Mainstreaming disability in the United Nations treaty bodies

As of the beginning of this century, the United Nations (UN) human rights system had comprehensively elided persons with disabilities from its purview. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) responded to this lacuna in 2006. The CRPD obligates states parties to mainstream disability by protecting and promoting the human rights of persons with disabilities in all policies and programs and intersects disability with other discriminated-against populations. This article investigates the success of the UN in mainstreaming disability throughout its human rights treaty bodies over the period 2000–2014 by comparing the seven years before and the eight years after the CRPD's adoption for six core UN treaty bodies. In doing so, the article provides initial and unique insight into how well the UN implements human rights norms into treaty bodies and provides a template for future research on the inclusion of vulnerable group-based rights in the UN and beyond. Despite some significant variations between treaty bodies, we find an overall dramatic increase in the quantitative incidence of disability rights being referenced. Nevertheless, a closer look into the practices of two treaty bodies shows that the human rights of persons with disabilities, while noted by those bodies, are included fully only on occasion. For the UN to truly mainstream disability (or other) human rights, those rights must go beyond mere formal references and also be substantively integrated.     

The contested nature of Afro-descendant quilombo land claims in Brazil

In Brazil, Afro-descendant quilombola communities were for the first time in history recognised as legal rights-holders to land in the 1988 constitution – 100 years after the abolition of slavery. Drawing on fieldwork in the quilombo Bombas in the state of São Paulo, and a review of relevant literature, this contribution explores the historical trajectory of the constitutional quilombo provision and how it has been translated into practice. Combining a discussion of the use of self-identification and the concepts of ‘regulation’, ‘force’, ‘market’ and ‘legitimation’ when analysing the dynamics of access and exclusion, we show how struggles over land are simultaneously enacted in controversies over the meanings of quilombola identity and its implications.     

Stalking experiences reported by Norwegian members of Parliament compared to a population sample

Background: This study investigates experiences of stalking among members of the Norwegian Parliament and compared them to findings of a Norwegian population sample. Material and methods: In autumn 2012, all 169 members of Parliament (MPs) got a questionnaire with a general section ending with screening for stalking experiences. In case of positive screening, the MPs should give more details on their experiences. The population sample responded to a more extensive version of the same questionnaire. Results: The response rate was 59%, but only 95 MPs delivered valid questionnaires. The MPs reported higher prevalence rates of current stalking than the population sample. Previous stalking rates were higher among population. The MPs had less direct contact with stalkers and used more non-contact coping styles compared to the population. Conclusion: MPs experienced more current stalking than the population sample; otherwise, the picture of stalking of MPs was more nuanced than previously reported.     

How Has Living with Intimate Partner Violence Affected the Work Situation? A Qualitative Study among Abused Women in Norway

A qualitative study was conducted among 18 abused women from different parts of Norway to explore what paid work means for women exposed to partner violence and how living with an abusive partner affected their working life. Based on systematic text condensation analyses of their experiences as described in individual and focus group interviews, the study’s findings reveal two major themes. The first is about recovery and survival, and the other about the spillover of problems caused by a violent partner into paid work. Work was important to the women, as it represented time off from violence, contact with others who cared for them, and maintenance of self-esteem and self-confidence. Having their own money provided security and strengthened the belief that they could manage on their own. The spillover of intimate partner violence problems appeared through feelings of fear, shame and guilt at work.     

