The Americas – Journalists for Human Rights

14 Feb

Canada Unveiled: The Reality of Canada’s System of Migrant Detention

Sara Selma MarefCivil & Political Rights, Newspaper, Regions, Rights, The Americas

Immigrant detention lacked media attention in Canada until the years 2013 and 2016 when detainees in Vancouver and Toronto died within provincial jails. This brought to light the poor conditions Canada imposes on migrants who have been imprisoned. What is Migrant Detention? Migrant detention detains and holds individuals imprisoned because of their non-citizen status under […]

17 Nov

The Phenomenon of Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls (MMIWG) in Canada

Sara Selma MarefCivil & Political Rights, Newspaper, Social & Economic Rights, The Americas

Background & Statistics The disappearance and murders of Indigenous women are not merely a new news phenomenon, but rather, they are an integral part of an ongoing pervasive problem in Canada. Murdered Indigenous women’s cases are not considered murders, but accidental deaths and disproportionate numbers. “According to the Native Women’s Association of Canada, only 53% […]

04 Nov

Misgendering: A Human Rights Violation in Canada

Talia PirschCollective & Developmental Rights, Newspaper, The Americas

On September 29th, 2021, the British Colombia Human Rights Tribunal ruled that the intentional misgendering of a person in the workplace consists of a human rights violation. After a heated argument regarding their pronouns, Jessie Nelson, a non-binary and gender-fluid individual who uses they/them pronouns, was fired from their job as a server at restaurant […]

08 May

Sarah Everard: A Story of Gender-Based Discrimination Within Law Enforcement

Enora Lauvau2020 – 2021, Civil & Political Rights, Europe, Social & Economic Rights, The Americas

The recent assault and murder of London-based marketing executive Sarah Everard by Westminster Metropolitan police officer Wayne Couzens has shone a spotlight on conversations surrounding gender-based violence as well as the role police forces play in exacerbating the threat this poses to women’s safety worldwide. Besides the fact that harassment and assault is far from being an unusual occurrence for women — an already distressing reality — the brutality that has been shown by actors of the law supposedly there to ensure the population’s security further contributes to ongoing feelings of fear. As such, the role of Couzens in Everard’s killing has further opened the debate to questions regarding whether increased policing, particularly that of a male-focused nature, is an appropriate response to growing concerns about the violence faced by women, considering that it tends to be one often proposed by state institutions.

28 Apr

Japanese Internment and Migrant Detention: Twin Tales of Injustice

Atussa Kian2020 – 2021, Civil & Political Rights, Social & Economic Rights, The Americas

At face value, the Santa Anita Park is an infamous but beautiful race track located in a majority-Asian city in Southern California. A backdrop of slender palm trees, purple-y mountains, and blue skies almost distract from the animal cruelty controversies that have circulated the race track and the sport of horse racing in recent years. […]

17 Mar

The War for Water: The Barriers to Clean Drinking Water for Indigenous Peoples in Canada

Sophie Sklar2020 – 2021, Collective & Developmental Rights, Editors' Picks, Social & Economic Rights, The Americas

Access to clean drinking water is not represented equally across Canada, with those living on Indigenous reservations being disproportionately affected by a lack of quality water infrastructure compared to the rest of Canada. Yet according to the United Nations, “The right to water entitles everyone to have access to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and […]

10 Mar

Advocates Fighting for Long-Term Solutions to the Plight of Montreal’s Homeless Populations

Enora Lauvau2020 – 2021, Social & Economic Rights, The Americas

Activists for Montreal’s homeless and Indigenous populations, two communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in Canada, have been advocating for these groups’ increased protection since the beginning of the pandemic nearly a year ago. The inadequacies previously seen in the country’s health and social policies have only been magnified in recent times. Despite advocates’ constant efforts, […]

17 Feb

The Rising Plight of Anti-Semitism

Mackenzie Birbrager2020 – 2021, Civil & Political Rights, Collective & Developmental Rights, The Americas

As the news broke about the swastika vandalization of the Westmount Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, I thought, “yet another anti-Semitism attack.” Catching myself, I quickly wondered why that was my inital response — how had such a disdainful anti-Semitic event become normalized to me? Adam Scheier, the synagogue’s rabbi, unfortunately echoed my sentiment: “One is not […]

02 Feb

Confronting Home-Grown Terrorism: The Canadian Government Considers Designating the Proud Boys a Terrorist Organization Following the Attack on Capitol Hill

Tess Pilkington2020 – 2021, Civil & Political Rights, Newspaper, The Americas

The Canadian government is considering designating the Proud Boys a terrorist organization following their involvement in the violent attack on Capitol Hill on January 6. Adding the racist, white nationalist group to the list of terrorist organizations would place them alongside Boko Haram, ISIS, and al-Qaeda. The group has spewed violence and hate speech across […]

14 Jan

Addressing Systemic White Privilege: Is the U.S. at a Crossroads?

Sophie Crawford2020 – 2021, Civil & Political Rights, Newspaper, Social & Economic Rights, The Americas

Beginning in 2014, studies have demonstrated that public opinion increasingly recognizes that “anti-black discrimination is widespread, a serious problem, and that the United States has not made much real racial progress in the past 50 years.” Nonetheless, since 2016, the U.S. Department of State warned that white supremacist terrorism is both “on the rise and […]