Human rights
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…
Will Australia use its amended sanctions act against Myanmar?
It was Christmas Eve 2021 when reports emerged about the Tatmadaw – Myanmar’s military – killing and burning 35 people in Kayah State, Eastern Myanmar. Of those killed and burned,…
Oslo talks expose the West’s Taliban dilemma
Last week, Western officials held closed-door discussions with a Taliban delegation hosted by Norway in Oslo, making clear that humanitarian aid to Afghanistan would be …
The power of mercy and the death penalty in PNG
In late 2021, thirty years since the death penalty was reinstated as an amendment to the Criminal Code Act 1974 for the crime of willful murder, the Papua New Guinean Department…