Women's Participation in Firms' Management and Their Impact on Financial Performance: Pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 Period Evidence

At a time when gender equality is a key priority of all international organizations, this paper can be considered a remarkable contribution to the role of women executives in firms' performance. More specifically, this study focuses on the effect of women holding positions of responsibility on firms' performance worldwide. For the purposes of our research, we applied cross-sectional and panel data analysis for all sectors at an international level from 2019, the year preceding the breakout of the pandemic crisis, to 2021, while the indicators used to measure the participation of women in executive positions are classified as ESG indices. The empirical analysis findings end up showing that the participation of women in executive positions positively affects firms' performance over time, while there is no material change observed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic period. More specifically, when the percent of women processing job positions of responsibility increases by 10%, then the index of profitability will increase from 1.4% to 1.8%, regardless of the measurement of female participation in executive positions used. The results of this study constitute a remarkable contribution to the promotion of the creative economy, the progress of societies, and sustainable development. The research's outcome can be primarily used by policymakers drawing up policies for achieving gender equality in the labor market and workplaces and by shareholders and firms' managers in order to trust females in executive positions in favor of their firms' financial performance. The current study is unique in that it focuses on the period before and during the COVID-19 period, as a period of high volatility in economic activity worldwide, while the sample includes firms from large and mid-cap companies belonging to developed and emerging markets. The above approach will contribute to providing more credible information related to the role of women executives in firms' performance.

The Right to Property Taking Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Seriously

The right to property is part of International Human Rights Law (IHRL). However, the right is conspicuously missing from some fundamental treaties, and there are important inconsistencies in its interpretation by regional and global human rights bodies. In light of the indeterminacy and polysemy of IHRL in relation to property, this paper articulates a proposal to rethink this right taking Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ESCR) seriously. The proposal contains four propositions. Firstly, property is a human right. Secondly, it includes private property as one of its forms, but this is not the only one. Thirdly, property has a social function. And fourthly, as a matter of proportionality, fulfilling ESCR is one of the most important objectives that may justify the limitation of private property.

Disclosures for slavery accounting concerning SDG 8 and corporate attributes: a study on the banking industry of Bangladesh

With the continuous adoption of sustainable development goals by all countries, there is a rising demand for implementing and disclosing related information by companies. This paper aims to find an idea about the nature of reporting practices related to slavery by listed banking companies of Bangladesh and the relationship between reporting practice and organizational attributes. Existing literature provides the foundation of this study. Annual reports from 2016 to 2021 were collected from the company websites, and content analysis was used to determine the nature and extent of slavery reporting;an index was developed based on content analysis. Independent variables were determined based on the current literature review. Statistical tools, including the test of multicollinearity, heteroscedastic, correlation, and linear regression and panel data analyses were used to determine the fitness of the model and the impact of independent variables on the dependent variable. Content analysis showed a clear picture of the consciousness about slavery accounting as all of the companies reported a minimum of three components of selected targets from SDG8. The evidence says that the quality and quantity of slavery reporting are improving yearly. A satisfactory correlation was found among the variables. Some variables, such as ownership nature, Board Size, etc., have a positive impact, and insignificant impact was found for Age and leverage on slavery disclosure. This paper only examines the banking industry, and it assesses only a few targets of SDG 8. Thus the results obtained from the study may not be similar to other companies. Data collection also has limitations;our target was to study till 2022 but some information requirements of few companies were not available on websites. This research paper is the first attempt to determine the nature of slavery accounting in Bangladesh. It will encourage business organizations to extend their reporting on slavery and SDGs.

CHANGES TO INDIAS CITIZENSHIP L AWS *

In December 2019, India's Parliament passed, and its President signed into law, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, altering the country's 1955 Citizenship Act. For the first time in independent India's history, a religious criterion was added to the country's naturalization process. The changes sparked significant controversy, including large-scale and sometimes violent protests. Opponents of the CAA warn that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are pursuing a Hindu majoritarian, anti-Muslim agenda that threatens India's status as an officially secular republic and violates international human rights norms and obligations. In tandem with a National Register of Citizens (NRC) planned by the federal government, the as-yet unimplemented CAA may threaten the citizenship rights of India's large Muslim minority of roughly 200 million. India's Supreme Court is set to resume its review more than 250 petitions on the law's constitutionality in December 2022.

