Global Campus Open Knowledge Repository

Our Open Knowledge Repository is a digital service that collects, preserves, and distributes all digital materials resulting from the rich and varied production of the Global Campus of Human Rights. It is an ever growing collection which aims to give visibility to our research outputs, educational content, and multimedia materials; sustain open access for knowledge transfer; and foster communication within and beyond academia.

 

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A Human Rights-Based Approach to Overfishing in West Africa: Comparative Study of Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia
(Global Campus of Human Rights, 2025) Yisa, Josephine Boye; Killander, Magnus; Kasimbazi Makerere, Emmanuel
This research focuses on the impacts of overfishing on human rights in Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia. The core finding is that despite extensive national and international legal frameworks, weak enforcement, detrimental international fishing agreements and a prioritisation of perceived economic gains over human welfare have led to overfishing, which in turn causes significant violations of the economic, social and cultural rights of local populations. The fisheries sectors in both nations are critical, employing over 250,000 people in Guinea-Bissau and 300,000 in The Gambia and forming a cornerstone of national food security, livelihoods and cultural identity. However, these resources are threatened by the unsustainable practices of foreign industrial fleets and a failure of state regulatory bodies to protect them. This situation is analysed through a neo-colonial framework, highlighting power imbalances where West African nations often act as ‘policy takers’ in agreements with stronger economic powers like the European Union and China. A comparative legal analysis reveals that while The Gambia’s current fisheries laws demonstrate a higher normative compliance rate with the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (100% for the Fisheries Act 2007) than Guinea-Bissau’s (92% for the Decree-Law no 10/2011), both states suffer from significant implementation and enforcement gaps. Overfishing directly infringes upon the rights to work, health, food, education, culture and a satisfactory environment. Local artisanal fishers are unable to compete with industrial trawlers, fish stocks are dwindling, food insecurity and malnutrition are rising, and unique cultural practices tied to marine life are being eroded. The primary recommendations call for both states to adopt a human rights-centred approach in their fisheries management. This includes revising and rigorously enforcing national laws, ratifying key international agreements like the UN Fish Stocks Agreement, strengthening regional co-operation and investing in nation-building to reduce dependency on inequitable foreign fishing agreements.
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Assessing the Extent of Implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women: Concluding Observations on Kazakhstan
(Global Campus of Human Rights, 2025) Vasilenko, Darya; Kussaiynkyzy, Aigerim
This Master’s thesis assesses the extent of Kazakhstan’s implementation of the recommendations issued by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) in relation to the state party’s sixth periodic report, covering the period from 2019 to 2025. While shadow reports raise concerns across multiple domains, this thesis focuses on two thematic clusters that are consistently identified as priority areas: gender-based violence and participation in political and public life. The thesis tests the hypothesis that Kazakhstan’s compliance with the CEDAW Committee’s 2019 Concluding Observations demonstrates a strategic emphasis on de jure legal measures over institutional and practical de facto implementation, producing predominantly formal rather than substantive compliance across both issue areas. Despite the existence of international and regional assessments of Kazakhstan’s engagement with the CEDAW Committee’s periodic reporting procedure, the scholarly literature remains remarkably underdeveloped in one crucial respect: there is no systematic analysis of how this supervisory mechanism operates in concreto within the domestic legal order, nor of the key institutional and practical barriers that impede full and effective implementation of the Committee’s recommendations. Addressing this gap is essential both for advancing academic debates on the localisation and internalisation of international human rights norms in semi-authoritarian legal systems, and for informing the design of more effective national implementation mechanisms in the field of gender equality. Methodologically, the thesis applies a qualitative socio-legal research design combining systematic document analysis and semi-structured expert interviews including practicing legal professionals, an international gender expert and women’s rights activists engaged in CEDAW monitoring. Documentary sources include Kazakhstan’s fifth and sixth periodic reports, the CEDAW 2019 Concluding Observations, shadow reports and other relevant documents produced by non-governmental organisations and international bodies. Implementation is analysed through a three-level framework: legal, institutional and practical, distinguishing de jure commitments, enforcement arrangements and de facto outcomes. The hypothesis is partially supported. The findings confirm a strong emphasis on de jure legal and policy measures, particularly where CEDAW recommendations can be translated into codifiable and reportable outputs, while practical de facto implementation remains the weakest layer. At the same time, Kazakhstan has expanded an extensive institutional infrastructure, suggesting that the core asymmetry lies less in the absence of institutionalisation than in limited conversion capacity: institutional expansion and measurable activity are more visible than stable and consistent de facto outcomes. Implementation is therefore best characterised as predominantly partial compliance with uneven practical effectiveness, sustained by selective compliance, fragmented coordination and accountability, weak enforceability of protective tools, informal institutional gatekeeping and constrained domestic mobilisation that keeps compliance strongest in reportable legal/policy changes and institutional arrangements, and weakest in consistent enforceability and practical outcomes.
