Gender Equality and Human Rights

The achievement of substantive equality is understood as having four dimensions: redressing disadvantage; countering stigma, prejudice, humiliation and violence; transforming social and institutional structures; and facilitating political participation and social inclusion. The paper shows that, although not articulated in this way, these dimensions are clearly visible in the application by the various interpretive bodies of the principles of equality to the enjoyment of treaty rights. At the same time, it shows that there are important ways in which these bodies could go further, both in articulating the goals of substantive equality and in applying them when assessing compliance by States with international obligations of equality. The substantive equality approach, in its four-dimensional form, provides an evaluative tool with which to assess policy in relation to the right to gender equality. The paper elaborates on the four-dimensional approach to equality and how it can be used to evaluate the impact of social and economic policies on women to determine how to make the economy 'work for women' and advance gender equality. The paper suggests that there is a growing consensus at the international level on an understanding of substantive equality that reflects the four dimensional framework. This paper was produced for UN Women's flagship report "Progress of the World's Women 2015-2016" and is released as part of the UN Women discussion paper series

The Hate Factory: A Glimpse into the Effects of the Prison Gang Subculture on Non-Violent Offenders

In an effort to ascertain ways to combat the indoctrination of non-violent, low-level offenders into prison gangs, this study looks at a synthesis of previous research on gang management strategies in conjunction with interviews given to a select group of Southern Illinois prison administrators. It is concluded that the best way to keep these vulnerable offenders away from the influence of prison gangs is to quickly separate the two groups as best as possible. This study is admittedly modest in scope, but the findings are couched within current literature looking to determine effective ways to combat the spread of prison gang propaganda and provides a relatively useful framework for future studies on the subject

An examination of the objective evaluation of student achievement in anatomy, with an enquiry into the results of cycling marking programs and confidence weighting of responses : the survey of an investigation into the results obtained over 7 years of experiment in the Department of Anatomy, University of Cape Town

The experiment of using multiple-choice tests in the Department of Anatomy grew from two concepts that had arisen in the consideration of the role of teaching in the department. The first was the need for an instrument to measure the comparative worth of any changes that we might wish to make in the methods of teaching. It was observed by Professor Wells in discussion (Wells - 1967) that, "Any change of teaching method is accompanied by an apparent but transient beneficial effect in terms of student performance". This has been called the Hawthorn effect and has been observed by educationists, but Professor Wells went further in I inking the beneficial effect to the enthusiasm of the teachers for the new methodology being communicated to the students who in tum became motivated towards performance

Uncovering The Lived Experience Of Community-Dwelling Jewish Women Over 80 Who Self-Identify As Aging Successfully: A Phenomenological Study

Background: Although there is significant scholarly interest in defining the concept of successful aging, there are very few small-scale, in-depth qualitative studies examining the lived experience of women over 80 who self-identify as aging successfully. Aim: The aim of this study is to explore the lived experience of a small group of community-dwelling Jewish women over 80 in a single county in Northwestern Vermont who self-identify as aging successfully. Approach: This study has a phenomenological approach. Method: Phenomenological interviews were conducted with five women over 80 years of age. Interview content was analyzed, and shared themes were synthesized. Findings: Findings revealed the following shared themes: acknowledgement of extraordinary quality of life events and/or circumstances, extensive and ongoing social involvement with communities and/or individuals, and strong sense of self. Conclusions: The lived experiences of participants who self-identified as aging successfully were characterized by gratitude for the lives they led and continue to lead, extensive and ongoing communal and interpersonal social engagement, and high levels of self-esteem and self-knowledge. Implications for practice: Interventions focused on promoting gratitude, ongoing social engagement, and self-esteem/efficacy may improve individuals\u27 chances of aging successfully; women over 80 respond positively given the opportunity to tell their story, and may benefit from affiliation with a religious community

A Human Side Of The Smart Grid: Behavior-Based Energy Efficiency From Renters Using Real-Time Feedback And Competitive Performance-Based Incentives

Our energy system is rapidly transforming, partially due to advances in internet and communications technologies that leverage an unprecedented amount of data. Industry proponents of the so-called “smart grid” suggest these technologies facilitate deeper engagement with end-users of energy (utility customers) that can in turn drive behavior-based changes and accelerate a renewable energy transition. While there has been progress in understanding how these technologies change consumer behavior using, for example, real-time feedback, it’s unclear how specific segments (e.g., renters) respond to these interventions; it’s also unclear why feedback is, or is not, producing changes in energy consumption. The literature suggests that behavioral strategies (e.g. information feedback, competitions, incentives) coupled with technology may present a way for utilities and efficiency programs to create savings—expanding opportunities for those often underserved by traditional approaches, such as renters—yet this coupling is not well understood, neither broadly (for all end users) nor specifically (for renters). This dissertation builds upon that literature and explores a human side of the smart grid, using a field experiment in renter households to test the interacting effects of real-time energy feedback and a novel form of financial incentive, referred to here as a competitive performance-based incentive. The experiment had two phases: phase one tested the feedback against a control group; phase two tested feedback, the incentive, and a combined treatment, against a control group. Results of these interventions were measured with pre- and post-treatment surveys as well as observed electricity consumption data from each household’s smart meter. The results of this experiment are described in three papers. Paper one examines the interventions’ individual and combined effectiveness at motivating renters to reduce or shift timing of electricity consumption. Feedback alone produced a significant savings effect in phase one. In phase two, the effect of the feedback wore off; the incentive alone had no significant effect; and the group that received feedback and the incentive experienced a doubling of savings relative to the effect of feedback alone, as observed in phase one. Paper two uses pre- and post-intervention survey data to examine how individual perceptions of energy change as a result of the interventions. Perception of large energy-using appliances changed the most in households that received feedback, suggesting that better information may lead to more effective behavior changes. Paper three leverages the results of the first two components to evaluate the policy implications and impacts on demand side management for utilities, efficiency programs, and the potential for behavior-based energy efficiency programs. Advocates of the smart grid must recognize the technology alone cannot produce savings without better engagement of end-users. Utility rate designers must carefully consider how time-based rates alone may over-burden those without the enabling technology to understand the impact of their energy choices

Contrite Hearts: Lay Clergie in Late Medieval England

This project reads two texts composed by women in the shadow of Arundel’s Constitutions – The Book of Margery Kempe and Eleanor Hull’s Commentary on the Seven Penitential Psalms – as two forms of response to the late fourteenth-century critique of clergy best exemplified by William Langland’s Piers Plowman. Langland’s poem describes the failures of institutional clergy, particularly that of their responsibility to evoke contrition in lay penitents. The poem deftly questions “Clergie,” revealing a multiplicity of meanings and the inability of the myriad forms of clerical authority to serve the “lewed.” The poem ends with the allegorical figure of Contrition lying “drowned in a dream,” abandoned by the clerical figures charged with nurturing him. The Book of Margery Kempe and Hull’s Commentary both subvert existing paradigms for women’s writing in Middle Ages and they produce different forms of vernacular voice with a shared aim, that of modeling contrition for their audiences. They both appropriate various clerical functions – Hull takes on the educational and exegetical functions of “clergie” while Margery Kempe offers an alternative model of pastoral care and liturgical intercession. Both step into the void created by insufficient pastoral care and challenge any simple distinction between “lewed” and “clergie” in late medieval England

Intelligence Agencies, Law Enforcement, and the Prosecution Team

In November 1996, a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines jet crash landed in Indian Ocean waters near the Comoro Islands. Among the casualties were several American citizens. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, rogue states and international terrorist groups commenced efforts, which continue today, to acquire nuclear warheads and fissionable material from the successor nations