Interspecies cosmopolitanism: Non-human power and the grounds of world order in the Anthropocene

Cosmopolitanism claims to be the most just and inclusive of mainstream approaches to the ethics and practice of world order, given its commitment to human interconnection, peace, equality, diversity, and rights, and its concern with the many globalised pathologies that entrench injustice and vulnerability across borders. Yet it has largely remained oblivious to the agency, power, and value of non-human life on a turbulent and active Earth. Without rejecting its commitments to justice for human beings, the article challenges its humanism as both morally and politically inadequate to the situation of the Anthropocene, exemplified by the simultaneous crises of climate change, mass extinction, and the COVID-19 pandemic. In answer, the article develops new grounds and principles for an interspecies cosmopolitanism, exploring how we can reimagine its ontological foundations by creating new grounding images of subjectivity, existential unity, institutional organisation, and ordering purpose. These, in turn, can support political and institutional projects to secure the rights of ecosystems and people to flourish and persist through an increasingly chaotic epoch of human dominance and multispecies vulnerability across the Anthropocene Earth.

Protecting Workers' Equal Rights during Crisis and Recovery: Constitutional Approaches in 193 Countries

This chapter analyses the scope, potential, and early impacts of constitutional protections for equal rights, social protection, and minimum labour standards in safeguarding workers' health and livelihoods during Covid-19. Across countries, both the pandemic itself and many policies enacted in response (eg economic shutdowns) disproportionately affected marginalized workers due to underlying disparities in terms and conditions of work, social protection coverage, and living conditions. While the right to health has clear relevance during a pandemic, protections for equality and fundamental economic rights also matter to workers' overall well-being, particularly when policy responses focus narrowly on preventing disease spread through closures without adequately addressing social determinants of health like workplace safety and income. This chapter: (1) draws on a unique global dataset to analyse the extent to which constitutions protect equal rights, decent work, and social insurance in 193 countries;(2) reviews early examples of how these constitutional protections provided tools to support both health and economic needs and uphold foundational equality amidst a crisis;and (3) identifies gaps likely to leave workers vulnerable if unaddressed. It finds that explicit constitutional protections for almost all aspects of equal rights, decent work, and social insurance have become more common over time;moreover, courts from wide-ranging countries have cited these protections in decisions addressing workers' rights and households' material needs amidst Covid-19. Nevertheless, most countries lack constitutional provisions specifically addressing safe working conditions or income protection during illness and unemployment-areas that matter to equality both during pandemics and more typical years. © The several contributors 2022. All rights reserved.

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN INDIA: LITERATURE REVIEW

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a globally prevalent human rights issue that involves social determinants like norms, values, power relations, socioeconomic situations, etc. Key indicators include domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and harassment. This paper reviews the literature published in academic journals, government and NGO reports and mass media reports to understand the roots of GBV against women in India and the factors leading to its increased intensity during the COVID-19 pandemic. As GBV, with slight geographical variations, mostly remains unreported in India, the same pattern is reported by the available literature, thereby the total number of victims remains unrecorded. The COVID-19 preventive measures, such as quarantine and limited services, further enhanced the already persistent gender-based inequalities and also restricted possibilities for reporting. With limitations of the study, the paper is focused only on female-specific cases thereby leaving out the sections such as males, LGBTQ, and other categories outside of the scope of the study. Summing up, recommendations based on analysis are given for policy framing, legal advocacy, administrative accountability, and counselling purpose to ensure a holistic strategy and not a piecemeal approach with emphasis on making an attitudinal change to combat GBV. This paper concluding observation is that long-term structural changes in social attitudes and behaviours and treating women with equity are essential for eradicating gender-based violence. In all such endeavours, women's active participation is essential. Finally, women's active agency will ensure a positive and robust change in containing and eradicating gender-based violence.

Social justice and the judicial interpretation of international equal protection law

Social justice is turning into an international concern. This development is a response to the continuous rise of socioeconomic inequality – the gap between the rich and the poor –growing in several OECD member states since the 1970s. International human rights law (IHRL) presently only establishes a weak normative framework regarding social justice. This article argues that the full potential of this framework has still not been activated by international human rights adjudication. There are several reasons for this: a complex history of ideas suggesting little common understanding of the notion of social justice, the focus of international human rights adjudication on individual rather than constitutional justice, and the priority of liberty rights over equality rights. Yet, the domination of the liberal over the social in international human rights adjudication has started to change. The article shows how the social justice concern is beginning to be incorporated into IHRL by judicial interpretation of international equal protection and non-discrimination law (international equal protection law, IEPL). Integrating the social justice concern into IEPL is a legitimate yet transformative step as it increases judicial discretion at the international level. More than many other human rights, socioeconomic equality is highly context-specific and depends on a complex factual assessment of the local circumstances. This exacerbates the institutional legitimacy challenge levelled against international human rights courts. However, the article argues that the legitimacy challenge can be alleviated by focusing more on procedural rather than a substantive international review.

