July-August 2025

Table of Contents

SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE DAY FOCUS

International Day:  Emancipation Day

This holiday marks the end of slavery in the British Empire. It is a public holiday in several Caribbean countries and although the holiday commemorates events that took place on August 1st 1834, it may be celebrated on different days in these countries.

The first country in the world to observe a public holiday for Emancipation Day was Trinidad and Tobago, when Emancipation Day replaced Discovery Day in 1985.

Emancipation Day is observed in many former European colonies in the West Indies and parts of the United States on various dates to commemorate the emancipation of slaves of African descent.

In much of the former British West Indies, Emancipation Day is usually marked on 1 August, commemorating the anniversary of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 coming into force on 1 August 1834. However, in some countries, it is marked instead on the first Monday in August. The observance of a holiday in the British West Indies also became a key mobilisation tool and holiday for the antislavery movement in the United States.

Emancipation Day is also observed in other areas in regard to the abolition of other forms of involuntary servitude.

UN COMMEMORATIVE DAYS – July and August

• July 18 – Nelson Mandela Day
• July 30 – World Day against Trafficking in Persons
• August 9 – International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
• August 23 – International Day for the remembrance of the slave trade and its abolition
• August 30 – International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances

GNPHR NEWS AND EVENTS

GNPHR Steering committee member Marlena Plavsic has just published a co-edited book focusing on how human rights are addressed in applied psychology….. (see publications)

New GNPHR blogs:

• George Drazenovich, The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and International Trade Agreements: Why it Matters for Human Rights Psychologists

• Neal S. Rubin, PhD, ABPP. The Human Right to Science and the Authoritarian Impulse: A GNPHR Follow-up

• Added to Stories: Dandrea R. Reeder, When the Conflict Isn’t Just a Case Study: Doing Fieldwork in Real-Time Tension
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Webinar Series Human Rights Education

Upcoming Webinars:

• Human Rights and Psychology (Elizabeth Lira) – October 2025

For past Webinars, see: https://humanrightspsychology.org/webinars/

General

Decolonial ink drops on a psychological debate about the sociogenesis of human rights. Maria Claudia Santos Lopes de Oliveira. Culture and Psychology, Volume 31, Issue 1, 2025.

[from the abstract]: Inspired by a traditional view on human rights, a six-stage psychological model is proposed to explain the sociogenesis of a new human right in a given social group. Their model contains a criticism regarding the conflicts arising from collective demands, seen as enhancing the imbalance between rights and duties. In a different direction, guided by feminist, decolonial and post-identity epistemologies, in this commentary we defend the relevance of conflicts and collective action to enhancing social transformation, with a view to overcoming the hegemonic liberal and universal perspective on human rights. We argue that such hegemonic approach makes diversity and difference invisible, which are so important aspects to the construction of the psychological science and praxis we defend, a scientific enterprise which is contextualized and socially committed to the specific needs of minority groups (blacks, LGBTQIA+, children, young people, the elderly, etc.), who are often pathologized and excluded from the scope of the international declarations that take for granted that human rights are universal topics.

(End of life) We should not fear assisted dying. Harwood RH. Age Ageing. 2025 Feb 2; 54(2):afaf029.
[from the abstract]: The argument for allowing assisted dying (ad) is based on two principles: (i) respect for autonomy and (ii) adequate safeguards to avoid coercion or abuse. We should ensure that ad is accessible, equitable and regulated. It is wrong, without very good reason, to impose a set of beliefs on other people who do not hold those views. We should therefore not impose an obligation to go on living if an individual considers that it is associated with unwanted suffering, distress, dependency, indignity or cost. We should accept, and provide for, diversity and variation in people’s views on ad. The right to refuse life-prolonging therapies, or to have drugs to control distressing symptoms that incidentally shorten life, is well-established. The ethical distinction between these and ad is arguable. Worldwide, most people who choose to end their lives, are already close to death. Some people need protection from the possibility of their lives being ended when they did not intend or want it. However, older people are capable of making informed decisions on serious matters, with or without the support of others. To suggest otherwise is paternalistic and ageist. Multiple jurisdictions worldwide have developed and use effective safeguards. In these countries, ad is mostly welcomed and has not led to undue legal, social or human rights problems. Legal provision for ad is both desirable and necessary.

The right to life. Anastasiia Mernyk, Oleh Hyliaka, Viktoriia Sheverdina, Wiadomości Lekarskie Medical Advances, Vol. LXXVIII, issue 1, January 2025.

