An analysis of emotions and the prominence of positivity in #BlackLivesMatter tweets.

Emotions are a central driving force of activism; they motivate participation in movements and encourage sustained involvement. We use natural language processing techniques to analyze emotions expressed or solicited in tweets about 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. Traditional off-the-shelf emotion analysis tools often fail to generalize to new datasets and are unable to adapt to how social movements can raise new ideas and perspectives in short time spans. Instead, we use a few-shot domain adaptation approach for measuring emotions perceived in this specific domain: tweets about protests in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd. While our analysis identifies high levels of expressed anger and disgust across overall posts, it additionally reveals the prominence of positive emotions (encompassing, e.g., pride, hope, and optimism), which are more prevalent in tweets with explicit pro-BlackLivesMatter hashtags and correlated with on the ground protests. The prevalence of positivity contradicts stereotypical portrayals of protesters as primarily perpetuating anger and outrage. Our work offers data, analyses, and methods to support investigations of online activism and the role of emotions in social movements.

Satellites can reveal global extent of forced labor in the world's fishing fleet.

While forced labor in the world's fishing fleet has been widely documented, its extent remains unknown. No methods previously existed for remotely identifying individual fishing vessels potentially engaged in these abuses on a global scale. By combining expertise from human rights practitioners and satellite vessel monitoring data, we show that vessels reported to use forced labor behave in systematically different ways from other vessels. We exploit this insight by using machine learning to identify high-risk vessels from among 16,000 industrial longliner, squid jigger, and trawler fishing vessels. Our model reveals that between 14% and 26% of vessels were high-risk, and also reveals patterns of where these vessels fished and which ports they visited. Between 57,000 and 100,000 individuals worked on these vessels, many of whom may have been forced labor victims. This information provides unprecedented opportunities for novel interventions to combat this humanitarian tragedy. More broadly, this research demonstrates a proof of concept for using remote sensing to detect forced labor abuses.

Patterns and evidence of human rights violations among US asylum seekers.

BACKGROUND: Asylum seekers report exposure to human rights violations associated with a range of psychological and medical sequelae. Clinical evaluators can provide forensic evaluations that document evidence associated with their reports of persecution. The aim of this study was to characterize the forms of abuse experienced by asylum seekers, the psychological consequences of abuse, and the frequency with which clinician-evaluators found evidence that corroborated asylum seekers' reports. METHOD: We completed a retrospective chart review of 121 asylum seekers who received pro bono medical-legal evaluations through a human rights program and analyzed data using the constant comparative method. RESULTS: Eighty-eight percent of the clients reported experiencing multiple human rights abuses. Ninety-one percent of the clients who received psychological evaluations presented with symptoms associated with depression, anxiety, or trauma and stressor-related disorders. Clinician-evaluators found physical or psychological evidence consistent with the clients' reports in 97% of cases. Forms, perpetrators, and psychological consequences of abuse varied significantly by gender and geographic region. DISCUSSION: Asylum seekers report diverse forms of persecution in their countries of origin that differ by gender and geographic region. Clinician-evaluators overwhelmingly found physical and psychological evidence consistent with the asylum seekers' accounts of persecution.

'You're basically calling doctors torturers': stakeholder framing issues around naming intersex rights claims as human rights abuses.

In this article we address activist, patient advocate and medic perspectives on framing intersex, variations of sex characteristics and disorders/differences in sex development medical treatment as human rights abuses. Problematic aspects of intersex medical treatment have increasingly been highlighted in national debates and international human rights bodies. Some intersex activists have framed aspects of intersex medical treatment as human rights abuses since the 1990s. Other stakeholders in shaping medical treatment, such as patient advocates and medical professionals, are not always content with human rights framing, or even the term intersex. In order to address the different perspectives in this arena we provide background on the primary rights claims that have arisen followed by key human rights framing of these claims. We provide a short discussion of activism styles, looking at pan-intersex social movements and variation-specific patient associations as different styles of health social movements. The analysis of stakeholder perspectives on the use of human rights strategy in health areas provides a useful case study for medical sociology and policy in general.

Social suffering and the psychological impact of structural violence and economic oppression in an ongoing conflict setting: The Gaza Strip.

Structural violence and economic oppression (e.g. control over resources, politically engineered poverty and unemployment) are common features of warfare, yet there is a lack of research exploring the impact this has on civilian wellbeing in conflict-affected areas. This study, embedded within a human rights and community liberation psychology framework, aims to address this need by studying young Palestinian university graduates living under military blockade and occupation in the Gaza Strip. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis indicated that economic and political domains adversely affected multiple aspects of civilian life and wellbeing. The findings revealed the deleterious effects of structural violence and economic oppression which created: human insecurity; poor psychological wellbeing and quality of life; existential, psychological and social suffering; humiliation; injuries to dignity; multiple losses; and led to life being experienced as 'on hold'. Local expressions and idioms to express distress were identified. The findings contributed to unique insights regarding how continual, systemic, and structural oppression can be potentially more psychologically detrimental than specific incidents of conflict and violence. The implications and the relevance of the findings to mental health and disaster relief are considered. Interventions providing human security and economic security should be prioritised.