Health Justice in the Context of Health and Human Rights

The inextricable link between the promotion and protection of both health and human rights comes to the fore in the lack of attention to structural determinants in pandemic responses. By requiring that rather than treating everyone the same, additional efforts be made to reach and elevate the most marginalized and discriminated against, human rights incorporate the notion of redistributive justice, expressed by Alang and Blackstock as the need to "ensure access to and redistribution of resources." Linking to the legal basis of the health and human rights framework, the authors also call for the "introduction of mandates and enforcement of regulations that redistribute power"' and for "legislation that guarantees support for people with long-haul COVID-19." The strong history of community organizing and grassroots activism among the human rights community might indeed be leveraged to push for government action and accountability at the local, state, and national levels.

Gender, sexual and reproductive health, and social change in Africa

[...]emerging digital technologies have provided immense opportunities for Africa to tackle gendered inequities in public health and to advance SRHR, but they have also elevated the risks for gender-based violence (GBV) for some population groups and launched new vistas of audacious campaigns and attacks against reproductive rights, gender equality, and sexual and gender minorities in the region. There is no better home for these papers than the African Journal of Reproductive Health (AJRH): Africa's leading outlet for robust research and evidence on public health matters and, increasingly, the go-to source on actionable SRHR evidence for policy actors in the region. [...]together, they serve the growing readership of the AJRH an exciting and nuanced menu of new evidence on issues ranging from the sexual rights of the region's elderly women and the challenges of delivering quality sexuality education to the continent's young people;through insights on an innovative SRHR research capacity program and on the challenges of SRHR in humanitarian contexts;to studies on marriage, health providers' attitudes, reproductive dynamics and outcomes, female genital mutilation, gender attitudes and the SRHR impacts of COVID-19. Comprising social scientists, economists, public health specialists, and demographers, all of whom are experts in gender, ICRW works to identify women's contributions as well as the obstacles that block them from being economically strong and able to fully participate in society.

The Indian Democracy (Dichotomy of Hindu- Muslims): From Victorian England to Modi Raj

The world in the 20th century broke the chain of colonization and slavery and has seen the rise of Democracy as the new rule of law. India which was a single nation till the evening of 14th august 1947, eventually carved out into three separate nation states in form of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India itself. This paper attempts to analyses the adoption of democracy as the rule of law in the Indian subcontinent. This article traces the development of the democracy in India from the ashes of the partition to being the world's largest democracy. The beginning of the third decade of the 21st century is marked with the devastating second wave of the coronavirus in India. India being the world's largest functioning democracy has seen the people waiting outside the crematorium with the bodies of their loved ones to lay them on the pyres and on the other hand it also seen the election campaigns and the elections in the coastal state of West Bengal. This raises some serious questions about the functioning of democracy in India. This paper attempts to analyses and understand the Indian democracy from being a demand from the colonial masters to being the world's largest democracy with a crippling public sector and poor performance in the various development indexes. Thus, this article will help the readers to understand that the Indian democracy is just a simple flawed version of the democracy borrowed from the Victorian England or it is just a myth.

HR Standards as a Foundation for Human Security and Health Policy: Legal and Ethical Issues

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the necessity for public authorities in all European countries to seek measures which would streamline combating threats to health and life while ensuring that the fundamental rights and values of their residents are respected. It appears that the right to healthcare in general, and the redistribution of the goods which are the most crucial for patients, in more specific terms, as well as decisions related to the final allocation of those goods, have become areas of conflict. Design/Methodology/Approach: In this article, we take note that the decision of an individual physician to undertake or abandon treatment is a critical dilemma to be faced in the light of respect for patient's right to health and protection of life. Findings: The implementation of human rights standards (ECHR) for medical ethics requires taking into consideration the quality of health care services, the appropriate standard of health care, and equal rights of every patient and respect for such rights. Practical Implications: A correct analysis of the ECHR Standards in question may contribute to the development of an appropriate health policy model based on the principles of respecting the rule of law, considering patients' rights as well as physician independence. It should also take into consideration a call for the efficient allocation of public funds in health care. Originality/Value: The publication systematizes the most important issues of human rights standards in public healthcare system.

