The Globalisation Paradox and the Implementation of International Human Rights: the Function of Transnational Networks in Combating Human Trafficking in the ASEAN Region

In A New World Order, Anne-Marie Slaughter describes the “globalisation paradox” as “the need for global institutions to solve collective problems that can only be addressed on a global scale” juxtaposed with “the infeasibility and undesirability” of world government and its concomitant threat to individual liberty (Slaughter, 2004). Slaughter’s solution – and the solution offered by a number of scholars in the neo-liberal tradition – is governance via transnational networks of national government actors. It is both a descriptive and a prescriptive programme for a new world order. Neoliberals envisage the aggregate elements of the state – regulators, legislators, judges – interacting with their foreign counterparts in a decentralized and dispersed way to conduct the business of global governance. This paper explores the application of global network theory in the field of human rights. In particular, it focuses on the work of a regional network of national human rights institutions, the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF). Since 1996, the APF has promoted regional cooperation on human rights issues by providing a forum for the region’s national human rights institutions (NHRIs) to share expertise and information on best practice, to undertake joint projects and to develop joint positions on issues of common concern. I examine the APF’s function in relation to the issue of human trafficking as an example of the interactive dynamic generated by and between network members in their efforts to address this transnational human rights issue.This conference has been generously sponsored by the School of Social and Political Sciences and the Sydney Law School, University of Sydney, in collaboration with the School of Law, University of Western Sydne

Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia: Uncovering the Dynamics of State Commitment and Compliance

In Part I of this Article, Renshaw explains some of the current theories about how and why states come to adopt human rights norms and then translates these norms into laws and policies. In Part II, she sets out the contours of the TVPA and the global regime with which it coexists, the United Nations Palermo Protocol. Part III considers how ASEAN States have responded to the global anti-trafficking regime. Part IV explores how ASEAN states perceive the issue of human trafficking. Part V describes how ASEAN states have responded to the threat of sanctions under the TVPA. Part VI examines the emergence of a regional framework to address human trafficking. This Article concludes that unilateral measures implemented under the TVPA disrupt regional processes and retard the internalization of human rights norms about trafficking in persons

Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia: Uncovering the Dynamics of State Commitment and Compliance

In Part I of this Article, Renshaw explains some of the current theories about how and why states come to adopt human rights norms and then translates these norms into laws and policies. In Part II, she sets out the contours of the TVPA and the global regime with which it coexists, the United Nations Palermo Protocol. Part III considers how ASEAN States have responded to the global anti-trafficking regime. Part IV explores how ASEAN states perceive the issue of human trafficking. Part V describes how ASEAN states have responded to the threat of sanctions under the TVPA. Part VI examines the emergence of a regional framework to address human trafficking. This Article concludes that unilateral measures implemented under the TVPA disrupt regional processes and retard the internalization of human rights norms about trafficking in persons

Human rights and regionalism in Southeast Asia

I have two aims in this dissertation. The first is to record an extraordinary period of human rights institution-building in Southeast Asia. This period began in 2007, with the signing of the Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Charter explicitly links the purpose of ASEAN with the strengthening of democracy and the protection of human rights and provides for the establishment of an ‘ASEAN Human Rights Body’. This body was established in 2009, as the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. The Commission’s first task was to draft the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, which was completed and adopted by ASEAN Heads of State in November 2012. In the context of the political diversity of Southeast Asia, the region’s historical resistance to international human rights law, and the long shadow cast by the ‘Asian Values’ debate of the 1990s, I ask the following questions: What factors explain the establishment of these institutions? How deep is ASEAN’s new commitment to human rights and democracy? What do these institutions augur for the way rights are realised in Southeast Asia? My second aim is to explore and test my theory that regional institutions possess a particular legitimacy in the promotion and protection of human rights. The theory is driven by a simple observation. Since the end of World War II, the discourse of human rights has become, to borrow a phrase used by Charles Beitz, ‘the common moral language of global society.’ Yet the original post-World War II vision of a legalised international human rights order (with judicial oversight, mechanisms for enforcement, and sanctions for non-compliance) has faded. The global human rights system works by setting standards, which are then invoked (by domestic and international non-governmental organisations, members of civil society, political oppositions, the international community) to persuade, shame or coerce states into compliance. The problems are: change is very slow, many states (both predatory and decent) are resistant to influence, and in circumstances of exception (civil conflict, war, political crisis) when human rights are most vulnerable to abuse, the system is least effective. The failures of the global system are many and patent. On the other hand, states seem more willing to subscribe to binding norms promoted by regional organs of restricted membership. Regional systems now exist under the auspices of the Council of Europe, the Organisation of American States, the Organisation of African Unity, the League of Arab States and most recently, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Scholars have observed that there seems to be a ‘directness of association’ between members of regional organisations, which positively influences (or has the potential to influence) causal processes such as socialisation, binding, monitoring and enforcement. My theory is that regional factors such as smaller numbers, deeper levels of integration, greater consensus around the importance of certain societal values, similar geographic characteristics and shared economic and security interests, create the conditions for legitimate governance. I test my theory using a case study of Southeast Asia and its new institutions. In the end, my conclusion is that in circumstances where regions possess low levels of democracy, then regional human rights systems do not possess a particular legitimacy. The nature of democracy, the relationship between democracy and human rights, and the deficit of democracy in Southeast Asia are at the heart of my explanation about why Southeast Asia’s nascent human rights system (currently) lacks legitimacy

Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia: Uncovering the Dynamics of State Commitment and Compliance

In the deep jungle that lies along the border between Thailand and Malaysia are the graves of hundreds of Burmese and Bangladeshi migrants. The graves were discovered by Thai and Malay authorities in May and July 2015, near deserted camps littered with chains and barbed wire cages. Some of the camps had been abandoned for many years, others only recently.' In the village of Tah Loh, local security guard Da-oh Saengmae recounted a hunting trip during which he sighted a set of graves in the jungle a mile across the Malaysian border: "I saw small stones and leaves and branches placed on top. I was afraid. We all just got away from the area. I knew it was the refugees - who else would be buried in the jungle?

Battling on the Home Front: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Conflict Behavior Among Military Couples

This study evaluated interpersonal behavior differences among male military service members with and without PTSD and their female partners. Couples (N = 64) completed a 17-minute videotaped conflict discussion, and their interaction behavior was coded using the circumplex-based Structural Analysis of Social Behavior model (SASB; Benjamin, 1979, 1987, 2000). Within couples, the behavior of partners was very similar. Compared to military couples without PTSD, couples with PTSD displayed more interpersonal hostility and control. Couples with PTSD also exhibited more sulking, blaming, and controlling behavior, and less affirming and connecting behavior, than couples without PTSD. Results advance our understanding of the relational impacts of PTSD on military service members and their partners, and underscore the value of couple-based interventions for PTSD in the context of relationship distress

Deletion of cftr Leads to an Excessive Neutrophilic Response and Defective Tissue Repair in a Zebrafish Model of Sterile Inflammation.

Inflammation-related progressive lung destruction is the leading causes of premature death in cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic disorder caused by a defective cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). However, therapeutic targeting of inflammation has been hampered by a lack of understanding of the links between a dysfunctional CFTR and the deleterious innate immune response in CF. Herein, we used a CFTR-depleted zebrafish larva, as an innovative in vivo vertebrate model, to understand how CFTR dysfunction leads to abnormal inflammatory status in CF. We show that impaired CFTR-mediated inflammation correlates with an exuberant neutrophilic response after injury: CF zebrafish exhibit enhanced and sustained accumulation of neutrophils at wounds. Excessive epithelial oxidative responses drive enhanced neutrophil recruitment towards wounds. Persistence of neutrophils at inflamed sites is associated with impaired reverse migration of neutrophils and reduction in neutrophil apoptosis. As a consequence, the increased number of neutrophils at wound sites causes tissue damage and abnormal tissue repair. Importantly, the molecule Tanshinone IIA successfully accelerates inflammation resolution and improves tissue repair in CF animal. Our findings bring important new understanding of the mechanisms underlying the inflammatory pathology in CF, which could be addressed therapeutically to prevent inflammatory lung damage in CF patients with potential improvements in disease outcomes

Early evaluation of a DBT-informed online intervention for people with eating disorders

Objectives Eating disorders (EDs) have a worldwide prevalence of 7.8%, with towering mortality rates and high healthcare costs. The current recommended treatment for EDs principally works by directly targeting ED thoughts and behaviours, but recovery rates are low. A multifaceted link between difficulties with emotions and EDs is now widely established, and newer third-wave therapies that aim to address these underlying emotion difficulties are promising. The current study piloted an online emotion self-help intervention which was co-developed with clinicians and people with lived experienced of EDs. The intervention aimed to specifically address difficulties with emotion identification and regulation, as well as unhelpful beliefs about emotions, which are believed to give rise to and maintain ED thoughts and behaviours. Method We recruited 39 people with self-reported EDs to test this intervention over a one-week period. Our participants were asked to complete a series of questionnaires measuring emotion processes and psychopathology on Day 1 (T1) before being given access to the intervention. Participants were then asked to practice the newly acquired skills for seven days, before taking the same questionnaires on Day 9 (T2). We also asked participants to qualitatively report on their experience of the intervention. Results We found significant improvements in ED psychopathology (ED-15), depression (PHQ-9), and anxiety (GAD-7) pre- to post-intervention, with medium to large effect sizes. All our emotion variables namely alexithymia (TAS-20), difficulties regulating emotions (DERS-SF), and unhelpful beliefs about emotions (EBQ) also showed significant changes post-intervention with medium to large effect sizes. Most importantly, changes in emotion regulation processes were linked to improved eating psychopathology. The qualitative analysis corroborated this finding, highlighting how the intervention helped them form new beliefs about emotions, which helped them reduce ED behaviours. Discussion Significant improvements in emotion processing and regulations, as well as psychopathology, along with positive qualitative feedback, suggest that the intervention effectively met its aims of increasing awareness of the link between emotions and eating psychopathology, providing help to identify and regulate emotions, and normalising emotional experiences. While our results are promising, further research is required to assess its effectiveness longer term and in clinical settings