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 Abstract 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 bed by the ankle, wrist, or both. Medically untenable, legally challenged, and ever…

WHO Climate Change Conference: Immediate Health Benefits Possible

Posted September 2, 2014 The first-ever global conference on health and climate change was hosted by WHO in Geneva from August 27-29. More than 300 invited participants attended the three-day forum, including UN agency heads, government officials, health and climate experts, and NGO representatives. In her opening remarks, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said, “The evidence is overwhelming: climate change endangers human health. Solutions exist and we need to act decisively to…

Using a Reporting System to Protect the Human Rights of People Living with HIV and Key Populations: A Conceptual Framework

R. Taylor Williamson, Peter Wondergem, Richard N. Amenyah Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/1  Abstract Human rights of people living with HIV (PLHIV) and key populations most affected by HIV are often violated, with negative implications for health outcomes. To facilitate access to justice in Ghana, a consortium of partners developed a web-based discrimination reporting system. The reporting system= links the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to…

Foreword

Mary Robinson Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/1 I am delighted to welcome this special issue of the Health and Human Rights Journal, dedicated to exploring a subject matter extremely close to my heart—climate justice. In recent years, climate justice is emerging as a discipline that addresses the interlinked challenges of climate change, human rights, and development. At a time when the need for multidisciplinary research is gaining ground, climate…

Prioritizing Health: A Human Rights Analysis of Disaster, Vulnerability, and Urbanization in New Orleans and Port-au-Prince

Jean Carmalt Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/1 Abstract Climate change prompts increased urbanization and vulnerability to natural hazards. Urbanization processes are relevant to a right to health analysis of natural hazards because they can exacerbate pre-disaster inequalities that create vulnerability. The 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince and the 2005 hurricane in New Orleans provide vivid illustrations of the relationship between spatial inequality and the threats associated with natural hazards. The…

Depressive Symptoms Among Arab Bedouin Women Whose Houses are Under Threat of Demolition in Southern Israel: A Right to Housing Issue

Nihaya Daoud and Yousef Jabareen Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/1 Abstract Housing is a fundamental human right and a social determinant of health. According to international law, indigenous peoples are entitled to special housing and health rights and protections. In Israel, land disputes between the government and Arab Bedouins, an indigenous minority, have resulted in ongoing demolitions of Arab Bedouin homes, with thousands more homes threatened. While demolitions could…

Rising Oceans, Climate Change, Food Aid, and Human Rights in the Marshall Islands

Ingrid Ahlgren, Seiji Yamada, and Allen Wong Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/1 Abstract Climate change impacts are expected to produce more frequent, longer and unpredictable drought periods with further saltwater intrusion in the Marshall Islands. As a result, a significant return to traditional food cropping is unlikely. This will lead to an increased dependence on food aid, especially in the outer atoll populations. An examination of the nutritional content…

Wrong Side of the Tracks: The Neglected Human Costs of Transporting Oil and Gas

Lloyd Burton and Paul Stretesky Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/1 Abstract The connection between human rights and climate change is most evident when examining carbon dioxide emissions that result from burning fossil fuels (e.g., sea level rise and displaced coastal cultures). However, the transport of fossil fuels also has human rights implications for human rights and climate change. This research focuses on the health and safety risks inflicted on…

Climate Change and the Right to Health for Māori in Aotearoa/New Zealand

Rhys Jones, Hayley Bennett, Gay Keating, Alison Blaiklock Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/1 Abstract Climate change is widely regarded as one of the most serious global health threats of the 21st century. Its impacts will be disproportionately borne by the most disadvantaged populations, including indigenous peoples. For Māori in Aotearoa/New Zealand, as with other indigenous peoples worldwide, colonization has led to dispossession of land, destabilization of cultural foundations, and…

Climate Change, Children’s Rights, and the Pursuit of Intergenerational Climate Justice

Elizabeth D. Gibbons Health and Human Rights 2014, 16/1 Abstract Frequently forgotten in the global discussions and agreements on climate change are children and young people, who both disproportionately suffer the consequences of a rapidly changing climate, yet also offer innovative solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (climate change mitigation) and adapt to climate change. Existing evidence is presented of the disproportionately harmful impact of climate-induced changes in precipitation and…