Gender justice in disaster: Outcomes Statement

In May 2021, the Gender Justice in Disaster: Inspiring Action conference was delivered in the context of the COVID-19 global pandemic. During the pandemic, the conversation about gender and disaster increasingly crossed into the mainstream, demonstrated by the recognition of the COVID-19 ‘shadow pandemic': a sharp rise globally in violence against women and increasing gender inequality.

Black Families Overlooked, Misunderstood, and Underserved in the Family Courts

Studies show that even people consciously committed to equality may still hold unconscious stereotypes that influence their actions.1 The courts' technological pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic has made access to justice available at our fingertips.2 Attorneys and parties can dial into hearings using a web-based conferencing platform like Zoom, arguably making participating in court proceedings easier.3 However, what happens when the parties face challenges such as lack of broadband access, lack of devices to access web-based conference platforms, or lack of computer knowledge to access hearings, among a host of other problems? [...]mediation is a way to preserve positive relationships and garner adherence to parenting time agreements, which leads to a better wellbeing for the children involved. "10 State and local court administrators can "[p]rovide education on implicit bias that includes judicial facilitators/presenters, examples of implicit bias across other professions, and exercises" to personalize training sessions.11 In addition, administrators can "[p]rovide routine diversity training that emphasizes multiculturalism and encourage court leaders to promote" the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities.12 To further assist the bench with addressing implicit bias, administrators can develop guidelines or protocols "for decision makers to check and correct for implicit bias (e.g., taking the other person's perspective, imagining the person is from a non-stigmatized social group, thinking of counter stereotypic thoughts in the presence of an individual from a minority social group). "20 Like courts in Massachusetts and New York, other court systems could request an independent commission to analyze administrative data from state agencies regarding racial disparities and submit a report of its findings as well as proposed strategies for improvement.21 "Courts exist to do justice, to guarantee liberty, to enhance social order, to resolve disputes, to maintain rule of law, to provide for equal protection, and to ensure due process of law.

Don’t Read the Comments: Examining Social Media Discourse on Trans Athletes

How are transgender athletes understood in popular discourse? This paper adapts and merges Glaser and Strauss’ 1967 Grounded Theory Method with computerized Automated Text Analysis to provide clarity on large-n datasets comprised of social media posts made about transgender athletes. After outlining the procedures of this new approach to social media data, I present findings from a study conducted on comments made in response to YouTube videos reporting transgender athletes. A total of 60,000 comments made on three YouTube videos were scraped for the analysis, which proceeded in two steps. The first was an iterative, grounded analysis of the top 500 “liked” comments to gain insight into the trends that emerged. Automated Text Analysis was then used to explore latent connections amongst the 60,000 comments. This descriptive analysis of thousands of datapoints revealed three dominant ways that people talk about transgender athletes: an attachment to biology as determinative of athletic abilities, a racialized understanding of who constitutes a proper “girl”, and perceptions of sex-segregated sports as the sole way to ensure fairness in athletic opportunities. The paper concludes by drawing out the implications of this research for how scholars understand the obstacles facing transgender political mobilizations, presents strategies for addressing these roadblocks, and underscores the importance of descriptive studies of discourse in political science research concerned with marginalization and inequality.

Living in the Shadows: Rohingya Refugees in Malaysia

Denied citizenship and persecuted in Myanmar, the Rohingya have fled to various countries, including Malaysia. However, Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. It also has weak domestic legal and regulatory mechanisms to protect refugees and asylum-seekers. In this paper, the authors study the treatment of Rohingya refugees in Malaysia and suggest how the Malaysian legal system can better protect them by adapting international legal practices.

Education, Law and Diversity: Schooling for One and All? by Neville Harris,. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2020, 616 pp (£90, hardback) ISBN: 978-1-50-990670-3