State of the Art: the Not-So-Great Wall of America.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This paper aims to review the literature regarding the impact of Donald Trump's candidacy and presidency on the health of immigrants in America. RECENT FINDINGS: The increase in detentions of alleged undocumented immigrants under the Trump presidency, especially his administration's attempts to detain children apart from their families, have placed thousands into conditions that can have long-lasting physical and mental health effects. Similarly, the Trump administration's efforts to increase deportations and restrict legal immigration has lead to immigrants' seeking fewer health-care resources for fear of jeopardizing their or their loved ones' chances of remaining in this country. The rhetoric used and policies pursued by Donald Trump have had a measurable adverse impact on the health of documented and undocumented immigrants in America.

Is there respectful maternity care in Poland? Women's views about care during labor and birth.

BACKGROUND: Abuse against women in labor starts with subtle forms of discrimination that can turn into overt violence. Therefore it is crucial to work towards prevention and elimination of disrespect and ill-treatment in medical facility perinatal care in which staff allows such abuse. The aim of the study was to analyze the experiences of women related to perinatal care. Special emphasis was put on experiences that had traits indicating disrespectful and offensive care during childbirth in medical facilities providing perinatal care. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey. A questionnaire was prepared for respondents who gave birth in medical facilities. Information about the study was posted on the website of a non-governmental foundation dealing with projects aimed at improving perinatal care. The respondents gave online consent for processing the submitted data. 8378 questionnaires were submitted. The study was carried out between February 06 and March 20, 2018. The results were analyzed using the Chi-square independence test. The analysis was carried out at the significance level of 0.05 in Excel, R and SPSS. RESULTS: During their hospital stay, 81% of women in the study experienced violence or abuse from medical staff on at least one occasion. The most common abuse was having medical procedures without prior consent. Inappropriate comments made by staff related to their own or a woman's situation were reported in 25% of situations, whilst 20% of women experienced nonchalant treatment. In the study 19.3% of women reported that the staff did not properly care for their intimacy and 1.7% of the respondents said that the worst treatment was related to feeling anonymous in the hospital. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows that during Polish perinatal care women experience disrespectful and abusive care. Most abuse and disrespect involved violation of the right to privacy, the right to information, the right to equal treatment, and the right to freedom from violence. The low awareness of abuses and complaints reported in the study may result from women's ignorance about relevant laws related to human rights.

Should clinicians boycott Australian immigration detention?

Australian immigration detention has been called state sanctioned abuse, cruel and degrading and likened to torture. Clinicians have long worked both within the system providing healthcare and outside of it advocating for broader social and political change. It has now been over 25 years and little, if anything, has changed. The government has continued to consolidate power to enforce these policies and has continued to attempt to silence dissent. It was in this context that a boycott was raised as a possible course of action. Despite discussions among the healthcare community about the merits of such action, a number of questions have been overlooked. In this article, I will examine whether a boycott is both ethical and feasible. Taking into account the costs and benefits of current engagement and the potential impact of a boycott, more specifically the potential it has to further harm those detained, I conclude that under current circumstance a boycott cannot be justified. This however does not mean that a boycott should be dismissed completely or that the status quo should be accepted. I discuss potential ways forward for those seeking change.

Hospital detention of mothers and their infants at a large provincial hospital: a mixed-methods descriptive case study, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

BACKGROUND: The practice of detaining people who are unable to pay for health care services they have received is widespread in many parts of the world. We aimed to determine the proportion of women and their infants detained for inability to pay for services received at a provincial hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during a 6-week period in 2016. A secondary objective was to determine clinical and administrative staff attitudes and practices about payment for services and detention. METHODS: This mixed-methods descriptive case study included a cross-sectional survey and interviews with key informants. RESULTS: Over half (52%) of the 85 women who were in the maternity ward at Sendwe Hospital and eligible for discharge between August 5 and September 15, 2016 were detained for 1 to 30 days for outstanding bills of United States dollars (USD) 21 to USD 515. Women who were detained were younger, poorer, and had more obstetric complications and caesarean sections than other women. In addition, over one quarter of the infants born to these women had died during delivery or in the first three days of life. Key informant interviews normalized detention as an unfortunate but inevitable consequence of patient poverty and health system resource constraints. CONCLUSIONS: Detention of women and their infants is common at this hospital in the DRC. This represents a violation of human rights and a systemic failure to ensure that all people have access to essential health services and that they not suffer financial hardship due to the price of those services.

Conflict, Complicity, and Challenges: Reflections on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission Health Sector Hearing.