Social Control and Emancipation ? Ambiguities in Child Welfare

Child welfare may be regarded either as a tool used by the authorities to exercise social control over family life, or as a weapon supporting the cause of children, striving to emancipate them from both parental and societal neglect or oppression. Research into Norwegian child welfare in the period since the Second World War reveals an ambiguous picture: the intervention of the state into family life signals both tightening social control of all family members and emancipation of the less powerful from patriarchal rule. As the rights and needs of children are considered more important, the control of parents, especially the mother, is increased. The central position of children and their interests have been strengthened in child welfare legislation. However, it is not the child, but the child welfare officials who define what is 'in the best interest of the child'. Post-war development has not granted children autonomy. Child welfare legislation is still mainly paternalistic. In child welfare casework, there is a danger that the lived experience of the child never emerges from the shadows cast by the interaction between adults. In relation to older children who came in contact with child welfare primarily because of their own problem behaviour, the ambiguity of emancipation and control has taken a somewhat different shape. The authorities wanted to keep these children out of prison. Humanitarian considerations, however, have been coupled with hopes of more effective crime prevention. In the postwar years, misbehaving children were also embraced by the increasing importance of 'the best interest of the child' as the main objective in child welfare decisions. In order to secure both emancipation and control, 'the best interest of the child' and the state's interest in preventing crime had to be understood as one and the same.     

End Impunity! Reducing Conflict‐Related Sexual Violence to a Problem of Law

Whilst sexual violence has been an offence associated both with war‐ and peacetime throughout history, its rise to the tables where international peace and security are negotiated, represents a significant shift. This article continues the scholarly conversation about conflict‐related sexual violence and its emergence as a “hot topic” on academic, political, and activist agendas. Specifically, we ask how and why criminal law constitutes the ultimately meaningful response to such violence. Building on frame analysis, we address how the fight against conflict‐related sexual violence has become the fight against impunity. We examine what imageries of victims and perpetrators, causes and consequences key actors within interstate diplomacy and human rights advocacy evoke to drive this development. We argue that these narratives shape the political discourse on conflict‐related sexual violence, which may in turn influence the perceived political maneuverability in the face of such harms.     

‘Land yes,dam no!’ Justice-seeking strategies by the anti-dam movement in the Ribeira Valley,Brazil

This contribution examines how and with what effects the Movement of People Threatened by Dams (MOAB) in the Ribeira Valley, Brazil, works at various scales simultaneously. It is argued that MOAB was kicked off by mobilising Afro-descendants around livelihood issues, and that one of the first anti-dam strategies was to claim quilombola recognition and land rights at the state level. MOAB soon expanded its network and broadened its agenda to include procedural justice, targeting federal and international agencies for recourse. The paper concludes that MOAB has successfully used different scales for framing, mobilisation and action, which has contributed to the dam project being put on hold for almost three decades.     

Mediatization of Public Bureaucracies: Administrative versus Political Loyalty

This article analyzes the influence of the media on the central Norwegian immigration administration. Through behind‐the‐scenes ethnographic methods, it explores how key bureaucratic values such as impartiality, neutrality and loyalty are challenged and modified by the impact of the news media. A key question is to what extent this process of mediatization overlaps with a more general trend of politicization of the civil service. The article first documents that media pressure generates comprehensive strategies aimed at servicing the press, but also different types of information control and internal steering. Second, it describes how media management has become an important concern within public administration, which identifies strongly with the bureaucratic system and its values, and protects and defends it in the media. The article introduces the term ‘administrative loyalty’ to describe these practices and standards that go beyond the imperative to loyally serve the media‐related needs of political superiors.     

Mediated Agency,Blame Avoidance and Institutional Responsibility: Government Communication in a Personalised Media Landscape

This article explores how personalisation, blame avoidance and institutional constraints collide in contemporary government communication practices. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a Norwegian ministry, it analyses how a central government agency manages the media during critical news campaigns featuring individuals suffering from inadequate public health services. To provide a comprehensive analysis of the particular limits and aims of government communication, the article combines perspectives from public agency studies with media research on personalisation. It finds that the need to be visible and demonstrate agency in the media drive personalisation strategies towards a strong focus on government leaders, while simplifying the representation of complex government organisation and processes. At the same time, institutional constraints and the formal delegation of responsibility limit the communication repertoire available for public agencies when critical human interest stories dominate in the media. This results in a standard type of unconvincing media performance, where incumbents appear to evade direct personal responsibility. The case study provides new knowledge on dilemmas, negotiations and strategies behind government communication, illuminating how competing interests play out in a rapidly changing media landscape.