[from the abstract]: Analyzing the right to life in the context of its interrelationship with other human rights, such as the right to liberty, the right to health and the right to a fair trial, helps to affirm the principles of the rule of law and ensure equality before the law for all. In the modern world, the concept of the right to life has become an important element of international law, which covers not only physical existence, but also the provision of a decent and quality life, health, education and social protection. Cultural and religious aspects play a significant role in shaping the understanding of the right to life. Different religious and cultural traditions have their own interpretations of the beginning and end of life, influencing attitudes

The Social Psychology of Justice Repair. Tyler G Okimoto, Mario Gollwitzer, Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 76, 2025.
[from the abstract]: Justice scholars have elaborated a variety of social psychological mechanisms that contribute to our desire to see some action following an injustice, to see justice done. Research over the past 20 years has significantly advanced our understanding of how to repair a sense of justice by articulating the psychological needs that follow from its experience from victim, offender, and observer perspectives. In this review, we summarize key insights from this literature, including the specific needs identified as relevant to justice, the challenges that arise when seeking justice for multiple parties in a conflict, and the procedural approaches that can aid in reconciling disparate perspectives. Following this review, we challenge our own assumption that justice repair is necessary. As a departure from this deficit model, we draw inspiration from adjacent fields of study to propose “justice making” as an alternative avenue for reconciliation in situations where justice repair is unachievable.

The sustainable challenge: Where does social psychology stand in achieving the sustainable development goals? Marta Prandelli, Valentina Rizzoli, Emiliano Tolusso, Br J Soc Psychol. 2025; 64:e12822.
[from the abstract]: The United Nations Agenda 2030, inclusive of its 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), serves as the global blueprint for sustainability for both present and future generations. Scientific research is entrusted with the responsibility of contributing by informing the current situation and future challenges in achieving the SDGs. This paper investigates the role of social psychology in contributing to the SDGs and the environmental, economic and social pillars of the UN Agenda. We analysed 4808 papers using Natural Language Processing to identify (i) the relevance of social psychology within the SDG-related literature and (ii) the current and potential contribution of social psychology to the SDGs. Results highlight that social psychology contributes to the SDGs by addressing typical social issues, primarily those related to health and gender, while noting its under-representation in some environmental and economic areas, despite social psychology well-established research on these topics. This paper introduces a novel approach for assessing the SDGs, fostering a critical reflection on the SDG framework and social psychology to guide less explored research paths. This approach could potentially enhance the evaluation and advancement of the 2030 Agenda, facilitating a deeper dialogue between the scientific community and policymakers, driving social change.

International Psychology: Psychology, Culture, and Context for Addressing Global Issues (2025). Josephine C. H. Tan, Canadian Psychology, Vol. 66, No. 2, 103–114, 2025.
[from the abstract]: International psychology is an emerging field that makes the discipline global and inclusive. It also uses psychological science to understand and address global challenges, such as those reflected in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This award article, which is associated with the Canadian Psychological Association award for the international advancement of psychology, describes the activities and resources associated with international psychology or global psychology as some would refer to it. The connections among cultural psychology, cross-cultural psychology, decolonial psychology, and indigenous psychology are considered. The article also offers information on the author’s journey and activities in the field as just one example of how one enters the field and participates in it. The journey and activities will be different for each international psychologist. Although international psychology has had a presence in Canada, it is not widely acknowledged as a field on its own. The article concludes by discussing the progress made in furthering international psychology in Canada and the lessons learned by the author from being a part of international psychology at the global level.

Beyond punishment: psychological foundations of restorative interventions. Katherine McAuliffe, Julia Marshall , Abby McLaughlin, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Volume 29, Issue 2, 149 – 169, 2025.
[from the abstract]: Work on the psychology of justice has largely focused on punishment. However, punishment is not our only strategy for dealing with conflict. Rather, emerging work suggests that people often respond to transgressions by compensating victims, involving third-party mediators, and engaging in forgiveness. These responses are linked in that they are involved in more restorative than retributive justice practices: they center victims as well as (or instead of) perpetrators and can help repair fractured relationships. Work with non-human animals echoes these findings: reconciliation and intervention by third parties play a key role in conflict management across taxa. In this review, we focus on these restorative interventions, with the aim of painting a more complete picture of the psychology of justice.

