In A Freshman Level Human Trafficking Course, Beth A. Wiersma

Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking: 6th (2014)

Women and Children for Sale: The Global Problem of Human Trafficking is a General Studies Portal course for college freshman at a Midwestern university. The students in the course were surveyed the first day of class about why they chose the course, what they hoped to get out of the course, what they believed to be true about human trafficking, and how they learned about human trafficking. During the semester the students planned and carried out a service learning project “Bras for a Cause”. This project involved educating others about human trafficking and collecting bras. The bras are sent overseas …

The Problem Of State Intervention In Post-Abolition Slavery: A Critique Of Consensus, Anthony Talbott, David Watkins

Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking: 6th (2014)

Slavery is now illegal by all states and under international law. Contrary to the hopes of abolitionists, this state of affairs has transformed rather than eradicated slavery as an institution. Furthermore, responses by states to post-abolition forms of slavery have often been less than ideal. This paper begins by comparing two state responses to slavery in the early 20th century: the federal peonage trials in Montgomery, Alabama from 1903-1905, and the federal response to an alleged epidemic of “white slavery” from 1909-1910, culminating in the passage of the White Slave-Traffic Act. Taken together, these responses engender pessimism about the state …

Invisible No More: Domestic Workers Organizing In Massachusetts And Beyond, Natalicia Tracy, Tim Sieber, Susan Moir Scd

Labor Studies Faculty Publication Series

Domestic workers across the country are making it clear that, even in a difficult political environment, it is possible to make gains for low-wage workers. For the first time in many, many decades, domestic workers are finding ways to win. They are creat
ing policy change that will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers in tangible and substantial ways. The 2014 Massachusetts Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights is the most expansive codification of rights for this long-overlooked part of the labor force ever to be enacted. In one sense, there is nothing new about domestic workers organizing …

Immigrant Integration And Social Solidarity In A Time Of Crisis: Europe And The United States In A Postwelfare State, David Abraham, David Abraham

Articles

A cloud has settled over the immigration regimes of the European welfare states and the United States. Confidence has waned in the viability and value of integrating newcomers into a system of social solidarity. The weakening of civic nationalism and secular constitutional patriotism has unsettled national identities and undermined efforts to facilitate the inclusion of immigrants, especially Muslims. More forceful integration policies might better sustain the welfare state, but individual liberties and group recognition make this more difficult. Ironically, immigrants may now fare better in more unjust neoliberal societies such as the United States than in the advanced welfare states. …

A New Forensics: Developing Standard Remote Sensing Methodologies To Detect And Document Mass Atrocities, Nathaniel A. Raymond, Brittany L. Card, Isaac L. Baker

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Aim: The aim of this article is to highlight potential methods applicable to a standard forensic approach for the analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery that may contain evidence of alleged mass atrocities.

Methods: The primary method employed is the retrospective analysis of a case study involving the use of high-resolution satellite imagery analysis to document alleged mass atrocities. The case study utilized herein is the Satellite Sentinel Project’s reporting on the May 2011 sacking of Abyei Town by Government of Sudan-aligned armed actors. In the brief case study, categories of objects, patterns of activities, and types of alleged mass atrocity …

The International Legal Status Of International Non-Governmental Organizations: The Century-Long Normative Debate And Its Future Prospects, Rephael Ben-Ari

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The legal status of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) remains unresolved despite their growing influence in global politics. Over the past century, various proposals and frameworks have attempted to define INGOs' legal personality and legitimacy, but these efforts have been criticized for being either overly simplistic or politically unattainable. The article argues that while INGOs wield significant power and legitimacy through lobbying, public mobilization, and operational activities, their lack of formal international legal personality leaves their position ambiguous. The analysis highlights the need for a systematic evaluation of past efforts to inform future attempts at establishing a coherent legal framework for …

States And Status: A Study Of Geographical Disparities For Immigrant Youth, Laila Hlass

Faculty Scholarship

This article looks at the legal and practical challenges arising out of a particular immigration protection for abandoned, abused, and neglected child migrants called “Special Immigrant Juvenile Status” (SIJS). This benefit, which is a pathway to legal permanent residence and citizenship, is the only area within federal immigration law that requires a state court to take action in order for immigration authorities to consider an individual’s eligibility for relief. Using an original data set of roughly 12,000 SIJS applications from the Department of Homeland Security in June 2013, this article describes trends over time and by state regarding the number …

The Little India Riot: Domestic And International Law Perspectives, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

A riot involving hundreds of foreign labourers broke out in Little India, Singapore, on 8 December 2013. Only the second riot to occur in more than 40 years in fairly tranquil Singapore, the damage was extensive as rioters destroyed police and emergency vehicles and even injured dozens of police and civil defence personnel. The authorities only needed a few days to complete the investigations and shortly after, some of the alleged rioters were arrested and charged, while some of them were repatriated. The swiftness of the entire process prompted harsh criticism from international and local human rights groups, who claimed …

Human Rights Infringements In Brazil’S Penitentiary System Understood Through Access To Healthcare, Sara Morris

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Brazil has a reputation of being home to some of the worst penitentiary conditions worldwide, eventually leading the United Nations to make an appeal to the Brazilian government in 2003 to analyze their systems and make necessary improvements. The poor conditions and lack of access to legal counsel, living space, and specifically healthcare, cause riots and uprisings within prisons that in the past have lead to death of prisoners and guards. Prisons serve a very specific purpose in society, and according to most social theorists that is to reform, not to torture. In Brazil there is no capital punishment, so …

Incorporating Rights: Child Labor In African Agriculture And The Challenge Of Changing Practices In The Cocoa Industry, Erika George

Faculty Scholarship

Millions of children around the world are working.¹ Many youth are fortunate to enjoy age-appropriate employment and learn valuable skills through work. Unfortunately, too many children labor under abusive conditions-some are trafficked, others are enslaved . These unfortunate children are denied the opportunity to enjoy the fundamental human rights essential to their development and guaranteed under international law.

This essay offers an overview of the issues associated with child labor eradication, a review of the legal instruments regulating the work of children, and an assessment of recent initiatives to address the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa …

To Seek And Save The Lost: Human Trafficking And Salvation Schemas Among American Evangelicals, Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick

School of Peace Studies: Faculty Scholarship

American evangelicals have a history of engagement in social issues in general and anti-slavery activism in particular. The last 10 years have seen an increase in both scholarly attention to evangelicalism and evangelical focus on contemporary forms of slavery. Extant literature on this engagement often lacks the voices of evangelicals themselves. This study begins to fill this gap through a qualitative exploration of how evangelical and mainline churchgoers conceptualize both the issue of human trafficking and possible solutions. I extend Michael Young's recent work on the confessional schema motivating evangelical abolitionists in the 1830s. Through analysis of open-ended responses to …