Human Rights Centre Blog
By Danielle Smith In Saharawi society, married women are described as the “mutKhayima”, literally translated as “the owner of the tent”. This means even when a man is married, the tent exclusively belongs to his wife and she can kick him out at any time if she is displeased with him. Who are the Saharawi? […]
Each month, the HRC Blog features a significant figure from the Human Rights community to go under the Spotlight, answering questions put by students from the University of Essex. This month, we feature Louise Melling. About Louise Louise Melling is a Deputy Legal Director at the ACLU and the Director of its Center for […]
by Astha Madan Grover The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many of the the pre-existing inequalities in society. It has disproportionately affected already marginalized communities that live outside societal protection mechanisms, often in financially precarious situations. Sex workers are one such community whose rights need to be protected and respected. Sex workers are entitled to human rights […]
by Kartikeya Jaiswal and Pranay Modi This article was originally posted on Rightsblog.net Introduction ‘Freedom of expression’ is a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitutions of several democratic countries. It is an internationally recognised ‘human right’ and finds mention in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) . But while the right […]
by Aishwarya Singh The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 (the Act) came into effect on December 5, 2019 amidst much criticism and protests by the transgender community and activists in India. The Act is a revised version of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2018 (2018 Bill), which had lapsed in the […]
by Palak Kumar and Insaf Ahamad A landmark decision rendered by The U.S Supreme Court on June 15, prohibits employment discrimination of gay and transgender individuals. Expanding the scope of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sexual discrimination, the court ruled that discrimination based on sex includes discrimination based on sexual orientation. The court […]
by Christina Beninger The COVID-19 pandemic amplifies and exacerbates the many structural inequalities that exist across societies and the world. While the virus may not discriminate, people and societies do. Those who have the least power and rights in societies – such as minority groups, women and children – are most vulnerable to being disproportionately […]
by Isabella Hall May 29th 2020 marked 50 years since the enactment of the Equal Pay Act; a major victory for the women’s equality movement sparking real hope that discrimination on the basis of gender – at least in the context of earnings – would become a thing of the past. Paying women the same […]
By Lauren Ng and Alana Meier COVID-19 Update – The jury is out on Sweden’s approach “You’re pushing your cases and deaths into the future – they are not disappearing.” While lockdown measures have been implemented throughout the globe, Sweden has taken a different approach to the coronavirus. Similarly to the UK’s initial strategy, the […]
by Pauline Canham, Lauren Ng, Bethany Webb-Strong, Julia Kedziorek, Alana Meier, Amita Dhiman, As the world goes into lockdown to tackle COVID-19, some sectors of society are particularly at risk, not only to contracting the virus but to the very measures being put in place to protect us all. This week we look at how […]
Human Rights Centre Blog