The implicated subject, Beyond Victims and Perpetrators, Michael Rothberg, SUP, Stanford, California, 2019.
Implicated subjects occupy positions aligned with power and privilege without being themselves direct agents of harm; they contribute to, inhabit, inherit, or benefit from regimes of domination but do not originate or control such regimes. An implicated subject is neither a victim nor a perpetrator, but rather a participant in histories and social formations that generate the positions of victim and perpetrator, and yet in which most people do not occupy such clear-cut roles. Less “actively” involved than perpetrators, implicated subjects do not fit the mold of the “passive” bystander, either. Although indirect or belated, their actions and inactions help produce and reproduce the positions of victims and perpetrators. In other words, implicated subjects help propagate the legacies of historical violence and prop up the structures of inequality that mar the present; apparently direct forms of violence turn out to rely on indirection. Modes of implication—entanglement in historical and present-day injustices—are complex, multifaceted, and sometimes contradictory, but are nonetheless essential to confront in the pursuit of justice.

Physicians for Human Rights
Survivors of human rights violations have a right to justice, a right to know the truth, and a right to an accurate historical record of events grounded in science.
For more than 30 years, Physicians for Human Rights has mobilized health professionals, forensic scientists, and other experts worldwide to investigate and expose allegations of abuse.
We use the power of science and forensic medicine to meticulously document evidence of sexual violence, torture, and other violations. Our experts investigate extra-judicial killings and supervise exhumations of mass graves. We conduct forensic medical and psychological evaluations of U.S. asylum seekers to corroborate their claims of persecution and abuse – evidence that can help them secure safe haven in the United States.
We continuously innovate to ensure that evidence is collected efficiently, safely stored, and securely transmitted so that survivors have the best chance at justice. Our work forms an incontrovertible, fact-based record of what occurred. Evidence rooted in science is a critical tool to make human rights violators accountable for their crimes.

Human Rights and the Visual: Your research can be a novel! Amr Marzouk & Frederica Violi, 04 July 2025.
[from the abstract]: Human rights are multifaceted. They represent an ideal of dignity and freedom that all humans deserve and strive for. They are also a legal concept and a legal category solidified by international treaties and international bodies, and which is constantly under attack by oppressive regimes. Epistemologically, human rights is a discipline of knowledge that aims to study issues and cases related to these dimensions. As scholars who research human rights-related issues, we are always faced with the challenge of how to channel our research to a wider audience. How can we transform statistics, testimonies, international standards and international courts’ verdicts into an engaging narrative for the public? How can we give relevance to that ‘ideal’?
To address this challenge, we organised a series of events exploring the relationship between human rights and the visual, where we aim to present how human rights issues and research are conveyed through the visual medium.

British institute of human rights. Easy Read hub 

Children/Youth

The Moderating Effect of Human Rights Education: Examining the Relationship Between Parental Abuse, Child Self-Esteem, and Human Rights Attitude. Changmin Yoo. The Journal of Interpersonal Violence, May 2025.
[from the abstract]: This study aims to investigate the mediating role of child self-esteem in the relationship between parental abuse and children’s human rights attitude, while exploring the moderating effect of children’s participation in human rights education on these associations. Using data from 2020 Children and Youth Human Rights Survey (N = 5,673 students, 50% female, mean age = 15.53), we conducted structural equation modeling to assess the conceptual model’s validity. Parental abuse showed a negative relationship with human rights attitude. For children not participating in human rights education, self-esteem acted as a partial mediator, while for participating children, self-esteem served as a full mediator.

Interesting but does it address human rights? Yes, it enhances their capabilities
Societal changes, children’s play, and children’s mental health. Peter Gray, THE LANCET, Vol.9, 8, p. 526-528, August 2025
International Day of Play, on June 11, 2025, prompts us to consider the relationship between young people’s opportunities for play and their mental health. Play is intrinsically motivated activity initiated and directed by the players themselves). Play is a fundamental human drive, an expression of freedom, a source of creativity, and a vehicle of learning that enriches the lives of people of all ages.Research has shown that children and young adults who engaged in more play and other independent activity in childhood feel better about their lives and, by various measures, are doing better than those who engaged in less play. History shows that societal changes that reduce children’s (including adolescents’) opportunities for play negatively affect young people’s mental health. This Comment reflects on three eras of change in children’s opportunities for play and other independent activity, and their mental-health consequences.

Crimes against humanity

Documenting torture: Why the Istanbul Protocol matters
Newsletter No 3. 2025 Documenting torture: Why the Istanbul Protocol matters

Understanding and Combating Human Trafficking: A Psychological Perspective. Nancy M. Sidun, American Psychological Association, Vol. 80, No. 5, 787–797, 2025.
Human trafficking is a global crisis that represents one of the gravest violations of human rights and dignity in modern times. Defined by international and U.S. frameworks, trafficking involves the exploitation of individuals through fraud, force, or coercion for purposes such as labor, sexual exploitation, or organ harvesting. Psychology provides a unique lens to understand, prevent, and address this issue by examining the underlying psychological mechanisms used by traffickers and the profound effects on survivors. Traffickers leverage psychological manipulation—grooming, coercion, and trauma bonding—to control victims, while survivors endure severe mental health consequences, including posttraumatic stress disorder, complex trauma, depression, and anxiety.

