Legal Mobilization in U.S. Schools: The Paradoxes of Race and Rights Among Youth

AbstractThis article asks how legal mechanisms are employed outside of North Korea to achieve human rights diffusion in the country; to what extent these result in human rights diffusion in North Korea; and whether measures beyond accountability can be pursued in tandem for more productive engagement. Specifically, it examines how the North Korean government has interacted with the globalized legal regime of human rights vis-à-vis the UN and details the legal processes and implications of the UN Commission of Inquiry report, including domestic legislation, and evidence collection. While transnational legal mobilization has gathered momentum on the accountability side, it is significantly weaker in terms of achieving human rights protection within North Korea given the government’s perception of current human rights discourse as part of an externally produced war repertoire. Thus, efforts to engage the North Korean population and government require concurrent reframing of human rights discourse into more localized and relatable contexts.

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Socio-Legal Strategies against a Total Abortion Ban in El Salvador: Alliances in Hostile Contexts

Revista Direito GV ◽

10.1590/2317-6172202147 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

Author(s):

María Angélica Peñas Defago ◽

Violeta Cánaves

Keyword(s):

Social Movements ◽

El Salvador ◽

International Experience ◽

Legal Mobilization ◽

Law Reform ◽

Second Moment ◽

Abortion Law ◽

Legal Strategies ◽

Feminist Movements ◽

Third Moment

Abstract The case of El Salvador provides unique evidence of how solidarity is possible among different social movements in struggles over abortion law reform and its impact, even in contexts of extreme criminalization. The paper depicts a concrete example of how networks centered on abortion struggles can go beyond feminist movements and national borders, and shows the domestic impact of broadening the scope of the audience, the actors involved, and the spheres where abortion law discussions take place. The article focuses on the evolution of socio-legal mobilization regarding abortion in El Salvador over the last two decades. This evolution is presented through three moments: the first centers on the legal actions that feminist movements orchestrated in the mid-2000's around the Beatriz case. The second moment focuses on the most outstanding features of the “Las 17” campaign – a collaborative and international experience that entailed the submission of seventeen pardon petitions on behalf of women who had been convicted of homicide after having miscarriages. Finally, a third moment entails the socio-legal strategies embraced by feminist movements since 2018 within the framework of the campaign named “Las 17+”.

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