14 research outputs found
Womenâs rights INGO shaming and the government respect for womenâs rights
How effective are womenâs rights international non-governmental organizations (WROs) in improving government respect for womenâs rights? In this paper, we argue that WROs can be powerful actors in advancing womenâs status, especially when they adopt a specific advocacy strategy: ânaming and shamingâ of governments or non-governmental agents. We assert that a targeted ânaming and shamingâ publicity strategy is necessary to exert pressure on the government to enforce womenâs internationally recognized rights. Using a new dataset on the advocacy activities of over 1,595 WROs, we test the implications of our argument in a global statistical model from 1991 to 2005. The results indicate that WRO shaming is likely to improve womenâs economic and social rights while having no discernible impact on womenâs political rights. We also find that the mere presence of WROs is unlikely to have a significant impact on womenâs rights. One major implication of the findings is that any significant improvement in respect for womenâs rights partly requires a strong voice in advocacy. The findings also suggest that governments that face pressure from advocacy groups are more inclined to promote and enforce only the rights that do not threaten their own political power and status, such as womenâs social and economic rights