Data Rights

AI and human rights: the new international Framework Convention.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become deeply embedded in our daily lives. From advanced chatbots to facial recognition technologies, AI offers unprecedented possibilities. But it also raises ethical and legal questions. How can we ensure that AI respects our fundamental rights?
A new legal standard for AI
Countries worldwide have enacted laws to regulate AI, often targeting specific issues like privacy, misinformation and its applications – think of online recommendation systems. However, the AI Framework Convention is the first legally binding international treaty covering all AI applications, valid for all countries that join. In addition to the 46 member states of the Council of Europe, several countries from different regions participated in the negotiations – including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, the Holy See, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and the United States.
The Framework Convention provides a legal structure for the entire lifecycle of AI systems. It promotes innovation in the field of AI, while mitigating risks to human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

Decolonization / Indigenization

Decolonising Psychology in the Caribbean: Teaching Practices and Knowledge Challenges. Mia A. Jules, Cherise Bynoe, Jo-Ann Prosper-Chase, Donna-Maria B. Maynar, Caribbean Journal of Psychology, December 2024, The University of the West Indies (UWI Press).
This work stands at the intersection of psychology, education, and decolonial thought, offering a timely and necessary re-evaluation of how psychological knowledge is taught, understood, and applied in postcolonial contexts, particularly the Caribbean. Unlike traditional approaches that treat psychology as a neutral, universal discipline, this study challenges entrenched Eurocentric frameworks by foregrounding the lived experiences, cultural realities, and epistemologies of Caribbean people. What makes this work especially unique is its use of collaborative autoethnography, allowing educators to reflect collectively on their teaching practices and uncover how their own positionalities shape the way knowledge is conveyed. Rather than presenting decolonisation as a theoretical ideal, the work offers practical, grounded examples of how reflective practices in the classroom can actively shift students from passive consumers of psychological theory to engaged creators of culturally relevant knowledge. The research is also timely, as global academic institutions and professional bodies are increasingly recognising the need to diversify curricula, disrupt colonial legacies, and promote culturally responsive education.

Democracy and Human Rights

Housing, Food Prices, and Social Fragmentation: Economic and Psychological Outlooks on Ethnic Diversity and Conservative Policies in 2025. Benjamin Koch, Ph.D. in Economics, International Law, and Psychology, serving as an Economist, Research Consultant, Lecturer, and practicing Psychologist, January 2025.
This working paper critically examines the interplay between restrictive conservative policies, housing affordability, food price dynamics, and the psychological as well as economic ramifications of rising ethnic diversity in 2025. Employing a multidisciplinary framework that integrates international law, economics, and psychology, the analysis addresses the underlying mechanisms through which conservative governance strategies influence economic access and social stability in heterogeneous societies. By prioritizing the reduction of diversification, the study evaluates the implications of restrictive migration and housing policies on market equilibrium, resource allocation, and consumption patterns, with an emphasis on food price inflation and its socioeconomic consequences. The psychological dimension explores how heightened ethnic fragmentation exacerbates perceived social threats, undermining trust and collective cohesion, while conservative policies seek to mitigate such fragmentation through regulation of demographic influx. The research synthesizes econometric modeling with psychological behavioral analysis to provide empirical insights into the trade-offs between restrictive policies aimed at stabilizing markets and their unintended effects on social fragmentation. Findings underscore the necessity of recalibrating governance frameworks to address the dual imperatives of economic efficiency and psychological well-being without exacerbating exclusionary tendencies. This paper contributes to the growing discourse on the efficacy of conservative approaches i​n an era of increasing demographic complexity and economic volatility.

Displaced/Migrants/Refugees/Stateless

Human rights violations are associated with forcibly displaced population’s mental health-a systematic review and meta-analysis. Felix Sisenop, Pallavi Chatarajupalli, Paul Bain, Hanna Kaade, Jutta Lindert, Frontiers Public Health, 2025.
[from the abstract]: Human rights are fundamental entitlements inherent to every individual, irrespective of factors such as race, gender, nationality, ethnicity, language, or religion. These rights encompass essential freedoms, including the right to life, liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of expression, and access to education, work and health. They apply universally without any form of discrimination. To the best of our knowledge, no systematic review so far investigated the association of human rights violations with FDP’s (forcibly displaced populations) mental health.
The objectives of this systematic review are therefore to evaluate (1) the prevalence of mental health conditions among FDPs; (2) investigate methodological factors contributing to study results; and (3) evaluate associations between mental health conditions and human rights violations. This study represents a novel contribution to the literature on FDPs mental health.