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Missing from the Data, Missing from the Law: Indigenous Women and Girls and the Failures of Anti-Trafficking Frameworks in Latin America
(Global Campus of Human Rights, 2025) Orr, Kate; Gomez Sanchez, Davinia
This thesis investigates the overrepresentation of indigenous women and girls among human trafficking victims in Latin America, a topic that is largely underexplored in mainstream academic and policy discourse. Their absence from statistical data, which is typically aggregated only by age and gender, has resulted in anti-trafficking frameworks that fail to account for their unique vulnerabilities shaped by race, ethnicity and social status. As a result, existing measures often neglect the specific risks faced by indigenous populations. Adopting a qualitative, interdisciplinary methodology grounded in decolonial and intersectional feminist theory, this research examines how colonial legacies continue to shape systems of oppression that contribute to circumstances like poverty and systemic violence. Therefore, the thesis critically assesses the regional and international anti-trafficking frameworks in place, arguing that a failure to adopt an intersectional decolonial approach weakens protection for marginalised victims. By including indigenous epistemologies in data collection, research and policy-making, it calls for a more inclusive and culturally informed response to trafficking. Such an approach would better protect those most at risk whilst simultaneously challenging the deeply rooted colonial legacies that persist within anti-trafficking mechanisms.
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Exposing Shadows: Exploring the Intersection of Image-Based Sexual Abuse in Kosovo
(Global Campus of Human Rights, 2025) Ndrevataj, Entenela; Zilka Spahic Siljak
This research explores how misogyny, twined with cultural elements of victim-blaming, and the lack of adequate legislation have made the spread of image-based sexual abuse in Kosovo possible. The importance of this topic is underscored by the technological advancements that have amplified pre-existing issues, such as gender-based violence, which can now be shared with a wide audience within seconds. Through qualitative methods research, this illuminates the prevalence and impact of image-based sexual abuse by conducting interviews with a woman whose intimate images have been shared online, as well as with feminists, non-governmental organisation representatives, men and institutional stakeholders. The findings reveal a concerning situation for women and girls in Kosovo, where numerous communication groups have emerged that share intimate images, along with personal contacts and locations, thereby compromising their privacy. These women are frequently blamed for sharing these images by family members, society and institutional representatives, making it difficult for them to seek help. Additionally, the existing legislation is not adequately designed to fully address image-based sexual abuse, placing yet another burden on women. Moreover, the pervasive victim-blaming mentality discovered in this research highlights the necessity for the government to take action in educating and informing workers across various institutions, as well as the general population.
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Intimate Partner Violence: Case Studies of Transgender Women in Sri Lanka as Victims and Perpetrators
(Global Campus of Human Rights, 2025) Mallawaarachchi, Isurinie Anuradha; Senaratne, Kalana; Kranrattensuit, Naparat
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is traditionally understood in cis-heteronormative contexts, with cis-heterosexual men as the perpetrators and cis-heterosexual women as victims. Concerning the context of Sri Lanka, IPV is observed to be conceptualised within the boundary of legal marriage. As same-sex unions in Sri Lanka are non-marital, cohabiting relationships – due to the criminalisation of homosexuality – this points to an erasure of the experiences of IPV faced by the majority of the LGBT+ community. Studies also have pointed out that women are highly victimised by IPV. Keeping in mind that transgender women in Sri Lanka are a severely marginalised group, this highlights that they would be in an immensely vulnerable position if they were in a relationship before obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate without which they are institutionally misgendered. This study takes place against this backdrop, where transgender women’s experiences of IPV victimisation and perpetration are explored. This study involves a qualitative thematic coding analysis of interviews obtained from nine transgender women regarding their experiences of IPV victimisation and perpetration. As this study delves into the lived experiences of IPV of persons with diverse sexual orientations, the phenomenological approach will be utilised as the method of data analysis. The results showcased a clear expression of the interpersonal transphobia manifested as IPV.