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Abstract:
Despite concerted efforts to combat human trafficking, the trade in persons persists and, in fact, continues to grow. This article suggests that a central reason for the limited success in preventing human trafficking is the dominant conception of the problem, which forms the basis for law developed to combat human trafficking. Specifically, the author argues that "otherness" is a root cause of both inaction and the selective nature of responses to the abusive practice of human trafficking. Othering operates across multiple dimensions, including race, gender, ethnicity, class, caste, culture, and geography, to reinforce a conception of a virtuous "Self" and a devalued "Other." This article exposes how this Self/Other dichotomy shapes the phenomenon of human trafficking, driving demand for trafficked persons, influencing perceptions of the problem, and constraining legal initiatives to end the abuse. By examining human trafficking through an otherness-aware framework, this article aims to elucidate a deeper understanding of human trafficking and offer a prescription for reducing the adverse effects of otherness on both efforts to combat human trafficking and the individuals that now suffer such abuses.

human trafficking, otherness, othering, discrimination, bias, women, children, human rights, international law, culture, race, gender, altruism

Abstract:
International law has long prohibited sex trafficking. The current international legal framework on sex trafficking sets forth a three-pronged approach to anti-trafficking efforts: (1) criminalization of acts of trafficking, (2) trafficking prevention programs, and (3) aid for victims of trafficking. To date, efforts undertaken by various countries have focused primarily on the first component, with comparatively minimal resources being allocated to prevention or victim assistance programs. Those countries that have initiated prevention measures tend to adopt a narrow view of prevention programs - focusing on activities such as public awareness campaigns warning of the penalties associated with such crimes or informing children and their families of the dangers of sex trafficking.

This Article calls for a much broader conception of prevention programs in order to address systemic issues (e.g., racism, sexism, and poverty) that allow trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of poor and marginalized individuals to continue. Human rights law offers valuable guidance in developing more comprehensive strategies for preventing sex trafficking. Sustainable solutions require greater attention to other rights embodied in human rights law, which can supplement the legal provisions covering trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of persons. The author examines selected other rights including those that cover gender-based violence, various forms of discrimination, birth registration, health, and education, with a view to addressing systemic issues that foster the current climate in which sex trafficking thrives. Ensuring these other rights will help states fulfill their obligations under international law to prevent sex trafficking. Moreover, these individual rights, when fully ensured, will strengthen communities by improving health and education standards and reducing discrimination and marginalization of certain populations. Such improvements will help promote sustainable economic development, which in turn will reinforce respect for human rights.

human rights, international law, trafficking, women's rights, children's rights, discrimination

Abstract:
The global AIDS pandemic has left more than fifteen million children orphaned. These children constitute one of the most vulnerable populations, yet their situation has received relatively little scrutiny from legal scholars. This Article intends to fill that void by explicating the experience of children orphaned by AIDS, situating it in the broader context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and evaluating protections available under international human rights law. Analyzing human rights law as applied to children orphaned by AIDS exposes the extent to which rights are interrelated, particularly for marginalized populations.

In current scholarship, the interrelationship among rights, for the most part, is acknowledged with only passing reference to the idea that civil and political rights and economic, social, and cultural rights are indivisible or interdependent. That rights are interrelated seems to be accepted without objection today but also without further significant analysis. This Article contends that the impact of the relationships among specific rights has not been adequately analyzed but is a necessary step in developing a more precise understanding of the contours of each individual right and the exact nature of the corresponding state obligation. Therefore, this Article analyzes the significance of the interrelationship among specific rights with a view toward identifying the key challenges it raises and the implications of such challenges. Ultimately, a clearer articulation of states' obligations is critical to measuring countries' compliance with human rights law accurately and systematically, and a better understanding of the interrelationship among rights is an essential step toward that goal.

human rights, children, AIDS, economic and social rights, education, health, discrimination, international law, Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract:
This article explores the connections between women's rights and children's rights and suggests ways in which they can complement each other thereby furthering the rights of both groups. The author begins by examining the special case of girls' rights, as girls are vulnerable to exploitation as children and are also subject to the prejudicial practices that violate the rights of women. The author then discusses ways in which women's rights can offer benefits for children and, in turn, how the enforcement of children's rights can support the rights of women. Finally, the author examines the issue of child prostitution in Thailand, as a case study, to demonstrate how a more holistic approach to women's rights and children's rights can benefit all individuals.

International law, human rights, women's rights, children's rights

Abstract:
The medical malpractice liability system is blamed for everything from the high cost of health care to quality assurance issues. This Article suggests that that one of the problems with the current approach to medical malpractice is that legal remedies for medical error are not viewed as part of the continuum of care. Thus, a new model - driven by the principle of care and the goal of healing - is needed to address medical errors more effectively. Building from these core principles of care and healing, the author develops a new healing-centered framework which provides a better assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the current medical malpractice liability system and existing alternative schemes. Evaluating existing options using this new framework, we find that each of the current models falls short in certain ways. The author then turns to restorative justice for guidance in fashioning an alternative system for addressing medical error that meets the objectives of the healing-centered framework. Building on restorative justice principles, the author proposes a restorative medical error resolution scheme aimed at providing healing for patients, health care providers and the community.

