Global Human Rights Hub graduate student fellows work with faculty mentors from across ASU to develop and refine their knowledge of global human rights. Fellows work with each other and with their mentors to write blog posts that highlight both human rights violations and strategies for ameliorating them around the world.
Global Human Rights Hub fellows blog
Read the 2023-2024 Global Human Rights Hub fellow blog posts
By Namrata Namrata
In the intricate web of honor, rebellion, and patriarchy, the recent surge in honor killings in India signals a disturbing trend that challenges the very essence of human rights. Despite strides in economic progress, India grapples with the shadow of archaic social evils, with honor killings persisting as a grim reality. Yet, these crimes transcend cultural boundaries, reflecting a global epidemic of gendered violence. As we delve into the complexities of honor-based violence in India, it becomes imperative to shed light on the systemic failures and societal complicity that perpetuate this cycle of oppression.
By Ilkem Gok Karci
In June 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States made a pivotal decision, overturning the landmark case of Roe v. Wade, which had safeguarded abortion rights for almost half a century. This monumental ruling sent shockwaves through the nation and left an undeniable mark on the lives of women...
By Gonzalo Galindo-Delgado
Decades of liberal democratic tradition in the Western hemisphere might lead us to think of democracy as a given, but that is far from being the case when considering the global political landscape...
By Adnan Turan
Imagine a world where your entire identity and fate hinge on a label assigned by someone else. This is the reality for millions of migrants globally, where a simple categorization can mean the difference between safety and danger, dignity and degradation. Categorizing migrants is not merely a bureaucratic or administrative action; it is a profound human rights issue that demands urgent attention and rectification to uphold the dignity and worth of every individual in the global community.
By Dominik Drabent
When discussing human rights and its violations, one can never look at these discourses in isolation from other events occurring. Somalia has not only been plagued by famine, floods, and violence, but the attacks on journalists, the postponement of a National Human Rights Commission, and the abuse of children stand exemplary for the large-scale issues Somalia has in regard to human rights violations. The Civil War that started in the 1980s and 90s has brought turmoil to the lives of many Somalis, and this is especially true for queer Somalis.
By Namrata Namrata
Namrata delves into the plight of Dalit girls facing caste, gender, and occupational discrimination in education. Despite rising enrollment, stigma persists, perpetuated by societal norms and Brahmanical patriarchy. This post urges policy action to combat systemic oppression and ensure equitable opportunities.
By Dominik Drabent
Drabent discusses the banning of the term "gender" in Iraq by the government, which has had far-reaching consequences for women's empowerment, LGBTQ+ rights, and efforts to address gender-based violence. The move is part of a larger "war on gender" that aims to maintain traditional patriarchal values in Iraqi society.
By Ilkem Gok Karci
Gok Karci examines the persistent gender pay gap globally, noting it will take 257 years to close at the current rate. She emphasizes the "motherhood penalty" as a key driver and advocates for equal parental leave policies, especially those that encourage fathers to take leave, as a means to transform societal norms and achieve pay equity.
By Adnan Turan
Turnan considers the dual nature of refugee education - as a source of empowerment and opportunity, but also as a system that can violate the social and cultural rights of displaced populations. Turnan advocates for a more inclusive, culturally-sensitive framework that respects the diverse identities within refugee communities, rather than promoting assimilation.
By Gonzalo Galindo-Delgado
Galindo-Delgado looks at the landmark 2004 Colombian Constitutional Court ruling (T-025) that declared a 'state of unconstitutional affairs' due to the widespread violation of socioeconomic rights of internally displaced persons. It highlights how the ruling's structural remedies and monitoring mechanisms have shaped SER enforcement efforts in Colombia over the past 20 years.
Read the 2022–23 Global Human Rights Hub fellow blog posts
By Hannah Blair
I will never forget the moment I learned that my original birth certificate is state property. As an adoptee, I have no legal access to it. But if I were able to see it, I would see on the side of the document that it has been stamped with one of those ink stamps used to save time...
