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11. Trending Conditional Cash Transfers in Girl’s Education

Author:
Jessica Ruch
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) in health and education programs have been rapidly growing over the past two decades. They’ve expanded to over 40 countries and are increasingly used to target and improve girl’s education. The volume of CCTs in development projects worldwide raises the question: can they address the greatest barriers to equal education? According to Dr. Michelle Morais de Sae Silva, CCTs have sought to adapt to “identify the ideal balance between cash incentives and conditions that would maximize the kind of behavior that is believed to enhance poor families’ human capital.”(1). Unlike social welfare programs and unconditional cash transfers, CCTs’ conditionalities were established to break intergenerational transmissions of poverty by investing in human capital (2). Analysis of Latin American CCTs illustrate positive impacts: increased educational outcomes (enrollment and attendance), decreased child labor, small improvements to short-term poverty and a shift from agricultural labor to non-agricultural employment (3).
Topic:
Education, Gender Issues, Poverty, and Welfare
Political Geography:
Global Focus

12. Addressing Child Marriages In Turkey

Author:
Fawn Bolak
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
According to data taken from the Turkish Ministry of Interior Affairs in 2014, within a three-year span, 134,629 individuals under the age of 18 were legally married in Turkey, with underage girls disproportionately accounting for 128,866 of this total. This figure states that 14% of marriages in Turkey involve an individual who is underage. However, the information presented may not be an accurate representation of the scale of the issue, since many child marriages are not legally registered, but occur as religious ceremonies. Taking into account these religious marriages, a 2013 report from Gaziantep University estimated number of child marriages in Turkey is much closer to 37%, and in some rural regions of the country, the rate may be as high as 60%. This study also found that 82% of child brides in Turkey are illiterate. Researcher Dr. Erhan Tunç suggests that the trend in child marriages is occurring as a result of a lack of education and severe religious views.
Topic:
Human Rights, Religion, Child Marriage, and Marriage
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, and Asia

13. Syrian Crisis

Author:
Rougi Toure
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
Recently with the sinking of the migrant boat off the coast of Greece, or the deceased of the Syrian child refugee on the beach of Turkey has us questioning how to tackle the refugee crisis. Deriving from the Refugee Convention of 1951, it states that a refugee is an individual “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”
Topic:
Human Rights, Migration, Diaspora, Immigration, and Refugees
Political Geography:
Middle East and Syria

14. Social Origins of Gender & Conflict

Author:
Elizabeth Kirchhoff
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
Gender affects all of us, from the clothes we wear to the way we speak. But where does gender come from, and how does it affect our behavior as human beings over the course of a lifetime? More specifically, how does gender effect human behavior in relation to conflict? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, gender is defined as, “the state of being male or female.” This said, it is easy to see how gender plays out in everyday life. The male gender, for example, has over time developed into a generalized stereotype characterized by aggression, action, expression, and domination, while the female gender has developed into an equally extreme and opposite stereotype of compliance, passivity, silence, and submission. And yet while we can observe the effects of these constructions on our lives, it is important to keep in mind that gender is socially and culturally constructed, and this means it changes over time and place and that each individual contributes to its ever-changing characterization. From this perspective, is is easy to find examples of how contemporary civilizations continually reinforce “gender norms,” and how this conditioning has serious implications for humanity and conflict overall. For example, according to a recent research study analyzing gender differences in toy design organized by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, “…girls’ toys were associated with physical attractiveness, nurturing, and domestic skill, whereas boys’ toys were rated as violent, competitive, exciting, and somewhat dangerous.” ¹ In this way, we can see that gender expectations are enforced from very young ages, and that this process of socialization goes on to have long-term effects for everyone, especially where conflict is concerned. While some may declare that there are no gender-based differences in life of conflict, whether in the workplace, academia, or physical behavior, extensive research shows that quite the opposite is true. For instance, gender differences in workplace behavior are well-documented, as where one psychological study explains, “…meta-analysis shows that men are more aggressive than women and finds that this sex difference is more pronounced for physical than psychological aggression.” ² Could it be that cultural reinforcements of male gender expectations such as physical violence and competition are responsible for this disparity?
Topic:
Gender Issues, Human Rights, Conflict, and Social Order
Political Geography:
Global Focus

15. China’s Crackdown and Arrest of Human Rights Activists

Author:
Kate Morgan
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
ince his rise to power in 2012, President Xi Jinping has cracked down on human rights lawyers, activists, and NGO actors. There have been multiple police raids, with one of the main targets being the Fengrui Law Firm in Beijing, which employs lawyers that are know to take on cases involving human rights activists. The most famous cases that arose from the Fenrui Law Firm were when they defended the dissident artist Ai Weiwei; Ilham Tohti, the Uighur academic sentenced to life in prison last year on charges of separatism; and Cao Shunli, a human rights campaigner who died after being denied medical care while in custody.
Topic:
Human Rights, Political Activism, NGOs, and Police
Political Geography:
China and Asia

16. The Varying Roles of the Female Combatant

Author:
Melissa Rary
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
While the idea of women as combatants in the US military is relatively new, some stories of women in war goes back to Greek myths of armies of goddesses at war. Still, this subject gets very little, if any, press in the news. Women are often seen as victims of war, but some women may also be perpetrators. Beyond simply fighting on the ground, Dara Cohen explores the idea of women as perpetrators of wartime sexual violence. She points out that in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 41% of female sexual violence victims were victimized by females, as were 10% of male victims. She argues that within armed groups, women face many of the same pressures to commit similar forms of violence as their male counterparts. Women have been used historically in various roles during recruitment and combat, including being a nurse, cook, telephone operator, or journalist. Some conflicts have also seen a rise women used as a recruiting tool, or as wives, to young men joining forces. In the Second World War, the Soviet Union used female soldiers to encourage their male counterparts to join the forces. Of the 820,000 women who served in the Red Army, 15% of those were combatants. ISIS recruits young women in a similar way, promising them marriage to ISIS fighters and offering them a meaningful role in a big world. They are then used as mothers, wives, nurses, recruiters, and general supporters of ISIS.
Topic:
Gender Issues, War, Feminism, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus

