PUBLICATIONS

Author: Tata Varadashvili May 14, 2026 [Image credit: RDNE Stock Project via Pexels] Introduction Domestic Violence (DV) in Georgia is a significant human rights issue that is deeply rooted in social and institutional structures. Domestic Violence within families has long been regarded as a private matter, shielded by societal norms and patriarchal traditions, and largely invisible to public authorities. The invisibility or even ignorance has contributed to the normalized ac

Author: Laura Pettigrew May 13, 2026 [Image credit: Tyrone Madera via Wikimedia Commons] Introduction In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the United Nations listed the right to housing as a basic human right, stating that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services” (Article 25). The Office of the United Nat

Author: Ryan Kemp, JD May 12, 2026 [Image credit: The U.S. Supreme Court, Mahmoud v. Taylor case document] Mahmoud V. Taylor Mahmoud v. Taylor, 606 U.S.__ (2025) (Taylor) is a United States Supreme Court decision that fundamentally changed the way educators and schools teach in the classroom. It enables a slippery slope about what can and cannot be included in the public education system. In 2023, the Montgomery County Board of Education, in the State of Maryland, introduce

Author: Emma Nelson May 7, 2026 European Parliament in Brussels [Image credit: Wikimedia Commons] Corporations are deeply embedded in the global economic systems that shape labor conditions and resource extraction worldwide, but what counts as a corporate human rights obligation has long been contested. For years, the international standards governing business conduct have relied on voluntary guidelines and reputational pressure rather than binding legal requirements. In June

Author: Eirini Triantafyllidou May 6, 2026 [Image credit: World Meteorological Organization] Introduction According to the United Nations, climate change refers to long-term changes in temperature and weather patterns. While such changes historically occurred due to natural processes, since the Industrial Revolution, they have been primarily driven by human activities. The burning of fossil fuels, along with industrial agriculture and other human activities, has significantly

Author: Natalie Bello, PhD May 5, 2026 Athlete in a Wheelchair Race on City Street [Image credit: C. AG TRAPHAUS via Pexels] Every two years, the world tunes in for either the Summer or Winter Olympics, admiring the athletic successes of primarily non-disabled competitors. Following the Olympics, Paralympic athletes start their competitions. The Paralympics is meant to be parallel to the Olympics, “illustrating how the two movements exist side-by-side,” (International Paralym

Author: Kaitlyn V. Andres, MPH & MS April 30, 2026 A woman with transverse myelitis gets an ultrasound while in her wheelchair at the Accessible Care Pregnancy Clinic at Sunnybrook, a clinic for pregnant women with physical disabilities. [Image credit: Doug Nicholson] Introduction Considering that almost 25% of the United States (U.S.) population has some sort of disability, it is alarming that the presence of a disability is tied to barriers in seeking health care.1 Compar

Author: Jasper Kelsey April 29, 2026 UN peacekeepers patrol the streets in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo [Image credit: Safi Erneste via Pexels] The modern history of human rights is inextricably tied to war and international conflict. Following the atrocities carried out during World War II, and the establishment of the United Nations, the international community affirmed that humanity possesses inherent rights that must be protected. The Universal Declaration of Human

Author: Thomas Shacklock, MSc April 28, 2026 Holocaust Memorial, Berlin [Image credit: Pexels] Genocide is a mass atrocity that can, according to the 1948 U.N. Genocide Convention, entail any of several fatal and non-fatal tactics driven by the specific intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group “in whole or in part”. The word “genocide” was coined by Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, and the Genocide Convention was adopted following the Holocaust, th

Author: Nadia Nasri April 23, 2026 Women in traditional burqas in Afghanistan [Image credit: Faruk Tokluoğlu via Pexels] The Taliban’s new penal code, the “Criminal Procedural Regulations for Courts,” took immediate effect after being signed into law by the Taliban’s supreme leader in January of this year. With the adoption of this new penal code, women in Afghanistan now face increased subjugation in a country where their rights were already extremely limited. The penal code