By Cherra Mathis
As our old truck bumps over the monsoon-ravaged grit-and-gravel roads, I keep my eyes sharp, looking through the puffs of dust that our wheels kick up, up and down the arroyo on each side of the road, deep dry temporary stream beds carved by the seasonal rains...
By Khampha Stempel
One summer I worked on a project with a team of financial leaders for a sustainability-driven financial institution. As part of this project, I was given the objective to define what a successful equity, diversity, justice, and inclusion...
By Noha Siraj Labani
“Rabea, a Syrian displaced woman together with other skilled women sewed these beautiful red dresses as #christmas gifts.” This story is from an Instagram post by @unhcrinsyria-the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) working in Syria...
By Khampha Stempel
A vast supply of critical minerals is required to meet large-scale sustainability goals and support the implementation of renewable energy systems. Many of these mineral and energy resources are located on or near the lands of Indigenous communities...
By Cherra Mathis
Imagine a dangerous journey, navigating harsh deserts and swift rivers, where the lost remains of thousands of others seeking safety lie. Imagine confronting traffickers and border patrols who have little regard for your humanity. Imagine being detained for months...
By Hannah Blair
Everyone loves a hero. We collectively root for the sword swinging savior who battles the villain, rescues the damsel, and walks away bleeding but victorious. When the fight is ending human trafficking, “rescued” survivors are flaunted as trophies, and the heroes assumedly responsible for their freedom are rewarded for their courage and altruism...
By Kimberly Curry
I have had the unique privilege of meeting thousands of refugees. Some lived in my home. Many I spent weeks alongside in a camp. Others, I continue to work with today. Knowing them has changed my life...
Read the 2021–22 Global Human Rights Hub fellow blog posts
By Phil Berry
I have been fortunate over my 35-year career to consistently manage programs and teams at the intersection of environmental impacts and human rights. In government and business my work has allowed me to experience how placing human rights at the center of actions to address climate change can improve outcomes in both areas.
By Simon A. Lee (S.A.L.)
Over the past two decades the United States has seen more provocation from its adversaries like Russia and China through military, parliamentary or economic means. Whether it’s the annexation of countries that border NATO members, military fleets charting the South China Sea and surrounding areas bordering multiple American military and economic partners, or cyberattacks on its infrastructure, bureaucracies, and allies, America’s reputation has been tested––and weakened. Although the implications of these tests and their effect on America’s long-term reputation are unclear, any loss of influence for America creates a power gap = an opportunity for growing superpowers. China will be the focus of this blog post.
Leah Goldmann
About two and a half years ago, I sat at a bar in Kampala, Uganda while a friend discussed his #ExportProductsNotPeople initiative, in which he planned to walk from Kampala to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to promote African development by and for Africans. While speaking about his initiative to encourage African youth to stay on the continent, the audience of white people asked when trivia would start. I recognized some of those in the audience, who had attended health and development conferences to preach about the importance of local participation and community engagement.
By Brittany Romanello
When I say the word “Mormon,” what comes to mind? In presenting my research over the years, people often associate "Mormon" with “conservatives," "polygamists," or "Anglo-Americans," reflecting common stereotypes. Many are shocked to learn, in reality, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also called Mormons or LDS) is not that homogenous. Mormonism began as a small religious group from New York in 1830, and began to settle-colonize the Rocky Mountains in 1847. Since then, Church membership grew from 30,000 to over 16.5 million members worldwide. Despite its small size, the Church has amassed over 100 billion dollars, making it the wealthiest globalized religion, about 6 times that of Catholicism. Mormonism gives us insight into how Latinx communities, specifically Latinas, are shaping the future direction of US religious spaces.