A Moving History, migration has propelled human progress for hundreds of thousands of years. Ian Goldin, F & D, June 2025.
The history of migration is the story of humanity and its progress. It’s a story of peaceful cooperation and exchange, but also of violence. Terrible things have been done to compel people to migrate against their will. Yet despite the suffering, migration remains the key to the success of our species.
People on the move carried with them vestiges of old lands and past lives. As they ventured farther from their homes, they encountered previous settlers who had accumulated different habits, technologies, and economic activities. They traded goods and shared ideas, like pollinators of human progress.

Europe has a duty to protect stateless refugees
Our Stateless Journeys campaign is calling on European governments and the EU to provide the full rights and support owed to stateless refugees and to better prioritise this in asylum and migration policy.

Emma Bellamy, Podcasts presenting stories of Australia-based immigrants and refugees, along with insights from migration experts and professionals.

Human Rights Education

Student Advocacy Seminars
Scholars at Risk (SAR)’s Student Advocacy Seminars provide university and college students with the opportunity to develop human rights research and advocacy skills through direct engagement on behalf of threatened members of the global higher education community in cooperation with SAR’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project and Scholars in Prison Project.
Arranged and supervised by local faculty in partnership with SAR, each seminar takes on the case of one or more scholars facing unjust restrictions, prosecution, or imprisonment. This experiential program is tailored to each institution and group of students and is designed to give students a foundation in:

• Human rights research, standards, and mechanisms
• Organizing and advocacy
• Persuasive writing
• Leadership and teamwork skills

Inclusion, Exclusion, Racism

Both Black and White, and Neither
Ahna Fleming, NY Times, Race/Related, July 25, 2025.
“Mulatto” used to be a racial category on the census, along with “octoroon,” meaning one-eighth African blood, and “quadroon,” meaning one-fourth African blood. The 1870 census defined “mulatto” as including “all persons having any perceptible trace of African blood,” according to the Pew Research Center. Scientists included these categories on the census because they were trying to prove that biracial people were not fertile and a “doomed class of people,” which was a pseudoscientific justification to prevent interracial mixing.
Society’s ideas about race are constantly fluctuating. Racial categories have changed on nearly every census since the first in 1790. The 2030 census will include new “Hispanic or Latino” and “Middle Eastern or North African” boxes to check.
Race is a political and social classification system, which humans invented to divide people into different “categories of worth.” Racism is taught and exists in all of us. It is embedded in the systems that structure our lives. The only way to overcome it is to have a burning passion to disintegrate it, within ourselves and our communities.

Getting Race Right
A project of Professor Charles Green and Race in America students at Hope College. “Racial justice is the path to racial progress.”
How European Colonialism Led to the Invention of Race—And Why That Still Matters
Two generations ago, Sociologist Oliver Cromwell Cox, a Trinidadian immigrant to the U.S., published a classic work, Caste, Class, and Race, in which he argued that the ideology of race as we understand it had its origins in European colonialism (Cox, 1948).  It stuns me to know that, by some accounts, the first African slaves were brought to the Western Hemisphere in 1501, less than a decade after Columbus and his men arrived at Hispaniola (National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, 2001).
How could such conquest be justified by people who saw themselves as good Christians? The answer lay in demeaning the conquered. If American Indians and their mestizo descendants were less human than Europeans, then the confiscation of their lands and their gold could be justified. If Africans were less human than Europeans, then the confiscation of their very bodies could be justified. Better yet, if Europeans could conclude that Africans were particularly well-suited to slavery, then they could argue that they were acting in the best interests of the enslaved, in accordance with a divine plan for their earthly improvement and heavenly salvation.