Permeating all major international and regional human rights treaties, the right to education has been described as ‘one of the most important of children's moral and legal rights;without it they may be unable to develop their personality, talents, and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential’.1 However, the legal enforcement of the right to education is a much more multifaceted exercise in practice, reflecting not only the overlap between the right itself and the provision of resources necessary for its implementation, but also the inseparable connection between the child's right to education and the rights of parents to select the form and manner of that education.2 Against this backdrop, Harris's Education, Law and Diversity: Schooling for One and All? is an important contribution to our collective understanding of the domestic enforcement of the right to education for two principal reasons. From a national standpoint, Covid-19 led to the closure of schools and globally the pandemic impacted 1.6 billion learners or 94% of the world's student population.4 One of the most impacted groups of learners was children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), who from a domestic perspective experienced a pronounced, disproportionate and retrogressive impact on their right to education.5 Harris's discussion on equality, inclusion and the rights of children with SEND assumes increased import in view of the overwhelmingly negative affect which Covid-19 has had on these children. Harris notes that the proportion of primary school pupils in England whose first language is reported to be other than English was 21.2% in 2019, with the equivalent figure for secondary school pupils recorded as 16.9%.7 In alluding to religious diversity Harris notes that religiously affiliated schools now account for around one third of schools in England, which ‘enables parents to have the choice of a denominational education for their child or a secular one’.8 The theme of diversity and inclusion is carried through to the discussion of those children who are educated outside of the formal state education system, with Harris noting that this cohort of children comprise a ‘significant minority of children’,9 equating to around 6.5% of the entire school population. Noting gradual change (with the exception of children and young people with special educational needs), Harris argues that the current two-page guidance accompanying the general duty on ‘pupil voice’ as set out in s 176 of the Education Act 2002 (which emphasises the relevance of Article 12 CRC and strongly encourages schools to pay due regard to the Convention), is ‘an exhortation which surely falls short of what is required to ensure that the pupil's voice is properly engaged with in school practice’.16 One of the most significant contributions which this book makes is to the ongoing debates surrounding the rights of children and young people with SEND.

Principles Of Humanity & Social Solidarity: Indian Perspective

Humanity is a revolutionary & hypothetical concept and base of human rights. Right is a beauty, ability, quality, liability, power as well as the dignity of the individual itself. Without humanity cannot successfully the goal of human rights. Humanity is the mother of all freedom, respect, equality, and fraternity;it is the commitment of a strong civilized society. Rule of Law, access to justice have also encapsulated the concept of humanity. It is not new concepts that are already prevailing initially from the society. Every moment of the country depends on humanity;if humanity is escaped from society definitely, peace and security already would be missing out. It is realized the value of power, security, peace, the value of life, economic values, equalitarian values, ethical values, educational values, and skill labour, environmental values, etc. during the Coronavirus pandemic. Humanity is a strong weapon, tool, and technique itself and helped to resolve all unrespectable phenomenon's in society. Human right is a pillar of liberal and constitutional democracy. International communities are also connected through the humanity & Human Rights principles to each other. It is the backbone of all relationships from individual to individual, society to the individual, state to state, and state to the international community. This paper focused on the essence of humanity, the need of exploring humanity and social solidarity as well as how connected and managed the legal system through it. Social solidarity theory focused on internal awareness of individual and increased ethics, the value of life, and promotion of duty, etc. the method of research study is descriptive and analytical through the legal document. The conclusion of the research study social solidarity & humanity is dynamic concepts and inherent in the rule of law and the concept of justice.

UNITED NATIONS CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

The UN organization sustain that is universally recognized as a platform for reliable collaboration and with an important role of preventive diplomacy in maintaining peace and security in the world. This approach announces the importance of a new era of multilateralism, where the countries of the earth are working together to solve global problems, the international system is working quickly to protect everyone in the event of an emergency. The paper aims to present the report "Our Common Agenda"which sets out the vision for the future of global cooperation.

Dissenting Bodies, Disruptive Pandemic: Farmers' Protest and Women's Participation in Mass Mobilisation in India

While authoritarian states promoting neoliberal forms of governance have taken advantage of COVID-19 to weaken the foundations of civil society, there has also been a significant rise in contemporary struggles for a more democratic society during and around the pandemic. From December 2019 to November 2021, India has seen a significant number of protests. The timeline of collective resistance against the state and its divisive, violent and neoliberal agenda represents a critical juncture in Indian politics. This paper focuses on the farmers' protests that started from last November and recently ended in a stunning, hard-earned victory. In a sector that is overwhelmingly male-dominated and deeply patriarchal, women farmers have come out on the streets protesting the controversial Farm Laws hastily passed by the Indian government in September 2019 that threatened to corporatize farming and increase exploitation and marginalisation of small farmers. What is most interesting about the farmers' protests is large-scale participation of women across caste, class, occupational, and religious divide which has changed the composition and dynamics of collective resistance and demonstrate how organised and collective resistance can become symbols of solidarity and intersectional dissent. The paper will examine the role of gender and female agency in protests by female occupying bodies in physical spaces particularly when under the pretext of COVID -19 crisis management the state has severely pushed back against citizens right to dissent and fight for justice. The farmer's protest has brought to the fore women's role in mass mobilisations. Women's participation in the protest has tremendous significance for women's movement for justice, equality and rights and can pose a real challenge to the return of the 'Strong State'.