PURPOSE: This article describes the work of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in examining the role of the health sector in human rights violations in the protracted conflicts during apartheid. ORGANIZING CONSTRUCT: The enabling legislation contained in the Promotion of National Healing and Reconciliation Act of 1995 allowed for in-depth examination of violations and complicity in human rights abuses. We provide an overview of the process of the public hearings, soliciting submissions, examining evidence of abuse, personal testimony of conflict in situations of dual accountability, and ultimately the recommendations made by the TRC. The article also outlines the responses of various health professional training institutions to the TRC's recommendations, the implementation of university health and human rights courses, and some current challenges post-TRC. CONCLUSIONS: The health sector hearings of the TRC provided a window into the structural unequal access, racial discrimination, prejudice, and abuse in the health services under the apartheid regime. Examination of past violations perpetrated by an abusive regime and by those such as health workers operating in such a system is imperative to ensure that these abuses are not repeated in the future. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In delivering comprehensive, compassionate, and ethical care, healthcare professionals have accountability to respect and promote the human rights of their patients. Training in human rights and its relationship to health should be incorporated into all health professional programs.

Rights as Relationships: Collaborating with Faith Healers in Community Mental Health in Ghana.

This paper explores the ways in which mental health workers think through the ethics of working with traditional and faith healers in Ghana. Despite reforms along the lines advocated by global mental health, including rights-based legislation and the expansion of community-based mental health care, such healers remain popular resources for treatment and mechanical restraint and other forms of coercion commonplace. As recommended in global mental health policy, mental health workers are urged to form collaborations with healers to prevent human rights abuses and promote psychiatric alternatives for treatment. However, precisely how such collaborations might be established is seldom described. This paper draws on ethnographic research to investigate how mental health workers approach working with healers and the moral imagination which informs their relationship. Through an analysis of trainee mental health workers' encounters with a Prophet and his patients, the paper reveals how mental health workers attempt to negotiate the tensions between their professional duty of care, their Christian faith, and the authority of healers. I argue that, rather than enforcing legal prohibitions, mental health workers seek to avoid confrontation and manouver within existing hierarchies, thereby preserving sentiments of obligation and reciprocity within a shared moral landscape and established forms of sociality.

Forensic anthropology in the global investigation of humanitarian and human rights abuse: Perspective from the published record.

Forensic anthropologists have played key roles in the historical development of forensic science applications to global humanitarian and human rights issues. These anthropological initiatives can be traced back to the Smithsonian seminar organized by T. D. Stewart in 1968 and published in 1970. Key developments include the 1984 delegation sent by the American Association for the Advancement of Science to Argentina and the formation of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team. Subsequent highlights include major anthropological involvement in support of investigations by international criminal tribunals, formation of forensic anthropology teams in different countries and activities of the International Commission of Missing Persons and the forensic unit of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Recent developments feature the formation of the Humanitarian and Human Rights Resource Center of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and its support of worthwhile projects in many countries. The published record provides historical perspective on these developments.

Protecting the Rights of Children with Intersex Conditions from Nonconsensual Gender-Conforming Medical Interventions: The View from Europe.

Nonconsensual gender-conforming interventions on children with intersex conditions have recently come under sharp criticism from human rights authorities within the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the European Union, which have identified these interventions as violating children's rights to bodily integrity, privacy, and protection from violence, torture, and degrading treatment. Responding largely to requests for intervention from nongovernmental organizations, these authorities have called upon nations to reform their legal frameworks, both to prevent these rights violations and to redress them. To date, however, few nations have endeavored to prohibit nonconsensual gender-conforming procedures on children with intersex conditions, and none have enacted significant reforms of their frameworks to redress rights violations. This particular 'compliance gap' between human rights recommendations and law reform stems from a failure of national legal orders to formally recognize the scope of rights that are threatened by nonconsensual gender-conforming interventions-rights that are well-established as part of states' positive obligations to prevent physical and psychological harm to children. This article, therefore, analyzes the nature of the rights at stake and the importance of reporting human rights violations to generate direct calls for reform wherever violations occur. The article further analyzes how developments in Europe may have special significance for legal framework reforms-particularly if they facilitate judicial actions against national authorities through the European Convention of Human Rights, which may serve as a model for litigation elsewhere.

Supporting Asylum Seekers: Clinician Experiences of Documenting Human Rights Violations Through Forensic Psychological Evaluation.

The United States permits foreign nationals to apply for asylum if they have experienced persecution or have a fear of future persecution. In order to meet the criteria for persecution, the harm inflicted upon the asylum seeker does not need to be or have been physical and can include psychological sequelae. In an effort to document persecution, lawyers seek the assistance of health professionals when preparing their clients' asylum applications. Mental health professionals work to corroborate psychological evidence of the asylum seeker's report of ill treatment through evaluation and presentation of their findings in the form of legal affidavits. This study gathered the experiences of 15 mental health clinicians who conduct forensic psychological evaluations and document the impact of torture and other human rights violations on asylum seekers. We analyzed the resulting interview transcripts using a consensual qualitative research (CQR) approach. The results of the study highlight challenges associated with this work, suggest recommendations for training, and encourage advocacy endeavors by mental health professionals who provide these services.