What is the longitudinal evidence for causal intergroup contact effects? – A comparative multi-method re-analysis of 21 published studies. Maria-Therese Friehs, Sarina J. Schäfer, Kirsten Wüst, Carina Dürr, Tamara Böttcher, Günter Resch, Benedikt Sander, Alexandra Woltz, Maarten H. W. van Zalk, SCB, and 14 more. DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/vnhs7_v1, June 2025.
[Abstract] One important and increasingly used approach to estimate causal effects of intergroup contact research are longitudinal studies. One of the main challenges in longitudinal research is to control for all relevant (un)observed confounders to generate unbiased estimates of causal contact-attitude effects. The commonly used cross-lagged panel model has been criticized for insufficiently accounting for unobserved confounders, and improved statistical models have been proposed, including the full-forward and random-intercept cross-lagged panel model. To explore the extent of potential bias between the different models, we investigated the robustness of longitudinal contact-attitude effects in a systematic re-analysis using 31 datasets from 21 published studies (N = 33,348). We found substantial discrepancies showing notably smaller, non-significant longitudinal contact-attitude effects in models with increased control for unobserved confounders. We discuss the theoretical and methodological implications of these results and the design and analytical requirements for robust and informative future longitudinal (contact) research.

Prejudice towards refugees predicts social fear of crime. Patrick Kotzur, Frank Eckerle, Zahra Khosrowtaj, Adrian Rothers, Johannes Maaser, Ulrich Wagner, Maarten van Zalk,   British Journal of Social Psychology 64(2), March 2025.
Research suggests that social fear of crime and prejudice towards minority groups may be linked. We investigated (Ntotal = 7712) whether prejudice towards a social group that is stereotyped as more criminal (refugees) is more strongly associated with social fear of crime than prejudice towards a group that is less (homosexual individuals); and whether prejudice predicts social fear of crime or vice versa. We used a mixed‐method approach to show that refugees are stereotyped as more criminal than homosexual individuals (pre‐test). Subgroup characteristics of the criminally stereotyped group, such as country of origin (Study 1a) and flight motive (Study 1b) of refugees, qualified the prejudice–fear of crime link. Finally, whereas prejudice towards refugees predicted social fear of crime over time more strongly than vice versa, prejudice towards homosexual individuals did not (Study 2). Our results have important theoretical and practical implications suggesting prejudice reduction towards refugees as a criminally stereotyped group as a potential pathway to reduce social fear of crime.

How racial microaggressions impact the campus experience of students of colour.
Arghavan Nepton, Hesam Farahani, Ifeoluwa F. Olaoluwa, Dana Strauss, Monnica T. Williams. S. Academic; editor: Gabriel Ivbijaro. Academia Mental Health & Well-Being. 2025-03-31.
Racism can take many forms, including explicit racism as well as subtle or covert racism, such as microaggressions. Research has shown that long-term and consistent exposure to racial microaggressions can lead to detrimental health outcomes such as stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and negative physical health outcomes, particularly among Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC). This study explores how racial microaggressions impact the psychological well-being and sense of belonging of BIPOC students at a large Canadian urban university. Additionally, it examines whether different BIPOC groups experience differential effects of racial microaggressions. A total of 403 self-identified BIPOC students were recruited through the School of Psychology subject pool, university-wide emails, social media, and campus organizations. A cross-sectional survey design was employed, with participants completing an online survey that included both investigator-developed questions about the campus climate and the following measures: the Racial Microaggressions Scale (RMAS), Racial Microaggressions in Higher Education Scale (RMHES), and Perceived Cohesion Scale (PCS). Statistical analyses assessed correlations between racial microaggressions, psychological distress, and belonging, with comparative analyses examining group differences. The findings revealed significant associations between racial microaggressions and negative emotional states. Black students reported the highest levels of racial microaggressions and trauma symptoms, highlighting their disproportionate burden. The results suggest that racial microaggressions contribute to heightened distress and reduced belonging among BIPOC students. These findings align with previous literature highlighting the harmful effects of subtle racism in academic settings. Addressing racial microaggressions is essential for improving inclusive and supportive academic environments.

Their families fled the Nazis. Facing Trump, US Jews are making Germany ‘Plan B’
Stéphanie Trouillard, FRANCE 24, 2 August 2025.
Germany is making it easier for the descendants of victims of Nazism to obtain German citizenship, and an increasing number of American Jews are applying. While some are seeking citizenship for practical reasons or as a form of reparation, others see it as a way to escape an increasingly anti-Semitic America under US President Donald Trump.

