文獻速遞（2024年7-9月）
Literature Database (July-September 2024)
更新和匯總近期出版的平等權領域學術研究和實務報告
Update and compilation of recent academic research and reports in the area of equality rights
Women’s Rights 婦女權利
The ECHR and the Positive Obligation to Criminalise Domestic Psychological Violence
Niels Hedlund
Human Rights Law Review,2024-7 Vol.24(3), ngae019
Abstract:
This article explores the scope of the positive obligation deriving from the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to criminalise forms of domestic psychological violence. This is primarily done by examining the implications of Volodina v Russia (No. 1), Volodina v Russia (No. 2) and Tunikova and Others v Russia regarding the obligation in question. Additionally, this article addresses different legislative approaches towards the criminalisation of domestic violence that have been distinguished by the ECtHR and discusses whether they adequately criminalise domestic psychological violence. Some approaches appear ill-suited as they concern national offences that focus on serious incidents. Domestic psychological violence, on the other hand, can involve a course of conduct consisting of seemingly minor incidents. It is concluded that State Parties should review to what extent such forms of psychological violence are criminalised under their national criminal laws.
The Taliban and Women's Human Rights in Afghanistan: The Way Forward
Sebghatullah Qazi Zada, Mohd Ziaolhaq Qazi Zada
International Journal of Human Rights, Jul-31-2024(Published Online)
Abstract:
The recent Taliban's seizing of power in Afghanistan has raised serious concerns among women's human rights advocates within Afghanistan and abroad. The Taliban, who previously ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, are notorious for their severe abuses and gross violations of women's human rights. Their 2021 takeover has revived traumatic experiences to many who witnessed their ruthless rule in the 1990s. Afghanistan has signed multiple human rights treaties that address various aspects of women's lives, including their political participation, education, employment, health, and equality before the law, and is obligated to adhere to these treaties. The central question of this article is, what will happen to the human rights of Afghan women and girls now that the Taliban are back in power? This article aims to answer this question by examining (a) the Taliban origin and the factors that led to their rise in the 1990s and resurgence in 2021 and (b) the human rights obligations of the Taliban regime concerning women. This article argues that the Taliban's policies and practices are in direct contradiction with their obligations to uphold the human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan and concludes with practical recommendations to mitigate their suffering.
Listening to Survivors in Sexual Harassment Law Reform
Sarah Ailwood
Social&Legal Studies, Sept-19-2024 (Published Online)
Abstract:
In Australia, the #MeToo movement triggered a comprehensive inquiry into workplace sexual harassment lead by the Australian Human Rights Commission. This article explores the dynamic relationship between voice and listening in the Commission's National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces and the resulting Respect@Work Report (2020). Drawing on a range of methodologies including thematic coding, citation analysis and discourse analysis, I explore what it means to victim-survivors to have a voice in the National Inquiry, narratives of law and justice that emerge in victim-survivor submissions and how the Commission responds in its role as institutional listener. These methodologies enable analysis of the politics and practices of listening within a law reform process, revealing hierarchies of attention that influence who is heard and how they are heard by the Commission. The Commission's listening practices, and its capacity to listen to victim-survivors with openness, attentiveness, receptivity and responsiveness, are shown to limit its engagement in transformative change to address workplace sexual harassment.
Validation of Scales for Researching Stakeholders’ Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence in China
Christopher J. Wretman, Cynthia Fraga Rizo, Ruohui Zhao, Hongwei Zhang, Spenser R. Radtke, Jeongsuk Kim, Angela Gwaltney, and Rebecca J. Macy
Violence Against Women, Aug-01-2024 (Published Online)
Abstract:
Domestic violence (DV) is a significant concern within China. Currently, there are few standardized measurement tools to gauge Chinese stakeholders’ perceptions and beliefs concerning DV. This research sought to validate tools to be used with such stakeholders. Factor analyses were utilized on cross-sectional, survey data from a purposive sample of 683 Chinese DV professionals working in four institutions in Guangdong. Analyses developed three scales for measuring DV Definitions, DV Attitudes, and DV Policing. The development of these scales is beneficial to advance the already growing research related to DV in China in ways that are relevant to the Chinese context.
