1,721,074 research outputs found
Stigma and Human Rights Abuses against People Who Inject Drugs in Russia--A Qualitative Investigation to Inform Policy and Public Health Strategies.
Full text linkDrug policing practices in the Russian Federation (Russia) are often punitive and have been shown to be associated with HIV risk behaviors among people who inject drugs (PWID). Less is known about strategies to address the problem in that setting, where substance use stigma is highly persistent. A better understanding of forms, causes and consequences of drug policing in Russia could inform drug policy in a context of substantial policy resistance. This qualitative study's goal is to characterize the phenomenon of police involvement with Russian PWID and to explore strategies for drug policing in the Russian country context.Using a semi-structured interview guide, we collected data from a purposive sample of 23 key informants including PWID, police officers, and experts from civil society and international organizations in Russia. We used a thematic analysis approach to inductively generate new insight into the phenomenon of police involvement and potential strategies to address it.Policing practices involving PWID include unjustified arrests, planting of false evidence and extrajudicial syringe confiscations, and often constitute human rights violations. Russian PWID personally experienced police violence as ubiquitous, taking on various forms such as beating, unjustified arrests, verbal harassment, and coercion. The persistent societal stigma dehumanizes PWID, and such stigmatization facilitates police abuse. To address stigma and overcome the PWID-police adversity, study participants suggested fostering a mutual understanding between the police and public health sectors.Participants describe substantial human rights violations as part of policing illicit drug use in Russia. Police should include principles of effective prevention of substance use and HIV risk reduction in their trainings. Alignment of public safety and public health goals could address drug use-related risks and HIV prevention among key populations in Russia
De Jure v. De Facto Rights: Abortion Access in South Africa
Full text linkDespite having one of the world’s most progressive abortion laws, over half of all South African women obtain abortions through illegal clinics. This thesis seeks to determine why that is, what barriers to access still exist, and what can be done to improve safe and legal abortion access throughout South Africa. A qualitative approach is developed through twelve in-depth interviews with South African abortion experts. The findings are presented through five main themes: 1) negative and conservative attitudes, 2) limited education and access to information, 3) proximity to and resources for care, 4) public healthcare facilities, and 5) availability of illegal abortion clinics. Following an examination of these findings, eight recommendations are posed to the South African government in order to strategically implement the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act and broaden safe and legal abortion access. In addition to the recommendations, this thesis provides deep insight into the reality of abortion access for all women in South Africa today. This paper serves as a call to the South African government to take tangible steps to protect their female citizens by properly implementing their own laws and Constitution.Bachelor of Art
The United Nations Special Procedures: Peopling Human Rights, Peopling Global Health
No full textThis chapter examines the UN Special Procedures, a system of independent experts appointed to monitor and report on human rights violations and to advise and assist in promoting and protecting rights. It positions the Special Procedures as a 'missing population', neglected not just by proponents of global health but by human rights advocates too. This chapter sets out to counter this neglect by “peopling” human rights law. It does this by adding the Special Rapporteurs and others who make up the system of Special Procedures, positioning these experts as an essential supplement to the cast of characters—courts, treaty bodies, non-governmental organizations, victims, and states—that dominate accounts of human rights law. Adding Special Procedures would help in particular to address the widespread failure to see human rights law as a deliberative and iterative process that draws in a range of actors
Communicable diseases, health security and human rights : from AIDS to Ebola
Full text linkThis chapter examines the influence of human rights in the quest to control communicable diseases. Communicable diseases are emerging and spreading faster than ever before, with devastating consequences for the most vulnerable in a rapidly globalizing world. Human rights have come to frame infectious disease control, beginning in the early response to AIDS and expanding from the stigmatization of marginalized populations to include the provision of essential medicines. Human rights claims have correspondingly expanded, arising out of norms of non-discrimination, consent, and privacy and now including the right to health. As individual rights compete with state authority, the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) International Health Regulations (2005) aim to guide states in a rights-based response to communicable disease. However, as seen in recent Ebola outbreaks, human rights have lost priority to health security as the dominant frame for health policy, and this securitization of communicable disease control may undermine the gains of human rights, risking the future of global health
The United Nations Special Procedures: Peopling Human Rights, Peopling Global Health
No full textThis chapter examines the UN Special Procedures, a system of independent experts appointed to monitor and report on human rights violations and to advise and assist in promoting and protecting rights. It positions the Special Procedures as a 'missing population', neglected not just by proponents of global health but by human rights advocates too. This chapter sets out to counter this neglect by “peopling” human rights law. It does this by adding the Special Rapporteurs and others who make up the system of Special Procedures, positioning these experts as an essential supplement to the cast of characters—courts, treaty bodies, non-governmental organizations, victims, and states—that dominate accounts of human rights law. Adding Special Procedures would help in particular to address the widespread failure to see human rights law as a deliberative and iterative process that draws in a range of actors
The Politics of Humanitarian Rhetoric: Health Aid and Congressional Discourse in the U.S.–Afghanistan Relationship
Full text linkThis study explores how U.S. congressional policymakers framed health-related foreign aid to Afghanistan during two pivotal phases: the early intervention years following the 2001 invasion (2001–2004) and the final years before U.S. withdrawal (2019–2022). While health aid is often presented as a humanitarian endeavor, this study explores its dual role as a strategic instrument of foreign policy—shaped by evolving security concerns, political will, and geopolitical priorities.
