Human Rights Issues And Vulnerable Groups

This volume covers topics related to human rights issues and problems of people who are overwhelmed by hostile situations around them and are subsequently rendered vulnerable. The situations of vulnerability discussed in this book are related to suffering caused by the moral, family, social, economic or political conditions in which the people, and the groups they belong to, live. Readers are guided through a discussion about rights, as an instrument through which civil society and the ‘Rule of Law’ try to curb or even eliminate the suffering of these people. The aim of such efforts is to restore the situation of vulnerable people to a level of normality. Human Rights Issues and Vulnerable Groups presents a discussion of issues surrounding several kinds of vulnerable groups: minorities, children, gender groups, persons with disabilities, migrants, cultural groups, displaced persons, victims of terrorism, linguistic groups, poor people, people in prison and sexual minorities. The book is a detailed reference for graduates and scholars in law, political science, sociology and social psychology. The volume is also recommended for working professionals who operate with human rights groups and general readers (non-experts) who want to understand the discourse about human rights in a holistic (moral, legal, social, economic, and political) framework.

The protection of vulnerable groups varies under international human rights law. Depending on the group at stake, protection may be more or less advanced. In some cases, the international community has deemed it necessary to adopt conventions providing for the rights of certain vulnerable groups and establishing mechanisms to verify State compliance. Other groups have not been the focus of States’ standard-setting endeavours, but their protection still falls within the scope of human rights treaties of general application and the mandate of their respective monitoring bodies. This book takes an innovative approach to the investigation of the international legal protection of vulnerable groups. Rather than examining the situation of a number of vulnerable groups and applicable international or regional conventions, this book reviews the overall scope of the protection of vulnerable groups under International Human Rights Law. This book conceptualizes the protection of vulnerable groups as an underlying and essential component of International Human Rights Law through a systematic and comprehensive analysis of international human rights law instruments and relevant practice of international and regional human rights monitoring bodies. The book illuminates how human rights monitoring bodies foster protection of vulnerable groups and their members at the domestic level, and underscores and assesses vulnerability paradigms these bodies have elaborated. The book also puts forward a legal definition of vulnerable groups. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of international human rights law.

Human Rights and Social Justice: Key Issues and Vulnerable Populations is a comprehensive text that focuses on central issues of human rights and justice and links them directly with social work competencies and practice. Drawing attention to oppression and multiple forms of disadvantage and discrimination based on a person’s identity and social location, this volume develops an integrated framework to advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice with vulnerable populations and communities across all three levels of practice. Each chapter, written by leading scholars in their respective fields, is designed to enhance students’ awareness, knowledge, and understanding of key theories and issues related to diversity, human rights, and equity. Broken into sections providing theory, practice, and case study illustrations, the chapters will first explain and argue that each person, regardless of their position in society, has basic human rights. Students will then see how these knowledges translate into practice through clear and engaging cases that reinforce skills and behaviors that social workers may use to advocate for human rights and ensure that they are distributed equitably and without prejudice. Providing a broad overview of social justice and rights-based challenges and connecting theory to the profession’s core competencies, this book is an excellent companion for social work students and faculty engaged in foundation and advanced courses in practice with individuals, groups, and communities and diversity and oppression.

The protection of vulnerable groups varies under international human rights law. Depending on the group at stake, protection may be more or less advanced. In some cases, the international community has deemed it necessary to adopt conventions providing for the rights of certain vulnerable groups and establishing mechanisms to verify State compliance. Other groups have not been the focus of States' standard-setting endeavours, but their protection still falls within the scope of human rights treaties of general application and the mandate of their respective monitoring bodies. This book takes an innovative approach to the investigation of the international legal protection of vulnerable groups. Rather than examining the situation of a number of vulnerable groups and applicable international or regional conventions, this book reviews the overall scope of the protection of vulnerable groups under International Human Rights Law. This book conceptualizes the protection of vulnerable groups as an underlying and essential component of International Human Rights Law through a systematic and comprehensive analysis of international human rights law instruments and relevant practice of international and regional human rights monitoring bodies. The book illuminates how human rights monitoring bodies foster protection of vulnerable groups and their members at the domestic level, and underscores and assesses vulnerability paradigms these bodies have elaborated. The book also puts forward a legal definition of vulnerable groups. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of international human rights law.

This insightful volume addresses human rights from the perspective of those groups whose rights are especially vulnerable to abuse, with particular reference to stateless or internally-displaced persons, linguistic, cultural and sexual minorities and disabled people. Professor Weissbrodt and Professor Rumsey have brought together a comprehensive selection which elucidates the problems common to all vulnerable groups and provides a deeper understanding of their situation. In their original introduction the editors discuss the question of protecting group rights in international law and provide an authoritative overview of the issues raised. The volume will be an invaluable reference source for scholars and practitioners interested in human rights law and will also appeal to scholars in the fields of philosophy, human rights theory and disability studies.

For over 70 years, the United Nations has worked to advance human conditions globally through its historic agenda for a more peaceful, prosperous, and just world. Through the work of the General Assembly and other programs like the UNESCO World Conferences on Adult Education, the organization has taken a leading role in bringing world leaders together to dialogue on world issues and to set agendas for advancing social and economic justice among and within the regions of the world. The underlying themes of the United Nations' agenda over the years have been world peace, economic justice, addressing the needs of the world's most vulnerable populations, and protecting the environment. We draw from the two last two declarations from which the Millennium Development Goals (September 2000) and the Sustainable Development Goals (September 2015) were adopted by world leaders with a focus on addressing the needs of the most vulnerable populations. In this declaration, world leaders committed to uphold the long-standing principles of the organization and to combat extreme poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination and violence against women. The overall objective of the book is to highlight the conditions of vulnerable populations from various contexts globally, and the role adult and higher education can play (and is playing) in advancing the United Nations agenda of social and economic justice and environmental sustainability. Adult education, through research, teaching, and service engagements is contributing to this ongoing effort but as many scholars have noted, our work remains invisible and undocumented. Therefore, this book highlights adult education's critical partnership in addressing these global issues. It will also begin to fill the void that exists in adult education literature on internationalization of the field.

In an era of almost boundless individual opportunities, vulnerability, paradoxically, has gained significant attention. Undoubtedly this book significantly contributes to the debates on this very complex phenomenon, dealing with both the specific aspects of vulnerable individuals and groups' legal positions, as well as presenting the concept of vulnerability in international law. This book brings together scholars engaging with legal and actual positions of women, children and other vulnerable persons. Authors in detail discuss - among others - such issues as: political violence, motherhood in prison, age assessing of foreigners, infanticide or exclusion of the elderly. It will be of interest for academics in the fields of law and sociology, as well as vulnerability-oriented practitioners.