AUTHOR: Sara B. Gero Coltan is an essential material for renewable technologies, however, the mining industry behind them is linked to human rights abuses, including war crimes committed by armed groups, and land conflict. Currently, there are over 100 armed groups operating in the DRC, most of them smaller, local militias who attempt to protect their own communities after decades …
AUTHOR: Caterina Loreto When Ireland introduced the Direct Provision system in 2000, it was pitched as a short-term solution, an emergency measure to house people seeking asylum. Fast-forward more than two decades, and this “temporary” system is still in place, still heavily criticised, and still failing many of the people it was meant to protect. What began as a stopgap …
AUTHOR: Sara B. Gero Four years ago, in 2021, Hungary passed its ‘Child Protection Law’, which was also nicknamed as the Pedophile Law by government officials, and as ‘Propaganda Law’ by NGOs. This legislative package outlaws the portrayal of different sexual orientations, sex characteristics and gender identities in the media, and in schools and churches, as well as near these …
AUTHOR: Jessica Giovanella February 2025. France proposes a bill to ban all ‘ostensibly religious’ clothing and symbols during competition. France already sparked controversy around the hijab before the Paris Olympics of 2024 when it refused that women athletes participate with a hijab. The Olympic games were supposed to be the first Gender equal Olympics, but instead discriminated against Muslim women. …
AUTHOR: Inês Alves Tomé For over 40 years, Iran has been suffering from gender apartheid. During this time, the Iranian government has been implementing a regime in which some parts of the population, in particular women, are discriminated against and extremely excluded from participating in normal society. Unfortunately, this discrimination which Iranian women face on a daily basis is still widely …
AUTHOR: Maria Inês Afonso Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, following the withdrawal of United States troops from the region, approximately 1.4 million girls have been deprived of their right to education. This right is enshrined in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a commitment made by all 193 United Nations member states. Why, then, …
AUTHOR: Muriëlle van Hagen With 103 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants — 6,369 in total — El Salvador was, in 2015, and had been for many years, one of the most violent countries in the world. The roots of this violence trace back to the civil war between 1980 and 1992, during which more than 75,000 people were tortured, extrajudicially executed, …
AUTHOR: Kenza Saber Since March 19, the largest and most powerful protests have been taking place in Turkey after the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is facing allegations of corruption right now. Ekrem Imamoglu was expected to run in the 2028 presidential election against President Erdogan, after being nominated by his party as the main opposition figure in …
AUTHOR: Annika Kannen Summary: While automation promises to streamline processes and reduce fraud in welfare programs, it often introduces new barriers. Systems like the ones in Serbia, Denmark, and India rely on data aggregation and algorithms to determine eligibility, but they can be flawed, biased, and intrusive. Automation is often thought to be the answer to the inefficiencies of welfare …
AUTHOR: Antía Kornführer Romay The administrations of both the former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte (2016-2022) and the current President Ferdinand (‘Bongbong’) Marcos Jr. (2022-present) have used digital platforms to spread misinformation and introduced vague anti-terror laws to target, discourage, and ultimately undermine the efforts of young human rights defenders in the Philippines. The main tactic behind the state-sponsored …