Using qualitative thematic analysis, 47 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing transcripts were coded and analyzed across five recurring themes: Security, Humanitarian, Diplomatic, Nation-Building, and Domestic Politics. The early period was characterized by rhetoric linking health aid to counterterrorism, stabilization, and optimistic nation-building goals. By contrast, the late period showed a shift toward narratives of reputational management, aid sustainability, and fiscal accountability, reflecting diminished expectations for Afghanistan’s long-term institutional viability.
The findings reveal that U.S. congressional discourse around health aid evolved from confident transformation to cautious disengagement. Aid was initially justified as a tool for rebuilding Afghan institutions and advancing U.S. interests through soft power. In later years, it became a means of mitigating the consequences of military withdrawal, maintaining U.S. credibility, and fulfilling residual moral obligations.
This rhetorical shift highlights broader implications for the role of health aid in fragile and conflict-affected states. As the international community prepares for future post-conflict reconstruction efforts, understanding how political framing shapes aid allocation is essential. This case study offers valuable lessons about the limitations of externally driven nation-building, the fragility of aid-dependent health systems, and the complex intersection of humanitarian goals with geopolitics.Bachelor of Science in Public Healt
The Impact of Counseling Center Accreditation on Mental Health Policies and Services at Public Universities
Full text linkThe Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) has found that use of college counseling services increased by an average of 30-40% between 2009 and 2015, while enrollment increased by only 5% during the same period (2019). Resource allocation for college counseling centers has lagged behind this dramatic increase in usage, causing some institutions
to limit services offered. One accountability mechanism available for college counseling centers in the midst of varying priorities is the accreditation process. The International Accreditation of Counseling Services (IACS) is seen as the premiere institution for setting college counseling standards and accrediting college counseling centers. At eleven public peer institutions, five are accredited by IACS and six are not. This study utilizes a combination of interview data, as well as comparison of counseling center policies and services, to investigate whether accreditation status impacts the policies and services offered at college counseling centers. The policy comparison found that there was no significant difference in compliance to IACS standards between the sample that was accredited versus the sample that was not. Data from interviews with counseling center staff was utilized to contextualize these results and discuss perceived benefits and costs of accreditation. After summarizing the main findings, the conclusion outlines how counseling centers can use this information going forward to assess their own policies and accreditation processes, as well as how further research can expand on details and trends from this study.Bachelor of Art
Human rights and Non-Communicable Diseases:Controlling Tobacco and Promoting Healthy Diets
Full text linkThis chapter explores how human rights principles, standards, and mechanisms can be applied to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs are now responsible for the vast majority of deaths worldwide. There is widespread recognition that four behavioral risk factors are at the root of the major NCDs: tobacco use, unhealthy diet, lack of physical exercise, and the harmful use of alcohol. It is widely understood that law and policy measures, including bans and price measures, are important tools for implementing structural and risk avoidance strategies and for changing unhealthy behaviors. Human rights scholars and practitioners increasingly emphasize the human rights dimensions of the NCD pandemic as a basis to develop laws and policies to address risk factors and prevent disease. This chapter outlines the current human rights dimensions and approaches to risk factors and suggests opportunities to strengthen legal obligations to respond to NCDs, with an emphasis on controlling tobacco and promoting healthy diets
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