By Guest Writer Emma McDonnell
Playgrounds, sleepovers, and playdates; for a child, a carefree childhood is fundamental to a well-lived life. These innocent and relaxed days stand in stark contrast to the work and stress-filled days that often typify adulthood. The reality, however, is that the children of today face increased levels of stress and anxiety, sentiments which have been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, war, natural disasters, and famine, among other conflicts and issues. Children who live in conflict-torn areas are unable to live, grow, and develop in normality. They cannot play as normal children would do. They may be unable to attend school as normal children would do. In these formative years, children have little to no control over their lives and as such are incredibly vulnerable.
When the images and stories of children being imprisoned in cages and separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border first surfaced, many were horrified and shocked that these measures were being taken, but...
By Guest Writer Ararat L. Osipian
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is asking state universities to fill the survey regarding the number and ages of students who sought gender dysphoria treatment, including sex reassignment surgery and hormone prescriptions. This survey has been sent to the universities by the state’s budget director, Chris Spencer: “Our office has learned that several state universities provide services to persons suffering from gender dysphoria. On behalf of the Governor, I hereby request that you respond to the enclosed inquiries related to such services.” The survey is to be completed as part of the obligation to govern institutional resources and protect the public interest.
It did not take long for Democrats to respond. House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell said that “We can see cuts in funding for universities to treat students with this condition, and I think an all-out elimination of services is certainly on the table.” According to Driskell, the Floridian Governor is trying to remake the state’s...
Sexual and reproductive rights are foundational to gender equality. Access to abortion care is essential to the full realization of a person’s human rights. Indeed, international human rights mechanisms have had an impact on liberalizing national abortion laws by requiring that governments take affirmative action to ensure that women can access safe abortion care as part of fulfilling their obligations under human rights law. For instance, treaty monitoring bodies (TMBs) have consistently interpreted that safe abortion care is the application of several fundamental human rights guaranteed by international human rights law such as: the right to life; freedom from cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment; liberty and security of the person; privacy; human dignity; health; and equality and non-discrimination.
Although abortion is legal in the United States, anti-choice groups and conservative lawmakers have been successful in restricting the right to an abortion. For example, the Hyde Amendment is legislation that for forty-two years has banned federal funds from covering abortion care for...
By Hannah Khaw, a political science and music major at Columbia University.
The term “justice” often brings to mind images of austere judges in their robes and eloquent lawyers with their clients, seated formally within stately courthouses. Such has been the influence of contemporary law upon our conception of what justice truly entails. However, can justice be pursued through channels other than the default ones that our modern society has conditioned us to accept? Numerous indigenous peoples’ groups all over the world seem to think so: for hundreds of years, justice has been meted out in these communities through indigenous courts and other tribal councils that are starkly different from the modern legal systems imposed on them in more recent times. With this in mind, then, states and international organizations such as the United Nations should arguably make provisions for indigenous peoples to have adequate access to justice not just in the conventional legal sense, but also within their own traditional contexts. However,...
By Caroline Miller, graduate student at Columbia University's School of International and Political Affairs & Mailman School of Public Health
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Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner. It’s time for the annual gathering of family and friends to eat large quantities of junk food, watch captivating television commercials, and cheer on the two best NFL teams as they face off. So what does human trafficking have to do with this festive football day? It turns out that the Super Bowl has a dark side associated with a high prevalence of human trafficking activities. And this year, it will be right in our backyard, across the river in East Rutherford, New Jersey (NJ).
With the influx of thousands of people to the host city, experts contend that the number of men looking to pay for sex surges and the immense crowds associated with the game make victims fall under the radar.[1] Sex workers are brought in to meet the demand of fans...
By David L. Phillips, Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at ISHR
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President Bill Clinton intervened in the Balkans to end a war in Bosnia and stop the slaughter of civilians in Kosovo. As the United States considers military intervention in Syria, the Obama administration should reflect on America's Balkan engagements in the 1990s, considering what was done right -- and wrong.
The international community took more than 3 years to stop ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. While it dithered, more than 100,000 people were killed and millions displaced. The response to Serbia's aggression in Kosovo was faster and more effective. NATO launched a 78-day air campaign that prevented what happened in Bosnia from happening in Kosovo. The diplomacy and military operations were imperfect, but Kosovo is the gold standard in humanitarian intervention.
Here are some lessons from Kosovo that are relevant to Syria:
-Diplomacy comes first: After more than a quarter million Kosovo Albanians fled to the mountains during the summer of 1998, the U.S.-led...
By Barbara Borgese, recent graduate of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University
On the night of the November 6th, about 11 million DREAMers and their supporters anxiously awaited the results of the Presidential election. Their fate in the United States – whether they will be able to pursue higher education, build a career and a have future in this country – largely depends on the decisions that our political leaders in Washington will have to make in the months to come. With President Obama’s reelection, the DREAM Act and the policy directive, Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (DACA), two important acts to advance immigrants’ rights in this country, will continue to be endorsed by the administration.
The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is a bi-partisan legislative proposal that has been stalled in the Senate for a decade. In December 2010, after passing in the House of Representatives, it failed to pass in the Senate...
Wikipedia’s move three weeks ago to block access to its site across the English speaking world in protest against two proposed US bills - SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and Pipa (Protect Intellectual Property Act) – had its intended effect. A post on the Guardian joked, “the Internet seems a little...quiet today, don't you think?” as the web buzzed with activity about the “blackout”. Countless independent blogs and a few big sites such as Wordpress and Reddit joined Wikipedia by “turning the lights out”, while other big Internet sites used banners, pop-ups and logo-changes to signal their opposition to the bills and their backers. Google ‘censored’ its logo on its search engine.
In many ways, the objective of the protest was simple: to raise awareness of, and mobilize opposition against the badly designed anti-piracy bills and to dent their support in Congress. In this effort, opponents of the bills won an overwhelming victory. The Wikimedia Foundation reportedthat 162 million people experienced...
We hope everybody's semester is getting off to a good start. It has obviously been a busy few weeks for human rights... The news from Burma last week of a ceasefire deal between the government and the Karen rebels and a declaration of amnesty for 651 Burmese political prisoners, 130 of whom were reconciled with their families on Friday, was a moment for celebration - even as we wait to see what it means more broadly for human rights in Burma.
In the US, on the other hand, the new year brought us the more concerning National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which signed into law the ability of the US government to indefinitely detain citizens. On the tenth anniversary of the opening of the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay last week, hundreds of activists led a march to the White House to condemn Obama's betrayal of his promise to close the prison. Amnesty released this spoof video as a reminder...
As everything is wrapping up for Christmas, we wanted to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone for contributing to the first successful semester of RightsViews! We have had a great response from students and faculty. An especially big thank you to those who have started blogging with us - there have been some fascinating posts this semester reflecting the diversity of interests and passions within the Columbia human rights community. Thanks also to all of our readers - we have lots planned for the blog in the new year so stay tuned for some great content, and more of it!
For anyone who is not tucked up at home for Christmas (like ourselves), then we leave you with this and maybe we'll catch you down at Zuccotti...
Occupy Wall Street Plans To Occupy Christmas (VIDEO link)
See you in January,
Tanya and Eve, The editors
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