‘Ideas in Progress’ Seminar Series
The Think Tank Programme on Human Rights, Family & Gender successfully organized its first ‘Ideas in Progress’ Seminar Series on May 28, 2021. You can now watch the recorded live stream anytime and anywhere on the Global Research Network’s YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIa4zxjvhCM
‘Ideas in Progress’ Seminar Series
The Think Tank Programme on Human Rights, Family & Gender at the Global Research Network (GRN), is organizing ‘Ideas in Progress’ Seminar Series to be held online at 3 PM (London, UK Time) on 28 May 2021. Register: https://grn.global/event-4281298/Registration We have four exciting speakers examining different aspects of human rights law: Shivani Dutta Topic: ‘The Rights Issue in the Borders of Assam and Bangladesh’ Shivani is currently pursuing her doctoral studies from National Law School of India University, Bengaluru and is working as an Assistant Professor (Law) at IFIM Law School, Bengaluru. She has six years of teaching experience. Her areas of interests are human rights, consumer rights and family law. Akanshi Vidyarthi Topic: ‘Childbirth, Gender and Caste in Colonial Awadh, 1885-1947’ Akanshi is pursuing PhD at Centre for Historical Studies (CHS), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. She did her MPhil from CHS, JNU. Her areas of research are medical history, reproductive health and education in colonial India. Tripti Bhushan Topic: ‘Overview of International Law: Analysis of Women’s Human Rights and their Violations in India’ Tripti is serving as a Teaching & Research for Intellectual Pursuit (TRIP) Fellow & Academic Tutor at O. P Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, India. She has also worked as an Assistant Professor at Kalinga University, Raipur. She is the recipient of International Award as Emerging Scientist in field of law & completed her LL.M in IPR from Hidayatullah National Law University & B.A.LL.B. (Honours.) from Amity Law School Lucknow. Assad Burki Topic: ‘Money Laundering Abuses Human Rights’ Assad is doing PhD in money laundering in terror financing at Swansea University, UK.
Oral Statement to The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
On the occasion of its 24th session, which was held in virtually from 8 to 26 March 2021, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities held a general discussion on the right of persons with disabilities to work and employment. The general discussion was organized by OHCHR. The purpose of the general discussion was to prepare the elaboration by the Committee of a General Comment on the right of persons with disabilities to work and employment. The aim of the general comment is to provide guidance to States parties to the Convention on the measures they should adopt to ensure full compliance with their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of persons with disabilities with regard to article 27 of the Convention. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities invited States parties to the CRPD Convention, United Nations entities and specialized agencies, other United Nations human rights mechanisms, non-governmental organizations, organizations of persons with disabilities, and other interested stakeholders to participate in the general discussion. Myself and Preethi Lolaksha Nagaveni are very pleased to share that our joint oral statement on Day 1 Monday, 22 March 2021 to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as part of the general discussion on the right of persons with disabilities to work and employment is now published on the United Nations Human Rights website. Our oral statement can be accessed via https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/GeneralDiscussions.aspx
Paper Presentation at Conference
We presented a joint paper on ‘Violence Against Women and Marital Rape Exception in India’ at The Colloquium – A Conference on Civil and Social Rights via Microsoft Teams, Kirit P. Mehta School of Law of SVKM’s NMIMS (Deemed to be University) on 06 March 2021.
Anastasia Tataryn
I joined the Faculty at St Jerome’s University of Waterloo in January 2020. Previously, I was a Lecturer in Law at the University of Liverpool, from 2015-2020. I have also held positions at the School of Law Birkbeck College, University of London and the Warwick Law School, University of Warwick. My interest in law and legal studies starts from questions of how law, and its limits, are constructed. My research interrogates the limits of legal frameworks by deeply questioning the foundations, and categories, of modern law and legal subjectivity. My research draws on de coloniality and anarchist thought, feminist theories, indigenous research methodologies and post-structuralist approaches to law. Forthcoming publication in the summer 2020: Law, Migration and Precarious Labour: Ecotechnics of the Social, Routledge. I hold a PhD in Law from the School of Law Birkbeck College, University of London. My LLM was completed at Osgoode Hall Law School. Additionally, I hold an MA in History from York University, Canada and a BA (Hons) from the University of Saskatchewan.
Amit Anand
He is a final year student pursuing PhD (Law) at Lancaster University, UK on the topic ‘Unheard and Unnoticed: Violence Against Women in India (A Study of Practice of Witch-hunting, Honour Killing and Devadasi System)’. He holds LLM (Human Rights) from the University of Reading, U.K. He has done his B.A.LLB (Honours.) from National Law School of India University, Bangalore. His research interests lie in the area of Public International Law, International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law and Indian Constitutional Law.