By Sinmyung Park
It has been a year since Myanmar’s army launched a coup against the elected government of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. According to the figures given by the United Nations human rights office, at least 1,500 civilians have been killed in year-long protests and strikes against the military regime in Myanmar, and more than 8,000 people remain in unlawful custody. As the current situation in Myanmar is likely to remain in limbo for the foreseeable future, it becomes critical to consider what strategies the populace could adopt to weaken the military regime's power and influence in the post-coup Myanmar society. In other words, the question then arises as to what can be done to bring about changes in a notoriously closed, militarized state like Myanmar.
By Phil Berry
How often did you hear the term “supply chain” before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic?
In over thirty years working to improve supply chains, I have rarely heard the term used in the popular press until the pandemic disrupted flows of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and other products to retail.
By Brittany Romanello
Since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also called Mormonism) was established in 1830, it has maintained a prominent position in global religious politics, including building one of the most diverse (inter)national business empires. Although he Church has a controversial history that includes an anti-establishment past, members’ votes have leaned heavily conservative or Republican the last few decades. However, young millennial and Generation Z Mormons are challenging this status quo. Capturing Church members' votes was a priority for presidential candidates in 2012, 2016, and 2020, especially among conservative women and Latinx voters. US Mormonism, like other American religious groups, is experiencing an exodus in traditionally active membership, yet maintains an important influence in former members’ future voting decisions.
How international human rights can stay relevant: How the U.S. can lead this effort through the U.N.
By Simon A. Lee (S.A.L.)
What if I told you that in a post-Geneva Convention world, a global power rejected the legitimacy of a smaller, non-nuclear, sovereign state, and invaded said state with aspirations of a regime change that would benefit the global power’s goals and interests. I could be talking about the U.S. led Operation Just Cause in Panama or Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada. I could also Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq respectively. The one invasion that we are currently paying attention to and giving due criticism against is the one where Russian President Vladimir Putin sent neighboring troops into Ukraine with the stated purpose of to protect people who he states for eight years have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kyiv regime. In all four aforementioned military operations, human rights has been a mentioned factor, yet the underlying political and historical aspirations take the mantle on the decisions made.
By Leah Goldmann
In my last blog, I reflected on the definition of “expertise” in international development, including my own journey as a woman in global development who has benefitted from racial whiteness, citizenship privilege, and education opportunities. My presence, as well as that of other (white) Europeans and Americans in the sector, has further reinforced the ongoing projects of neocolonialism, heteropatriarchy, white supremacy, colonization, and climate injustice.
By Sinmyung Park
To many citizens of Gwangju, South Korea, current scenes from Myanmar bring back memories of their own experiences in May 1980. This blog post is to inform the readers of 1) why citizens and civil society organizations (CSOs) of Gwangju are actively engaging in solidarity activities in favor of Myanmar and 2) how the local government of Gwangju has adopted human rights principles as guiding rules of governance to provide platforms for different organizations to facilitate relationship building and stakeholder engagement.
Read the 2020–21 Global Human Rights Hub fellow blog posts
By Aryanna Chutkan
Last month, the #EndSARS hashtag began trending on Twitter, gaining worldwide attention and bringing the conversation on police brutality to the global stage. While the hashtag and its corresponding domestic social movement have existed since 2017, public backlash to the brutality of Nigeria’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) intensified following multiple assurances from the Nigerian government that SARS would be disbanded. Despite these assurances and multiple formal disbandments SARS has consistently been reformed, and remains notorious for its extreme brutality. SARS has faced criticism from Nigerians and from international watchdog groups like Amnesty International, but SARS has continued to act with impunity, committing rapes, acts of torture, and extrajudicial killings. Public outrage at SARS’s repeated instances of torture and murder came to a head when, following mass protests and mobilization in response to video footage showing a SARS officer shooting a young motorist, removing his body from his vehicle, and driving off in the motorist’s car, SARS officers opened fire on a protest at Lagos’s Lekki toll gate, killing 48 people.