Health, Medicine, Medical Malpractice, Torts, Restorative Justice, Medical Error

Abstract:
Birth registration, the official recording of a child's birth by a government agency, is one of the most important events in a child's life. Birth registration establishes the existence of the child under law and provides the foundation for ensuring many of the child's rights. Although birth registration alone does not guarantee that a child will have access to adequate health care, receive an education, or be free from abuse or exploitation, its absence leaves a child at greater risk of a range of human rights violations. Despite the importance of birth registration, according to UNICEF, approximately 50 million newborn babies are not registered each year, accounting for over 40 percent of the children born annually. This short article examines the right to birth registration and the implications of birth registration for the child's civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

human rights, children's rights, birth registration, health, education, economic and social rights, civil rights

Abstract:
Millions of children around the world wish most of all for the chance at an education. Their thirst for education is so great that when barriers such as school fees have been removed in some countries, school populations surge almost overnight. Unfortunately, tens of millions of children face considerable obstacles in attempting to realize their right to education. Economic, social, and geographic barriers are, in some respects, readily identifiable. However, another obstacle to children's dreams of pursuing an education - health status - often goes unnoticed. This article focuses on the links between health and education in children's development. While connections flow in both directions, the article's primary aim is to highlight specifically the impact of health on education prospects. The dramatic consequences of health status on children's educational opportunities suggest that educators have a role to play in the health sector. The article discusses the importance of international human rights law in advancing the health and educational opportunities for children and suggests that human rights law can be an important tool for educators seeking to promote progress in health and education and further assist children in developing to their fullest potential.

international human rights, children, health, education, economic and social rights

Abstract:
In 1998, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) unexpectedly announced that it was calling off the maternal-child HIV transmission clinical trials in developing countries, stating that it was satisfied with the results from the drug trial in Thailand. The announcement brought to an abrupt end a clinical trial that was ongoing in eleven countries but had been surrounded by controversy since its inception.

The clinical trial had sparked numerous ethical debates, as some of the pregnant women who served as research subjects received a placebo in order to test the efficacy of a short course of AZT (also called zidovudine) in preventing perinatal transmission of HIV. Proponents of the study said that the research was necessary and was responsive to the existing economic and health conditions in developing countries. Critics countered that the use of placebos was unethical when a known effective treatment was available. This Article does not focus on the ethical debate, rather it aims to examine the legal question: can a woman who served as a research subject and whose child is now HIV-positive bring a lawsuit on behalf of the child against the physician-investigators?

The author examines the prospects for bringing such a lawsuit against the researchers using the framework of the Alien Tort Claims Act. In doing so, the author demonstrates that the major principles of medical experimentation involving human subjects, particularly the requirement of the informed consent of research subjects, have risen to the level of international customary law and therefore could provide the basis of a claim.

The author states that, while such a claim does not mean an end to all clinical trials using placebos, it does suggest that the medical research community needs to develop stronger and clearer guidelines and more strictly enforce these standards. In the absence of this, the author notes, human rights law can provide an alternative means of protecting the most vulnerable of populations.

Human Rights, International Law, Clinical Trials, Medical Experimentation, Drug Trials, Alien Tort Claims Act

Abstract:
The commercial sexual exploitation of children is a global human rights abuse that has devastating effects on millions of children who are victims of the sex trade. A significant aspect of the problem is the rapidly growing sex tourism industry, in which thousands of men travel each year to developing countries and engage in illegal sexual acts with minors. Although recently some governments have passed legislation that makes it a crime to travel overseas to engage in sexual activity with a minor, little has been done to reduce the sex tourists' access to these children.

In this article, the author examines the prospects for prosecuting sex tour operators, presenting it as one means of helping to reduce sex tourists' access to such activities and thus child prostitution in general. The author offers this step as one way in which those countries whose tourists travel to developing countries for such illegal sexual activity can contribute to ending such exploitation. The Article offers examples of relevant federal law, including several provisions of the Mann Act, and state law, using New York law as an example. While the commercial sexual exploitation of children is a complex problem that must be addressed on a number of levels, the author demonstrates that federal and state prosecutors have the means both to prevent U.S. citizens from organizing sex tours and profiting from such human rights abuses of children and to help reduce the sexual exploitation of children globally.

NOTE: An addendum on subsequent law has been added to the end of the article (March 2009).

Abstract:
The establishment of the World Trade Organization and the growing movement toward a global free trade system present new opportunities for the United States and its citizens. Yet despite being one of the driving forces behind this push toward free trade and the removal of all barriers with respect to the trading of goods, the United States continues to take much more of a protectionist stances with regard to its labor market. This approach creates a system where goods move freely across borders but workers cannot.

This article examines this conflict between U.S. trade and immigration law and policy and asks whether the United States could apply some of the principles underlying its free trade policy to its immigration law in a way that benefits the U.S. economy and its workers. Specifically, the author looks at the controversy surrounding the H-1B visa program for non-immigrants and the U.S. treatment of foreign skilled workers. The authors reviews some of the lessons of free trade principles, including the benefits of increased competition and innovation, and examines whether foreign skilled workers can provide similar benefits to the U.S. economy and to U.S. workers. Finally, the author proposes a more open approach to foreign workers, one in which U.S. workers can achieve significant gains.