Expanding the agenda for addressing mistreatment in maternity care: a mapping review and gender analysis.

BACKGROUND: This paper responds to the global call to action for respectful maternity care (RMC) by examining whether and how gender inequalities and unequal power dynamics in the health system undermine quality of care or obstruct women's capacities to exercise their rights as both users and providers of maternity care. METHODS: We conducted a mapping review of peer-reviewed and gray literature to examine whether gender inequality is a determinant of mistreatment during childbirth. A search for peer-reviewed articles published between January 1995 and September 2017 in PubMed, Embase, SCOPUS, and Web of Science databases, supplemented by an appeal to experts in the field, yielded 127 unique articles. We reviewed these articles using a gender analysis framework that categorizes gender inequalities into four key domains: access to assets, beliefs and perceptions, practices and participation, and institutions, laws, and policies. A total of 37 articles referred to gender inequalities in the four domains and were included in the analysis. RESULTS: The mapping indicates that there have been important advances in documenting mistreatment at the health facility, but less attention has been paid to addressing the associated structural gender inequalities. The limited evidence available shows that pregnant and laboring women lack information and financial assets, voice, and agency to exercise their rights to RMC. Women who defy traditional feminine stereotypes of chastity and serenity often experience mistreatment by providers as a result. At the same time, mistreatment of women inside and outside of the health facility is normalized and accepted, including by women themselves. As for health care providers, gender discrimination is manifested through degrading working conditions, lack of respect for their abilities, violence and harassment,, lack of mobility in the community, lack of voice within their work setting, and limited training opportunities and professionalization. All of these inequalities erode their ability to deliver high quality care. CONCLUSION: While the evidence base is limited, the literature clearly shows that gender inequality-for both clients and providers-contributes to mistreatment and abuse in maternity care. Researchers, advocates, and practitioners need to further investigate and build upon lessons from the broader gender equality, violence prevention, and rights-based health movements to expand the agenda on mistreatment in childbirth and develop effective interventions.

The "hot potato" topic: challenges and facilitators to promoting respectful maternal care within a broader health intervention in Tanzania.

In recent years, mistreatment during childbirth has captured the public health and maternal health consciousness as not only an affront to women's rights but also a formidable deterrent to the uptake of facility-based childbirth - and thus to reductions in maternal mortality. The challenge ahead is to determine what can be done to address this public health problem. A modest but growing body of research has demonstrated that interventions to foster Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) can enact change, albeit in the relatively controlled context of a trial or study. Herein we describe our experiences in weaving elements of RMC across tiers of an existing maternal and newborn health program. As a commentary, this document does not outline program results, but instead highlights challenges and facilitators to promoting RMC within a large-scale, multi-district health platform. We conclude with lessons learned during the process and urge that others share their program learning experiences in an effort to strengthen the knowledge base on what works and what does not work in terms of addressing this complex, context-sensitive issue.

Too afraid to go: fears of dignity violations as reasons for non-use of maternal health services in South Sudan.

BACKGROUND: South Sudan has one of the worst health and maternal health situations in the world. Across South Sudan, while maternal health services at the primary care level are not well developed, even where they exist, many women do not use them. Developing location specific understanding of what hinders women from using services is key to developing and implementing locally appropriate public health interventions. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted to gain insight into what hinders women from using maternal health services. Focus group discussions (5) and interviews (44) were conducted with purposefully selected community members and health personnel. A thematic analysis was done to identify key themes. RESULTS: While accessibility, affordability, and perceptions (need and quality of care) related barriers to the use of maternal health services exist and are important, women's decisions to use services are also shaped by a variety of social fears. Societal interactions entailed in the process of going to a health facility, interactions with other people, particularly other women on the facility premises, and the care encounters with health workers, are moments where women are afraid of experiencing dignity violations. Women's decisions to step out of their homes to seek maternal health care are the results of a complex trade-off they make or are willing to make between potential threats to their dignity in the various social spaces they need to traverse in the process of seeking care, their views on ownership of and responsibility for the unborn, and the benefits they ascribe to the care available to them. CONCLUSIONS: Geographical accessibility, affordability, and perceptions related barriers to the use of maternal health services in South Sudan remain; they need to be addressed. Explicit attention also needs to be paid to address social accessibility related barriers; among others, to identify, address and allay the various social fears and fears of dignity violations that may hold women back from using services. Health services should work towards transforming health facilities into social spaces where all women's and citizen's dignity is protected and upheld.