Student Journal for the Study of Human Rights

Spring Issue 2024

Sophia Corbisiero — Tue, 07 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

SJSHR Spring 2024 | Volume I

Table of Contents

Section I - Socio-Economic Rights

Care to work? Policy Considerations for Engaging Jordanian Women in the Workforce by Elizabeth Hudler

Dilemma between Economic Incentives and the Public Provision of Welfare:SER Trade-offs in China’s economic development and its healthcare reforms, 1979~2022 by Yutong Zheng

Providing Health Care but Receiving None in Return:An Expanded Right to Health Analysis of the Live-In Caregiver Program of Canada (1992-2014) by Claire Ellis

Revising the ICESCR’s individual complaint mechanism: the transformative potential of a right to a “dignified minimum existence” for the CESCR’s standards of review by Clémence Françoise Roy

Section II - Indigenous Peoples Rights

Lack of rights: Indigenous Peoples in French Guiana by Elliot Mur

The Intersectionality of Conflicts in Micronesia and Hawaii: Through My Eyes by Ed Yeichy

Care to work? Policy Considerations for Engaging Jordanian Women in the Workforce

Elizabeth Hudler — Tue, 07 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenge of adapting care and family policies to the government of Jordan’s objectives, from economic development goals to maintaining social norms. Motives for interventions seem to signal an interest in gender equity and concerns around child development and family preservation. Indeed, for some, Jordan’s emerging caregiving market (and other liberal policies) might signal an easing in archetypal gendered norms around caregiving, domestic work, and women’s roles inside and outside of the public spheres. However, an analysis of the theory underlying care work and social reproduction along with a review of Jordanian social perceptions—among men and women alike—hints at a potential gap in policy. The paper challenges policymakers to consider the stubborn female labor force participation rate differently. The paper starts by untangling feminist theories around care and work. It then explores Jordan’s specific context regarding norms and perceptions around gender and work and gender and care. From there, it reviews and analyzes Jordan’s policies and presents opportunities for policymaking.

Dilemma between Economic Incentives and the Public Provision of Welfare: SER Trade-offs in China’s economic development and its healthcare reforms, 1979~2022

Yutong Zheng — Tue, 07 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

China experienced drastic economic development over the past decades, beginning with its Open-Door policy in the 1980s which led to its entrance into the world capitalist liberal trade economy. Throughout the process, both the public and private sectors underwent substantial structural reforms and transformations which led to changes in the citizens’ lives in relation to their access to social welfare and services. As a country that has ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), China’s healthcare system will be examined in this paper under the extent to which it has fulfilled the state’s obligations discussed by the ICESCR regarding the principles of substantive equality and non-discrimination. A comparison will be made between rural and urban areas’ healthcare provisions, and the population of rural migrant workers who work in urban areas will be of special concern.

Providing Health Care but Receiving None in Return: An Expanded Right to Health Analysis of the Live-In Caregiver Program of Canada (1992-2014)

Claire Ellis — Tue, 07 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Canada’s robust universal, single-payer healthcare system has long made socio-economic rights (SER) advocates in the United States envious of our neighbors to the north. Fundamental human rights tenants echo in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including non-discrimination and individual freedom, yet the “right to health” has not been constitutionalized at the moment this essay was written.1 While Canada has a strong track record of signing international human rights conventions and guaranteeing the right to health for permanent citizens, there remains a gap in the health rights of migrant workers, even in regular situations or formalized citizenship pathways. Ever-changing legal qualifications for permanent residency and arbitrary three-month waiting periods for healthcare coverage to come into effect make securing the right to health for even the most highly desirable workers—namely, healthcare workers in private households—a thorny task. The motto for Canada’s paradoxical commitment to the socio-economic rights of migrant workers might be, as Toronto doctors Ritika Goel and Michaela Beder aptly articulate in the title of their medical journal op-ed, “Welcome to Canada...but don’t get sick.”

Revising the ICESCR’s individual complaint mechanism: the transformative potential of a right to a “dignified minimum existence” for the CESCR’s standards of review.

Clémence Roy — Tue, 07 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Drawing from an analysis of Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court’s (FCC), the South African Constitutional Court’s (SACC), and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ (IACtHR) jurisprudence, this paper will assess whether their respective methods of adjudication of the right to a dignified minimum existence provide promising alternatives to the CESCR’s current standards of review (the ‘minimum core’ approach and the ‘reasonableness test.’) More precisely, this paper will weigh on the following interrogation: how might the adoption of the right to a dignified minimum existence advance the CESCR’s standards of review for individual complaints?