By Camila Páez Bernal
Four years after the peace agreement was signed, Colombia still faces indiscriminate killings and a high degree of political violence. Colombia’s history is a story of controlling civil society through the use of terror and violence with the objective of maintaining the dominance of economic elites and the concentration of political power. The peace agreement of 2016 has not allowed an escape from an unending cycle of violence and power perpetuation rooted in colonization and modernization discourses. Political violence is becoming a daily occurrence in some areas of the country. Sadly, we face the risk of its normalization in the light of a government consciously ignoring evidence of its increase.
By Gabrielle Lout
Williams, a social justice practitioner, was speaking at the 2020 Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions Annual Meeting where he stressed the critical need to place equity, not just equality, at the center of how we approach the most complex social and environmental issues threatening our ocean and coastal communities. Without adequate attention to both equality and equity we face the possibility of initiatives that fail to create transformative change for the marginalized and/or vulnerable groups.
By Matthew Smoldt
In December of 2010, James Makowski, a U.S. citizen, plead guilty to the sale of heroin. The court sentenced Makowski to several months of rehabilitation at a so-called boot camp. Yet, Makowski was transferred to a maximum-security prison for two months. Why? The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had filed for his detention in July. Mr. Makowski had been unaware of the detainer against him. The DHS made its request as part of the Secure Communities program, which, since 2008, has been the federal government’s main program to identify and deport undocumented immigrants. The program relies on file-sharing between local law enforcement agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security. Local law enforcement shares the information of all arrestees with federal agencies. In turn, federal agencies check the data against their records.
By Namig Abbasov
Despite improvements in human rights around the world (Fariss 2014), state repression is still with us. In particular, gay rights face strong backlash across the world. A number of states have taken steps to reverse the improvements over gay rights. Why do states sometimes repress the rights of sexual minorities?
By Camila Páez Bernal
In the last decade, a feminist wave has dyed Latin-America in purple and green. The purple tide has been the rise of movements claiming more legal and governmental responses to violence affecting women in the region. In contrast, the green tide is the agglomeration of social movements and organizations demanding the legalization of abortion and the implementation of sexual and reproductive health education policies. The increase in civic society mobilization has made possible women's political participation and representation by impacting legislatures and courts. This context gives hope for the future. Yet, do all women in Latin America will benefit from these changes and increasing inclusion? Does the representation increasing and the execution of new policies will be equally accessible by women, despite their class, ethnic, geographical, and race differences? These are crucial questions to think about right now to successfully implement mechanisms that take into account the different Latin-American women’s experiences, resources, and contexts.
By Gabrielle Lout
In recent years, widespread human rights abuses and labor violations in global fisheries have been documented and publicized, bringing attention to unacceptable industry practices and a systemic disregard for human wellbeing. Appalling incidents involving modern day slavery, human trafficking, and exploitation of migrant labor continue to be reported. Receiving less attention yet occurring with impermissible frequency are the infringements on individuals’ right to decent work, women's rights, cultural identity, and food security.
By Matthew Smoldt
When the pandemic began, many countries closed their borders. While subsequent openings have varied, all closures bear an important similarity. They put into question states’ respect for migrants’ rights. Such rights are enshrined in various international and regional agreements. For the United States, relevant agreements include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the United Nations Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees; and the articles of the original Geneva Convention. By ratifying these agreements, the United States, and other countries, agree to adhere by them. Thus, according to scholars of international law, such documents create obligations for their parties, especially during these unusual times. One of the most prominent principles is non-refoulement, that is, the prohibition against forced return to a dangerous or threatening circumstance. Though some confine the scope of non-refoulement to governmental persecution, it is not the only relevant principle. One can establish grounds for the dignified treatment of migrants with other legal precepts.
By Namig Abbasov
Several states took advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to repress sexual minorities. Some visual evidence showed the Ugandan police raiding a shelter established for LGBTQ+ people and beating its residents. The evidence also indicates that the residents inside the shelter were tied with rope and taken to a police station and arrested without legal assistance. The program director at the shelter articulated that state officials use stay-at-home measures as “opportunity to get rid of” LGBTQ+ people (Cited in Strudwick, 2020).