Human rights
Shanghai lockdown prompts collective action
The Shanghai lockdown following a Covid-19 outbreak last month saw the most stringent restrictions placed upon a Chinese city since the pandemic began. Although Chinese civil…
The duty to prevent genocide in Ukraine
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine has laid bare the brutality of the campaign, there have been increasing debates over whether it constitutes genocide. On 12 April, US President…
The mysterious missing UN report on human rights abuses in Xinjiang
Delivering an annual report to the United Nations Human Rights Council last month, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet announced she would undertake an…
What counts for victims of trafficking?
Trafficking in persons is a billion-dollar global industry that seeks anonymity in every aspect of its criminal execution. Yet data related to human trafficking is a rare resource…
Young feminist leadership is the future of peacebuilding
In 2000, the establishment of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda by the United Nations Security Council created formal institutional space for the recognition and…
Sexual exploitation and abuse in peacekeeping: Connecting the dots
A few years ago, I was in Bosnia researching the nature and impacts of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers and other interveners in Bosnia during the peace operations in…
Women’s participation in peace mediation
Mediation to end armed conflict has traditionally been dominated by men. With the conflict in Ukraine currently consuming global narratives on everything from human rights to…
The Ukraine crisis, feminism and Australia’s foreign policy
At the heart of a feminist approach to foreign policy is a commitment to non-violence. Not because the framework is unmoored from the realities of the world we live in, but…
Europe triggers “temporary protection” for Ukraine war refugees
Until this week, everyone thought the European Union’s Temporary Protection Directive was dead in the water. Drafted 21 years ago in the aftermath of the Yugoslav crisis, it was…
It’s a mistake to allow Myanmar’s junta to appear in Rohingya case
While the military coup in Myanmar has dominated mention of the country in international news over the last 12 months, the slow wheels of international justice for the Muslim…