Human rights

Human rights, inherent to all individuals regardless of nationality, sex, ethnicity, or any other status, play a pivotal role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations. These 17 global targets, established in 2015, envision a future where poverty, inequality, and climate change are eradicated, with human rights at the core. Goal 1, for example, aims to end poverty in all its forms, a direct echo of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25, asserting the right to an adequate standard of living. Similarly, Goal 5 of the SDGs, aimed at achieving gender equality, is intimately linked with the human right to non-discrimination, as stipulated by Article 2 of the Declaration. Climate action, Goal 13, is interconnected with the rights to life, health, and development, making climate change not just an environmental issue, but a human rights issue. The eradication of hunger, goal 2, links with the right to food, and quality education, goal 4, enshrines the right to education. Each SDG, directly or indirectly, resonates with one or more human rights, demonstrating the inextricable tie between them. The realization of human rights, in turn, contributes to the achievement of the SDGs, as it leads to social justice, peace, and sustainable development. Thus, any strategy for the successful implementation of the SDGs must place a particular emphasis on the respect, protection, and fulfillment of human rights. It is vital to recognize that the SDGs and human rights are not separate agendas, but intertwined elements of a broader, universal commitment to a more equitable, sustainable, and inclusive world.

Introduction: Clitoral reconstruction (CR) is a controversial surgical procedure performed for women who have undergone medically unnecessary, often ritualistic genital cutting involving the clitoris. Such cutting is known by several terms; we will use female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). Treatments offered to women affected by complications of FGM/C include defibulation (releasing the scar of infibulation to allow penetrative intercourse, urinary flow, physiological delivery, and menstruation) and CR to decrease pain, improve sexual response, and create a pre-FGM/C genital appearance.
The health sector has an important role to play in terms of offering culturally appropriate and relevant care, tackling racism in the health care sector, improving engagement with Indigenous partners, and advocating for decolonizing policies that give control of health and wellness to the Indigenous people of Canada.
Elsevier,

Preventing Domestic Homicides, Lessons Learned from Tragedies, 2020, Pages 39-61

This chapter supports SDGs 3, 5 and 16 by examining domestic homicides in rural communities, providing insights into their prevalence, risk factors, case studies, and prevention.
Elsevier,

Preventing Domestic Homicides, Lessons Learned from Tragedies, 2020, Pages 209-231

This chapter supports SDGs 3, 5 and 16 by analyzing violence and homicide in a workplace setting, reviewing impact and case studies, and offering recommendations and potential approaches to prevention.
Elsevier, The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, Volume 4, March 2020
Background: Sexual harassment of women in academic medicine may impede advancement and productivity. This study analyzes the longitudinal effects of sexual harassment on academic advancement and productivity among women. Methods: We undertook a longitudinal analysis to predict effects of sexual harassment reported in 1995 on career outcomes measured in 2012–13, among a sample of women in academic medicine (N = 1273) recruited from 24 U.S. medical schools.
Background: Innovative solutions are required to provide mental health support at scale in low-resource humanitarian contexts. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of a facilitator-guided, group-based, self-help intervention (Self-Help Plus) to reduce psychological distress in female refugees. Methods: We did a cluster randomised trial in rural refugee settlements in northern Uganda. Participants were female South Sudanese refugees with at least moderate levels of psychological distress (cutoff ≥5 on the Kessler 6).
Elsevier, International Journal of Educational Research, Volume 102, 2020
While most curricula addressing violence and peace are developed in privileged contexts, this paper reconsiders existing approaches to peace education from the perspective of communities affected by high levels of violence. In-depth analysis of the educational goals and practices of teachers in Brazilian slums demonstrates how they construct different levels of resistance to violence despite contextual restrictions. Teachers combined a restrictive approach with an ethic of care to create peaceful alternatives, while making use of their community position.

Psychological abuse within intimate relationships is linked to negative health outcomes among women and is frequently identified as more wounding than physical or sexual violence. There is little agreement, however, on how to conceptualize or measure the phenomenon, despite measurement being necessary to estimate the prevalence of psychological abuse, establish its interaction with physical and sexual violence, assess its health impacts, and monitor progress towards global Sustainable Development Goals.

This chapter advances SDGs 3, 5 and 16 by offering a call to action to everybody to understand domestic abuse, impacts and factors involved, and psychological needs.

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