Out of sight, out of mind: underrepresentation of racialized faculty in Canadian psychology
Sonya C. Faber, Dana Strauss, Annwesha Dasgupta, Monnica T. Williams, Academia, Mental health & Well-Being, 2025.
Psychologists of colour (herein referred to as BIPOC—Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) contribute to diverse perspectives and also conduct critical research that addresses the significant disparities and challenges faced by communities of colour in accessing mental healthcare services. There has been some concern that BIPOC psychologists are underrepresented in academia, but this issue has yet to be evaluated in a Canadian context due to a lack of available data. This study examined the racial demographics of psychology faculty across 23 major universities in Ontario, Canada (n = 1421), the province with the largest number of universities. White psychologists are overwhelmingly overrepresented compared to BIPOC psychologists, reflecting significant underrepresentation relative to the province’s population. White faculty predominantly hold secure academic positions (tenured, tenure track) while BIPOC faculty are concentrated in precarious roles (adjunct, sessional, lecturer). Professors of East Asian heritage constituted the largest group among BIPOC faculty.
Additionally, BIPOC psychologists are underrepresented across all professional subspecialties. Systemic racism, historical biases, and exclusionary practices were identified as major barriers. Our findings call for urgent reforms in university hiring practices and psychology training programmes to reflect the diversity of the population they serve and to dismantle systemic barriers that perpetuate racial inequalities in academia.

LGBTQI+, Gender Rights

Budapest Pride Parade Was Bigger Than Ever, Despite Orban’s Ban
Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s party enacted the ban, but Budapest’s mayor allowed the event to go on. The police sat on the sidelines. Crowds gathered at the Budapest Pride Parade on Saturday. Credit…Attila Kisbenedek/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
A government ban on Hungary’s annual Pride parade backfired on Saturday when more than 100,000 people marched through the Hungarian capital, far more than have taken part in previous such events.

Mental Health and Human Rights

Why mental health is essential to the future of human rights work
Mélina Pelé, Blog, Global Campus of human rights, 20 June 2025.
Mental health is not only a human right but also a vital asset in defending all other rights. It is worth exploring the overlooked mental health toll on human rights professionals and calling for systemic care and support. ‘Mental health is a basic human right’, states the World Health Organisation (WHO). However, a quick look at the WHO’s programmes indicates that the organisation is attentive to the human rights of the persons having mental health issues, including the respect of human rights in mental health facilities and consideration of the mental health of specific groups of people: disabled children, displaced persons, among others. Moreover, the United Nations Special Rapporteur’s work on mental health has been developed in numerous thematic reports.
While all these approaches are acutely needed and valid, I would like to propose a different angle of analysis: to consider mental health as a critical human rights-related issue in itself. More specifically, I argue that protecting the mental well-being of those working on human rights is a critical tool in their standing up for the human rights of all, everywhere.

The importance of dignity among higher-education faculty members who support student mental health. Riba EB. Mental Health & Well-Being 2025; 2 June 2025.
In the past two decades, mental health among students at colleges and universities in the United States has been a widely studied topic. Fortunately, there has been some improvement in anxiety and depression among college students in recent years. This improvement may be due to greater attention to and investment in mental health promotion and resources, less stigma surrounding mental health awareness, and changes in campus culture related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This progress may also be related to an increase in training, resources, and support that faculty members received from their institutions. Adding to the literature, studies have found that faculty members in higher education have a key role in supporting college students’ mental health, but they are not often directly asked about how they see themselves in this role. This brief paper focuses on the current literature, aiming to more closely define the role of faculty members in supporting student mental health, offering examples and faculty stories of how dignity may be demonstrated and better understood. Key themes from both the brief literature review and highlights from these conversations include the importance of faculty members demonstrating compassion toward students, empathizing with the struggles and hardships of their students, and the need for higher-education institutions to elevate the values of dignity and respect towards faculty members.

Results of quality rights on human rights engagement, stigma and attitudes towards mental health among Colombian medical students. Felipe Agudelo-Hernández, Helena Vélez-Botero, Marcela Guapacha-Montoya, PLOS ONE, 2025.
Training healthcare professionals in human rights approaches is fundamental for humanizing medical practice and promoting patient autonomy.
Conclusion: The Quality Rights training strategy shows promise in improving medical students’ understanding of mental health conditions and promoting empathetic practices. However, ongoing sustained and monitoring strategies are necessary to ensure long-term adoption of human rights-based attitudes and practices in healthcare settings.

Positive global mental health: an overview. Academia Mental Health and Well-Being. Shin J, Halbreich U, Jeste DV, Academia Mental health and Well-Being, 2025.
At present, most healthcare systems are reactive, focusing on symptom control. They over-emphasize impairments, disorders, disabilities, and risk factors, without sufficient attention to individuals’ and communities’ strengths, positive psychosocial characteristics, protective and preventive factors, and the promotion of well-being. This disorder-oriented approach may contribute to a broadening gap between the healthcare service needs of the rapidly increasing urbanized world population and the supply of adequately qualified healthcare providers. It is critical to assess and enhance individuals’ personal strengths, such as  resilience, wisdom, optimism, compassion, spirituality, and purpose in life, along with positive social connections and social support. Strong evidence supports the value of positive psychosocial determinants of health, which reduce the risk of mental illnesses, improve the long-term course, and may promote recovery in persons with serious mental illnesses and physical maladies.

