The interpretation, communication, and reporting of human rights

Abstract

Pressure on companies to show greater awareness, transparency, and accountability for their human rights impacts has resulted in a plethora of public statements and policies from businesses on a range of human rights issues. This chapter first explores the body of research that has analysed these business disclosures, and summarises what they reveal about the understanding and recognition of human rights by companies. The chapter then turns its attention towards the limited, but insightful, research on how human rights are communicated and made sense of within companies, and asks to what extent internal processes reflect and/or shape what companies report externally. Throughout the chapter, recommendations for further research are provided and a number of important, unanswered questions are identified and discussed