This essay will first analyze how the non-quantifiable and abstract character of this right could offer the CESCR the possibility to circumvent the practical requirements imposed by a ‘minimum core’ approach (I); before delving into the right’s potential to re-model the ‘reasonableness test’ to help inform the CESCR’s adjudicative methodology when assessing individual complaints indicative of highly precarious circumstances (II).

Indigenous Peoples in French Guiana: will France ever recognize their right to self-determination, land, territory, biodiversity and Free, Prior and Informed Consent?

Elliot Mur — Tue, 07 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

French Guiana, located in South America, hosts over 10,000 Indigenous Peoples, principally the Kali’na Tileuyu, Lokono and Pahikweneh, Wayãpi, Teko and Wayana people. Despite making up around 4% of the total population, Indigenous Peoples in French Guiana continue to face systematic challenges in being able to fully enjoy their human rights and rights as Indigenous Peoples. As an overseas territory of France, French Guiana falls under the governance of France and is fully integrated as an overseas department, separate from other overseas territories such as New Caledonia. This full integration has classified Indigenous Peoples as French People, making it not only difficult to get estimates of the actual number of Indigenous Peoples in French Guiana as the French Constitution prohibits ethnic statistics, but also prevent the ability of Indigenous Peoples to obtain their right to self-determination and control over their own land as provided in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Therefore, this paper will discuss the violations of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples committed by France that hinders their attainment to their fundamental freedoms and basic human rights. To do so, this paper will firstly begin by discussing the implementation of the UNDRIP in French Guiana in reference to several articles. In explaining the various articles, it will demonstrate how the French government’s recent actions continue to lead to the destruction of Indigenous territories and threaten their survival. Moreover, this paper will focus on articles 3, 10, 25, 29 which pertain to the right to self-determination, the right to land and territories, and the right to protect biodiversity. These rights alongside the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) should allow Indigenous Peoples to exercise control over decisions that essentially affect not only their way of life but also their existence, particularly considering the history of Indigenous Peoples that have frequently been the “first victims of development activities.”

The Intersectionality of Conflicts in Micronesia and Hawaii: Through My Eyes

Ed Ateria Yeichy — Tue, 07 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Born to two aliens, who each suppose that we do not belong, I roamed the seemingly unfamiliar landscapes of Hawaiʻi– desperately searching for a place and a voice. I only ask for one thing: accept me as I am, I certainly do come in peace. Born in Hawaiʻi and raised by an alienated family, I was exposed to a number of unique and distinct cultures: Samoans and Tongans performed their own versions of the Haka, Filipinos served their popular chicken adobo dish, and Hawaiians gathered around the lūʻau. Despite being exposed to the unique cultures of Samoans, Tongans, Filipinos, and Hawaiians, I struggled to find a sense of belonging. I felt as though my voice and my culture were not fit to the local kine way of Hawaiʻi. Enveloped by the rich traditions of the islands, I found myself in a paradoxical position– I was surrounded by the vibrant tapestry of Oceanic cultures, yet I felt like an outsider, a mere observer amidst the diversity. To many, I was labeled as a cockroach, a derogatory term used to disparage Micronesians due to their perceived rapid population growth in Hawaiʻi. Micronesians, since migrating to Hawaiʻi starting in the late 1980s, are considered to be a fairly new ethnic group. For that reason, we are often misidentified and tossed into other Pacific islander categories. Worst of all, we are often harassed for being too different. This discrimination and harassment only grew worse as time went on, which amplified the already difficult challenge of finding a place and a voice in Hawaiʻi. As a result, I grew up not only as a young child dealing with challenges, but also as a young indigenous youth desperately seeking for acceptance amidst the tumultuous waves of cultural diversity in Hawaiʻi.

Sylvia Elias, an advocate for Micronesians from the island of Pohnpei, explored the geographical, physical, and historical context of Micronesia in Chapter 12 of their book titled Global Indigenous Youth: Through Their Eyes. Her narrative delved into the common values, beliefs, and practices shared across the Micronesia region and touched on aspects of gender roles, economic disparity, social pressures, resilience to trauma, the connection with nature, and a deep-rooted spiritual belief system1. The narrative and insights gained from Elias’ chapter point to the urgent need for greater cultural understanding and inclusion in multicultural societies. For indigenous youths, especially those in diasporic communities like Micronesians in Hawaiʻi, these challenges are multifaceted and involve not just cultural preservation but also the struggle against discrimination and for societal acceptance. To shed a more interpretive light on this issue, I will build off of Elias’ narrative and connect the themes of her text to my own experiences as a Chuukese boy that grew up in Hawaiʻi.