Must Read: Advocating for human rights for workers around the world is part of the ABA's mission

In this week's ABA Abroad Column, Brittany Benowitz, director of the ABA Center for Human Right’s Justice Defenders program, and Janelle M. Diller, a consultant with the ABA Center for Human Rights, describe the issues that workers around the world face— such as rising authoritarianism and attacks on judicial independence. They discuss the common tactics used against advocates, including criminal harassment, and mention, "A recently released survey by the International Trade Union Confederation shows that nearly 70 countries resort to such practices and the climate of impunity is spreading." The authors go into details about tackling impunity and building accountability through international legal and political action.

"Now the right to freedom of association is increasingly under threat. Rising authoritarianism has led to the adoption of laws restricting this fundamental right, increasing attacks on judicial independence, and chilling the peaceful exercise of freedom of association and assembly, according to a report by Freedom House. Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic has served as a pretext to further restrict civic space and freedoms and claw back long-standing labor law protections."

Bangladeshi garment workers are still fighting for protections eight years after the collapse of an eight-story building in Rana Plaza killed more than 3,600 workers. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad, File)

Read the column here, "Advocating for human rights for workers around the world is part of the ABA's mission."

More about the Authors

Brittany Benowitz has worked as the director of the ABA Center for Human Right’s Justice Defenders program since 2011. Previously, she was a defense adviser to a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for four years. In that capacity, she conducted oversight of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and monitored U.S. counterterrorism, foreign assistance, arms control and security sector reform policies. She has worked on litigation in civil and criminal courts in the United States and abroad and conducted human rights investigations in Latin America, Eastern Europe and South Asia. She received her JD from the American University Washington College of Law.

Janelle M. Diller is a consultant with the ABA Center for Human Rights and Senior Research Associate with the Global Governance Center of the Geneva Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies. She served as legal counsel to the International Labour Organization where she played a major role in developing international instruments, inter-institutional agreements, and multi-stakeholder accords such as the Rana Plaza Arrangement. She was previously legal director of the International Human Rights Law Group in Washington, D.C. Diller has served as Fulbright Research Chair in Human Rights and Social Justice at the University of Ottawa (2019-20), Max Planck Scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg (2018) and Paul Martin Sr. Professor of International Affairs and Law at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law (2016). Her book, Securing Dignity and Freedom through Human Rights (Brill, 2012), which explains the origin and logic of economic, social, and cultural rights, was designated as a UN Research Guide to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Diller holds a JD (Georgetown) and an MA in journalism (Syracuse).

ABA Abroad is a column highlighting the work of the ABA’s Center for Global Programs, which comprises the Rule of Law Initiative, Center for Human Rights and the ABA’s presence at the United Nations.

The materials contained herein represent the opinions of the authors and editors and should not be construed to be those of either the American Bar Association or Section unless adopted pursuant to the bylaws of the Association. Nothing contained herein is to be considered as the rendering of legal advice for specific cases, and readers are responsible for obtaining such advice from their own legal counsel. These materials and any forms and agreements herein are intended for educational and informational purposes only.

This column reflects the opinions of the author and not the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.