Notes From the Field: Columbia students reflect on a recent field trip to Ecuador

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In the spring of 2012, a group of Columbia undergraduate students took part in the Alternative Spring Break Program for Columbians Vested in Global Exchange for Positive Development. The GEQUA  program offered students the opportunity to engage in a local gender equality project with Fundación Brethern y Unida, one of the oldest NGOs in Ecuador, which focuses on educating youth about sustainable development and the environment. ISHR helped support select undergraduate students to participate in this program. Below, two of these students, Jessica Eaton and Christian Hubbard, reflect on their experience, and consider how their time in the field has altered their understanding of human rights and the environment.   Indigenous Rights, Women's Rights and Organic Farming: Lessons learned in the back of a pick-up truck By Christian Hubbard Prior to going to Ecuador, if you would have asked me what corn and human rights have to do with each other, I definitely would have said nothing. But after my stay in Ecuador I now have...
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Beyond SOPA/Pipa: a human rights approach to Internet regulation

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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...
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Welcome back!

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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...
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Condoms as evidence: a discriminatory practice and contradictory policy in NYC

Condoms as evidence: a discriminatory practice and contradictory policy in NYC

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By Erica Mac Donald, recent graduate from Columbia University Do you carry a condom with you? Is it in your pocket? Your purse? Your wallet? If you answered yes, you are at risk of being arrested for prostitution in the State of New York. Sounds odd doesn't it? While this is a bit of an oversimplification, it reflects what is at the heart of the policy that allows police to profile, target and arbitrarily arrest those who are suspected to be sex workers. As New York state law is currently written, police and prosecutors can use the fact that someone is carrying a condom to prove that they are guilty of a prostitution-related crime. This routine police and prosecutorial practice has significant negative implications in that it perpetuates discrimination against sex workers and contradicts public health efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases. A discriminatory practice Clearly, condoms themselves are not illegal. However, profiling of sex workers based on their appearance, location, and...
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Realizing Shannen’s Dream: the fight for quality education for First Nations in Canada

Realizing Shannen’s Dream: the fight for quality education for First Nations in Canada

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By Jillian Carson, Student at Columbia University Rights violations and struggles in developed countries are regularly overlooked as human rights issues. In Canada, human rights claims are consistently re-framed as purely political or constitutional in nature, denying the violation of rights at home that would be openly criticized abroad. In response to the growing influence of human rights abroad, First Nations youth in Canada are becoming increasingly aware of the language and mechanisms of the human rights system and how this international body of rights affects their lives at home. First Nations youth have been especially active in raising awareness about education rights and the rights of the child. In June of this year, young First Nations students, and non-Native Canadian youth from Quebec launched a report aimed at bringing attention to the lack of culturally based, equitable education for First Nations students in Canada. The report will be submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child along with Canada’s...
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