17. Brazilian Prisons: Overcrowded and Inhumane

Author:
Jo Beletic
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
The Brazilian prison population is growing faster than that of any other country. The justice system is staggering from its inability to fund prison development and address in a timely manner the custody hearings necessary. From 2005 to 2012 UNDP reported a 74 percent increase in Brazil’s prison population. Youth, those between the ages of 18 and 24, are the most imprisoned people and Brazilians of African descent are 1.5 times more likely to be imprisoned than others in the country. Interestingly, there has been a 70 percent increase in the imprisonment of men and a 146 percent in that of women. The increase in arrests has been to a large extent due to charges related to drug distribution. Brazil has the 4th largest prison population in the world; according to the Institute for Criminal Policy Research its occupancy level is currently 153.9 percent. In country-ran jails, there is an average of 680,000 inmates in prisons designed for 300,000. In extreme cases, such as Curado in Pernambuco, the prisons are reported to hold close to 7,000 prisoners in facilities designed for 1,800. The conditions that result are unhealthy and inhumane, violating both Brazilian and International law.
Topic:
Crime, Human Rights, Prisons/Penal Systems, and Youth
Political Geography:
Brazil and South America

18. Where the Rainbow Tide Won’t Flow: Violence and LGBT Rights in Latin America

Author:
Matthew T. Klick
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
In recent months, the experience of Latin America’s LGBT community has come under renewed focus by myriad outlets. Perhaps somewhat surprising, much of the attention is positive – lauding new legislation or advancements in LGBT rights and policy across the region. But the achievements of some countries obscure a darker reality – an ongoing popular intolerance, evidence by hate crimes across the region. Indeed, the region has seen a wave – the so-called “rainbow tide” in fact – of progressive policies, lending an outward sense of LGBT tolerance, and even hemispheric leadership. Argentina, under Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, legalized same-sex marriage (2010), and more progressively yet, passed legislation that allowed individuals to change their names and gender identity on official documents without seeking court approval first. Chile has since approved its Agreement for Civil Union law, which grants same-sex partners identical rights regarding property, finances and health care as heterosexual couples. Progressive laws and policy have similarly swept Uruguay (the world’s most gay-friendly country according to some), Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico. These advances take place despite the ongoing influence of the Catholic Church, and increasingly, an ardently conservative Evangelical movement throughout the region. Such gains should not be dismissed lightly. Unfortunately, however, the above gains have been matched by a spike in hate crimes, and attacks on prominent LGBT leaders. Six of the top eight countries in murders of transgender people are in Latin America (India and the U.S. are the others). In per capita terms, Honduras dominates all comers, but again the region as a whole is disproportionately represented, appearing in 12 of the top 13 spots. In Argentina, which has arguably been most lauded for its progressiveness, vocal trans activist Diana Sacayán was violently murdered. In a stunning turn, her death was the third transgender killing in Argentina that month, following the stabbings of Marcela Chocobar and Coty Olmos. Sao Paolo Police, meanwhile, brazenly, and viciously, beat Veronica Bolina beyond recognition, while she was in custody. These events, though gruesome and tragic, do not necessarily represent a systemic backlash by society. In other countries of the region, however, it is yet more dangerous still to openly identify as LGBT.
Topic:
Human Rights, Discrimination, Violence, LGBT+, and Sexuality
Political Geography:
Latin America and North America

19. The #FreeKesha Movement: Individual Rights & Corporate Responsibilities

Author:
Eli Banghart
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
The human rights laws in the realm of rape within the United States have come under higher scrutiny recently. Perhaps most notably, the case of pop-singer Kesha (formerly known as Ke$ha, real name Kesha Rose Seibert) against producer Dr. Luke. The singer wishes to be released from her contract that requires six albums with Dr. Luke’s work featured in at least six songs per album. An appeal for a legal injunction was denied on 19 February 2016, striking rallying movements under the #FreeKesha tagline and an outpouring of celebrity support. This case’s impact has moved beyond Kesha, in her own words, turning into a movement against staying silent towards abusers.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Human Rights, Reform, and Sexual Violence
Political Geography:
United States and North America

20. U.S. Prison Labor: Constitutional & Profitable

Author:
Kate Morgan
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
In the United States modern prison industrial complex (PIC), there are about 2 million inmates, marking the U.S. as the largest prison population in the world and the second highest incarceration rate per capita. The U.S. has 25% of the world’s prison population, but only 5% of the world’s population. With historical roots involved in using inmates as labor for agriculture, textiles, and other manufactured goods, this practice still continues by means of privatizing labor. Under the 13th amendment, forced labor is legally allowed when a person is imprisoned. Prisoners will never have “family emergencies”, ask for a pay raise, or refuse work without the threat of solitary confinement. This makes them the ideal economically conservative employee. Private companies and organizations will lease work out to prisons, and the prisons will then use their inmates to perform the needed work, whether it be mining, agricultural work, making military weapons, or making garments and clothing for Victoria’s Secret. The pay grade for an inmate doing this work can range from nothing to $3 per hour varying per state, with Texas and Georgia legally not having to pay anything to their inmates/employees.
Topic:
Human Rights, Privatization, Labor Issues, Prisons/Penal Systems, and Manufacturing
Political Geography:
United States and North America