In the U.S., we often take our legal rights for granted; but sometimes — in other countries, the legal system actually serves to set back the rights of the poor and marginalized groups. In China, a pretty shocking new law has significantly curtailed the rights of divorced women. On August 13, the Supreme Court issued…
I haven’t had the chance to write about Libya yet, but our intervention in the country has been on my mind for some time now. Now, I’m no expert on international relations, but I want to note that I am torn on intervention in general. At this point, however, the intervention in Libya seems like…
Watching this revolution unfold has given me so many thrills and chills down my spine. My heart has been with the Egyptian people all along, and this mass movement has shown me what the power of citizens and humanity united can achieve. I find it incredible that simply by coming together in large numbers, a…
“If I wasn’t pregnant, I would’ve just stayed home.” Marwa Rakha told the Huffington Post by phone, explaining her attendance of the protests in Egypt while seven months pregnant. “I went out because of my baby. I owe this to him.” — Huffington Post In honor of all the courageous Egyptian women (and men!) standing…
I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the revolutions shaking the Middle East over the past few weeks, starting with Lebanon, Tunisia, Yemen, and now spreading to Egypt, Jordan, and Sudan. Today, more than a million protesters have taken to the streets in Cairo, and the army has said it will not…
Thanks to Running Chicken, I found an excellent new article by Hunjoon Kim and Kathryn Sikkink: Explaining the Deterrence Effect of Human Rights Prosecutions for Transitional Countries. The article basically concludes that: We find that human rights prosecutions after transition lead to improvements in human rights protection, and that human rights prosecutions have a deterrence…
