Monetary Compensation for Survivors of Torture: Some Lessons from Nepal

The Nepali Compensation Relating to Torture Act (1996) is one of the earliest pieces of specific anti-torture legislation adopted in the global South. Despite a number of important limitations, scores of Nepalis have successfully litigated for monetary compensation under the Act, on a scale relatively rare on the global human rights scene. Using a qualitative case study approach, this article examines the conditions under which survivors of torture are awarded compensation in Nepal, and asks what lessons does this have for broader struggles to win monetary compensation for torture survivors? We end by suggesting that there can be practical tensions between providing individual financial compensation and addressing wider issues of accountability

Management, leadership and user control in self-advocacy: an English case study

This paper presents findings from a qualitative research project on an English self-advocacy organization. In light of recent political and economic developments that have threatened the sustainability of a number of self-advocacy groups for people with intellectual disabilities, I seek to explore how one particular organization managed to survive and grow. In particular, the paper explores themes of management, leadership, and user control, linking these to external perceptions about self-advocacy organizations. The organization in my study developed an ‘interdependent’ governance model based on key organizational roles for non-disabled advisors and self-advocates which proved popular with external funders. Despite the organization’s notable achievements, their success raises questions for the wider self-advocacy movement, notably how leadership capacity can be developed amongst self-advocates