Hathras gang-rape case
Brief background of the Hathras rape case: The death of a 19 year-old dalit girl in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, India has once again highlighted the issue of violence against women, particularly dalit women in the country. The young girl succumbed to her injuries on September 29, after she was allegedly gang raped by a group of upper caste men. She belonged to the dalit community which is at the bottom of the India’s rigid caste hierarchy. She sustained serious injuries to her spinal cord because she was also brutally assaulted by the alleged perpetrators. What was even more shocking in this case was how the local administration handled the matter when this incident came to light. On the night of her death, the local police returned to the girl’s village with her body, but instead of handing her over to her mourning family, it is said that her family was pressurised to cremate her body there and then. When the family refused, the police locked the family in their home, and burned her body in a nearby field without the family’s presence citing law and order problem. Preethi Lolaksha Nagaveni, Junior Fellow, writes how caste remains to be the root cause with untouchability being the ugliest form of casteism in India and makes a case for prosecuting the local administration for breach of law in the Hathras case. Source: https://www.firstpost.com/india/hathras-gang-rape-case-law-allows-district-collector-police-officials-to-be-booked-for-destruction-of-evidence-insulting-dead-bodyhathras-gang-rape-case-law-allows-district-collector-police-offic-8873121.html
Preethi Lolaksha Nagaveni
Preethi is undertaking a PhD in Law at Lancaster University, UK where she is researching practices of untouchability, focusing on manual scavenging and caste-based discrimination in higher educational institutions in India. She was a Lecturer at NLSIU, Bangalore, and an Advocate in the Karnataka High Court, Bangalore. She previously interned with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, New Delhi and His Lordship Justice Chelameswar, Supreme Court of India. Preethi holds a B.A.LL.B (Hons) with Gold Medal from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore and an LL.M in Human Rights from the University of Reading, UK.
Sudan to ban FGM
Late last month, the Sudanese government approved an amendment to criminalise the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). Under the proposed amendment, anyone found to be performing FGM could face up to three years in prison and a fine. Sometimes referred to as female circumcision, the controversial practice involves the deliberate removal of female genitalia without medical reason. Traditionally viewed as a way of curbing female sexual desire and preserving virginity, reasons for carrying out FGM include social acceptence, religion, and misconceptions about hygiene. In some cultures, it is considered a rite of passage into adulthood and a prerequisite for marriage. There are no hygienic or health benefits to FGM. The procedure is often conducted without the use of anesthetics, and can cause severe fatal bleeding, painful infections, and problems urinating, as well as long term mental, sexual and reproductive complications later in life. As it is often performed without consent, FGM is considered a violation of the human rights of women, as well as a violation of the rights of children, given that the majority of females are cut before the age of 15. According to the World Health Organisation, more than 200 million girls and women have undergone FGM worldwide. In Sudan, the practice is widespread. Almost 9 out of 10 Sudanese females have experienced the procedure, meaning that it has one of the highest FGM prevalence rates in the world. The move to penalise FGM follows years of advocacy to stop the practice. As part of the fifth Sustainable Development Goal, the UN has set a target to eliminate FGM by 2030. While the proposed amendment is celebrated as a victory of womens’ rights in Sudan, a final law that criminalizes FGM is yet to be formally approved, and the country may still face challenges in enforcing the legislation. “People who still believe in the practice might not report cases or act to stop FGM when they know it is happening” says Faiza Mohamed, the Africa regional director of Equality Now to Reuters. Likewise, UNICEF maintains that it needs to work very hard with communities to help enforce the new law. Moreover, the practice of FGM has survived in other countries that have banned it. Egypt, for example, banned FGM in 2008 and further amended the law in 2016 to include penalising individuals committing the crime with up to 15 years in prison. Yet prosecutions are found to be rare, and the country is found to still have a high rate of FGM. Similarly, there have been few prosecutions in The Gambia since it introduced a law banning the practice in 2015. Lisa Camara, a spokesperson for the Gambian rights group Safe Hands, told DW that; “When The Gambia introduced a law banning FGM in 2015, it enabled activists to go into communities and talk about it, but it did not stop the practice”. Rather, “The law has driven the cut underground”. While legislation alone may not stop the practice which has longstanding cultural roots, penalising FGM
Talking About Domestic Violence During COVID-19: The Need of the Hour for India
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the lives of everyone in India, but some sections of the society face more risks than others. While the poor and underprivileged are more disproportionately afflicted by the crisis, there is hardly any mention of the pandemic’s negative impact on the lives of women. Following the implementation of a nation-wide lockdown on March 25th, women who are forced to remain inside their homes are at a higher risk of facing domestic violence.