Global Human Rights Hub

The Global Human Rights hub is an interdisciplinary research initiative examining the tools and strategies deployed by transnational actors to improve global human rights. In a global system of sovereign nation states, states’ governments are recognized as the final locus of authority. But when governments fail to protect their citizens’ rights, those citizens have little recourse. This pan- ASU initia­­­­tive draws scholars from the Social Sciences and beyond to examine the ways that non-state actors challenge state authority and generate innovative new pathways for the realization of rights. Our scholars are currently working to examine the intersection of rights across three areas: the prospects and possibilities for international law to promote rights, causes of gender - based violence, and rights violations occurring throughout the process of migration. As the international community has moved away from the Post World War II liberal international order many of the conventions of that system are imperiled in ways that threaten democratic norms. Both women and migrants are among the groups whose rights are most threatened by this shift. And international law may provide non-state groups with the agency to restore these rights. The mission of the Global Human Rights hub is to transform rigorous, cutting-edge human rights research into policy relevant recommendations that advance the cause of social justice.