Abstract – Terwindt

Health Rights Litigation Pushes for Accountability in Clinical Trials in India Carolijn Terwindt Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 In 2009, around 24,000 girls in India were enrolled in a human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination program that was later reviewed to investigate allegations of informed consent irregularities and inadequate monitoring. If the allegations are found to be correct, the clinical trial will have violated core human rights, including the right to health. Unfortunately, such irregularities…

Abstract – Barcellos

Sanitation Rights, Public Law Litigation, and Inequality: A Case Study from Brazil Ana Paula de Barcellos Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 Public law litigation has been used in many places to advance human rights related to health. In Brazil, such lawsuits usually request that the government pay for pharmaceuticals to individuals. But could litigation play a role in shaping public health policies to benefit communities? To explore this question,…

Abstract – Arps, Golichenko

Sex Workers, Unite! (Litigating for Sex Workers’ Freedom of Association in Russia) F. S. E. (Freddie) Arps and Mikhail Golichenko Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 The existing legal framework in Russia makes sex work and related activities punishable offenses, leaving sex workers stigmatized, vulnerable to violence, and disproportionally affected by HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. In 2013, the Ministry of Justice, supported by the courts, refused registration and…

Abstract – Dignam, Adashi

Health Rights in the Balance: The Case Against Perinatal Shackling of Women Behind Bars Brett Dignam and Eli Y. Adashi Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 Rationalized for decades on security grounds, perinatal shackling entails the application of handcuffs, leg irons, and/or waist shackles to the incarcerated woman prior to, during, and after labor and delivery. During labor and delivery proper, perinatal shackling may entail chaining women to the hospital…

Sex Workers, Unite! (Litigating for Sex Workers’ Freedom of Association in Russia)

F. S. E. (Freddie) Arps and Mikhail Golichenko Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 Abstract The existing legal framework in Russia makes sex work and related activities punishable offenses, leaving sex workers stigmatized, vulnerable to violence, and disproportionally affected by HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. In 2013, the Ministry of Justice, supported by the courts, refused registration and official recognition to the first all-Russia association of sex workers, referring…

Sexual and Reproductive Rights Litigation Draws World Experts

Published November 25, 2014 Health rights litigation is receiving much attention at Harvard’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights and Harvard Law School. Under the direction of FXB policy director Alicia Ely Yamin, the Center recently hosted the third annual course on health rights litigation as part of the Global School on Socioeconomic Rights. This year’s course focused exclusively on sexual and reproductive rights (SRR) litigation, including such topics…

Ebola and Human Rights: Insight from Experts

By Patrick Donnelly Published November 20, 2014 Ebola demonstrates the critical link between health and human rights, the lack of governance, and the misdirection that befalls the international community in addressing such outbreaks. Human rights experts agree that the Ebola response falls into Lawrence Gostin’s paradigm whereby “the perception persists that disease threats originate in the global South, requiring international law to prevent their spread to affluent regions.”1 In the…

Health Rights Litigation Pushes for Accountability in Clinical Trials in India

Carolijn Terwindt Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 Abstract In 2009, around 24,000 girls in India were enrolled in a human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination program that was later reviewed to investigate allegations of informed consent irregularities and inadequate monitoring. If the allegations are found to be correct, the clinical trial will have violated core human rights, including the right to health. Unfortunately, such irregularities are not unheard of in…

Right to Health Encompasses Right to Access Essential Generic Medicines: Challenging the 2008 Anti-Counterfeit Act in Kenya

Allan Maleche and Emma Day Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/2 Abstract To what extent has the right to access generic HIV medication been implemented in Kenya for the 1.6 million people living with HIV? How does this relate to the right to health under international and national law? This paper examines a constitutional challenge brought to the High Court of Kenya in 2009 (the “Anti-Counterfeit Case”) against the Anti-Counterfeit…

Sex Work and Trafficking: Can Human Rights Lead Us Out of the Impasse?

Tripti Tandon, Gabriel Armas-Cardona, Anand Grover Sex work and its relationship to trafficking is one of the more divisive policy issues of our times, as seen in the ongoing debate in Canada over a bill that views prostitution as inherently dangerous, affecting vulnerable women and offending their dignity.[1] At the risk of over-simplification, the two perspectives on sex work are: i) it is seen as a cause or consequence of,…