Xiao Han, Yao Zhuang, and Yixuan Mu
Violence Against Women, Step-19-2024 (Published Online)
Abstract:
In recent years, China has endeavored to implement individualized sentencing for cases of intimate partner homicide (IPH), using both legal and extralegal factors, to protect potential female victims and female defendants. This study examines the factors influencing the sentencing of IPH, utilizing a sample comprising 921 cases from 2016 to 2021 on the China Judgments Online website. The results show that: (1) the legal factor “victim's fault” is the main reason for the leniency of sentencing for female defendants compared to male defendants; and (2) intimate partner relationships between defendants and victims can have a protective effect on sentencing.
Disability Rights 身心障礙權利
The role of international law in promoting and enforcing the rights of persons with disabilities
Sana Rawaqa
International Journal of Human Rights, Sept-24-2024 (Published Online)
Abstract:
International human rights apply to all persons. These are not only meant to protect all humans from discrimination, and inhuman, degrading, and cruel treatment, but also enforce humans’ civil, political, social, economic, and cultural rights. This study aims to focus on the role of international law in protecting the rights of persons with disabilities and unfolding their rights. The study found that international law has some transparent and clear standards for protecting the rights of people with disabilities compared to other people. However, the challenges are related to the enforcement of these standards and the enactment of treaties, binding to all the member states without interfering with their sovereignty. The study recommends that the international legal system should first be able to make sure that the language of rights is comprehendible for all the state parties and that they are properly briefed about the required change through change in the legal regime. Because, member states are not inclined to give up their norms, culture, and beliefs. This transformation will be achieved by first creating understanding and then implementing it.
Ruikai Dai, Zihao Lin
Disability & Society, 2024, Vol. 39(10),p.2488
Abstract:
After the World Summit on the Information Society and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, states translated the global vision of digital inclusion into local policies at the national and regional levels. This article examines how state agencies in China, a technologically advanced country with a large disabled population, have leveraged the agenda of web accessibility over the course of the last two decades. By carrying out an analysis of 93 national policies and 21 technical guidelines issued between 2001 and 2021, this article critically examines how and why the Chinese state’s embrace of the term ‘barrier-free information’ (信息无障碍) does not result in a coherent policy paradigm but might instead engender new barriers which in fact have the potential to disorient disabled people.
Corinne Walsh, Stefanie Puszka, Francis Markham, Jody Barney, Mandy Yap, Tony Dreise
Disability & Society, 2024, Vol. 39(10),p.2697
Abstract:
The relationship between race, disability and criminality is complex and poorly understood. Scant information, and lack of action, exists on how to best keep Indigenous people with disability out of the justice system, and support this cohort while in the system. This systematic scoping review collates grey and peer-reviewed literature in Australia, Aotearoa (New Zealand), the United States and Canada, to gain insight into the current practices in place for justice-involved Indigenous people with disability, and list promising principles which may inform future practice. We identified 1,301 sources, and 19 of these met the inclusion criteria. Across these sources, nine key principles emerged: need for Indigenous designed, led and owned approaches; appropriately identify and respond to disability/needs; appropriate court models; appropriate diversionary options; therapeutic, trauma-informed, strengths-based and agency-building responses; facilitate connection to family, community and support networks; break down communication barriers; protect human rights; and provide post-release support.
Chi Kin Kwan, Michelle Hei Yan Shum, Frankie Kwan Yin Tsui, Jialiang Cui, Vincent Qi Ming Hu, Rosetti Mei Ling To
Disability & Society, 2024, Vol. 39(8), p.2074
Abstract:
The needs of disabled people are often insufficiently recognized by mainstream society, causing this population to be excluded from society and activities of daily life. This problem is clearly reflected in the obstacles that intellectually disabled people have encountered in their use of public services during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this qualitative study, we conducted focus group sessions with 17 social workers and 12 carers supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities in Hong Kong. Using a thematic analysis, we found that (a) the social-emotional needs of intellectually disabled people were intensified by the disruption of social services; (b) they received limited benefit from the use of video conferencing services; and (c) they encountered significant difficulties in complying with preventive measures. To achieve equity in public service, universal design should be emphasized during the planning stage, and the experiences of disabled people should be carefully considered from the outset.
LGBTQ+ Rights 性小眾權利
How Human Rights Became Gay Rights: A History of Toonen v Australia
Douglas Pretsell , Timothy Willem Jones
Human Rights Quarterly, 2024-8,Vol.46 (3), p.437
Abstract:
When the Legislative Council of the Australian island state of Tasmania rejected gay law reform in July 1991, a group of enterprising activists took their case to the United Nations. In April 1994, the United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled in their favor. The case, Toonen v Australia, is a landmark human rights judgement that has proved highly influential in the years that have followed. Using interviews with the principal participants, this article provides a historical narrative of their activist journey.
“Laws Could Always Be Revoked”: Sociopolitical Uncertainty in the Transition to Marriage Equality
J. Kale Monk, TeKisha M. Rice, Brian G. Ogolsky, Stef Sloan, Pamela J. Lannutti
Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 2024-09, Vol.21(3), p.1171
Abstract:
Shifting sociopolitical landscapes may create doubts, questions, or concerns for individuals, especially those who hold a disenfranchised identity or are in marginalized relationships (Meyer in Psychology of Sexualities Review 7:81–90, 2016). As a result of political and societal opposition following the Supreme Court Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) decision, for example, legal and social uncertainties may lead to distress for same-sex couples.
Yifu Liu & Joyee Shairee Chatterjee
Culture, Health & Sexuality: An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care, Jul-08-2024 (Published Online)
Abstract:
Using identity and dramaturgical theory, this qualitative study explored how activists’ work and commitment toward promoting LGBT rights and services is shaped and influenced by their identities. The study draws on data from life history interviews conducted with 20 long-time LGBT activists in Yunnan, China. The findings indicate that their sexual orientation and gender identities were, in the long run, seen as assets by the activists that shaped their work and commitment in the LGBT movement. Despite initial challenges in establishing identity-based connections with co-workers/clients, the emergence of sense of inclusiveness through recognition of activists’ efforts, particularly when working with diverse gender and sexual minorities, stands out as a prominent theme in this context. This dynamic is important in bolstering the longevity of activists’ commitment and building the continued momentum of LGBT movements in the region and internationally.
Children’s Rights 兒童權利
Kinder Justice: Communicating Legitimacy to Children in Sentencing Courts
Kathryn Hollingsworth
Social & Legal Studies, Aug-15-2024 (Published Online)
Abstract:
This article examines the impact and significance to child defendants in England and Wales of sentence communication. Drawing on a qualitative study with justice-experienced children, I suggest that how sentences are delivered matters deeply to children's perceptions of legitimacy in three ways that coalesce around the concept I call ‘kinder justice’. First, legitimacy is enhanced by approaches that communicate care (invoking kinder as a verb); second, children want recognition of their status as a child (employing kinder as a noun); and third, children value sentencing remarks that reflect their family's (kin's) version of the child's self, not the ‘proper criminal’ they feel portrayed as in court. Together, drawing on Honneth's theory of recognition, I argue these three forms of kinder justice highlight the importance of recognitional justice during the sentencing process.
Susan Baidawi, Danielle Newton, Jade Purtell
Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, Sept-20-2024 (Published Online)
Abstract:
Understanding the pathways from child protection to adult criminal justice system contact is critical for informing crime prevention policy and practice, yet most research on the maltreatment-offending relationship solely focuses on children’s pathways from child protection to youth justice systems. This scoping review identified and synthesized evidence from studies examining adult justice system contact among individuals who have experienced child protection system involvement (including placement in out-of-home care [OOHC]). A search of six databases identified 7,599 publications, of which 37 met the inclusion criteria. These primary studies included adult participants with a history of child protection system involvement and adult criminal justice system contact. The review identified that many factors associated with increased likelihood of adult criminal justice system contact reflect those identified for youth justice involvement. While youth justice system contact is associated with increased risk, engagement in education or employment (for males), and becoming a parent appear to be associated with decreased risk of criminal justice system contact among adults previously involved in child protection systems.
Strategies to Prevent Violence Against Children in the Home: A Systematic Review of Reviews
Jorge Cuartas, Ana Salazar, Sophia Backhaus, Madison T. Little, Dana McCoy, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Michelle Bass, Nicholas Metheny, Felicia Knaul
Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 2024-10, Vol.25 (4), p.3419
Abstract:
Violence against children (VAC) in the home is a human rights and social problem with long-lasting consequences for individuals and society. We searched four databases using controlled vocabularies and keywords and searched for additional records in prior reviews of reviews. A total of 67 studies were included in this review, including literature reviews, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and other types of reviews. We found extensive evidence supporting the effectiveness of parent and caregiver support interventions. We also found a vast underrepresentation of samples from low- and- middle-income countries, children with disabilities, and families affected by forced displacement and conflict. In sum, this systematic review suggests that there are several promising strategies to prevent VAC, but further research is necessary to strengthen the current body of evidence and effectively inform the implementation and scale-up of evidence-based interventions to protect children from violence globally.