Older Persons

Global Alliance for Human-Rights Based Care and Support for Older Persons (GARBCS-OP). Kiran Rabheru, The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, Vol.u 33, 10, October 2025.
There is urgent need for a Global Alliance for Human Rights-Based Care and Support (GARBCS) in mental health for older persons. Aligned with the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing and WHO’s Global Report on Ageism, it calls for equity-driven, person-centered care. Dr. Reynolds sets the stage, Dr. Rabheru highlights GARBCS, Dr. Lavretsky explores its health and economic impacts, and Dr. Swantek outlines the path forward.

Peace / Violence and War 

Middle East

Health Diplomacy at a Time of War: Palestinian and Israeli Physicians Training Together for Advanced Trauma Life Support. Adam Lee Goldstein, Tamer Jreis, Wajdi Bkeirat, Osnat Moskowitz, Angie Alpern, Ilan Mitchnik, Barak Feldman, Ronit Zimmer, Ronit Bar-Haim, Shachar Laks, Shachar Shimonovich, Katia Dayan, Miklosh Bala, Mordechai Shimonov. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, August 2025.
Background: During a war continuation of cooperative training programs for physicians from opposing sides of the conflict represents a significant and unprecedented advancement. Our program, Operating Together, aims to provide lifesaving trauma training during challenging times while also establishing a novel pathway for health diplomacy and medical peace-building.
Methods: We examine Advanced Trauma Life Support courses with Palestinian and Israeli physicians training together. We compared the level of training satisfaction and the desire to work together in courses conducted prior to the outbreak of the war to courses run during the war. A longitudinal study was conducted from 10 courses; five given before (November 2022 until August 2023) and five courses during the war (January 2024 until July 2024). The participants, half Palestinian physicians and half Israeli physicians, completed an anonymous questionnaire. Descriptive and statistical analysis was conducted comparing the results from the courses before and during heightened conflict.

Treating Gaza’s Collective Trauma. Mohammed R. Mhawish, The New Yorker, August 1, 2025. In Gaza, where displaced children play a game called “air strike” and act out death, the lack of mental-health resources has become another emergency.
The line outside Dr. Bahzad al-Akhras’s clinic starts to assemble before sunrise, a ripple of bodies in the half-light standing barefoot or in frayed sandals, waiting for a turn at what now passes for care. His clinic is wherever it needs to be: in a corner at a shelter compound, on the move during a walk around the yard, or behind the makeshift screen of a bedsheet pulled between two poles, if the wind allows. Often, Akhras sees patients in a tented space, tucked among hundreds of other such tents in the dense sprawl of Al-Mawasi, in the southern end of the Gaza Strip.

Women

Integrating mental health care to reduce intimate partner violence in complex humanitarian emergencies. Christine Bourey et a., THE LANCET, Vol.13, 8, August 2025. Open access.
Although the UN included eliminating violence against women in the Sustainable Development Goals, it remains a widespread public health issue. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is particularly prevalent, affecting more than one in four women globally, and has severe consequences for physical, mental, and reproductive health. In response, IPV researchers and practitioners have developed effective interventions that, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), include gender-transformative approaches that target patriarchal attitudes and norms, which are a root cause of violence against women. Despite these advances in reducing IPV, many communities affected by complex humanitarian emergencies remain without effective, sustainable, and scalable IPV interventions. To address this formidable challenge, we present recommendations and avenues for integrating mental health care to bolster the effect of IPV programming in humanitarian settings. As in the Lancet Psychiatry Commission on IPV and mental health, we do not intend for the focus on mental health to exclude key existing approaches. Interventions should continue to target the most salient drivers of violence in each setting, but can be enhanced through an integrated focus on mental health.

OPPORTUNITIES

PUBLICATIONS

Croatian psychologists proudly announce that they have just released a book with the title “Psychology in promotion and protection of human rights“. In 22 chapters 30 authors describe how human rights are incorporated in applied psychology in Croatia. Editors would like to urge colleagues from other countries to do the same – to invite psychologists to share their experiences in the intersection of psychology and human rights and to raise awareness of the importance of human rights for psychology. Editors Iva Žegura, Marlena Plavšić, Barbara Kalebić Maglica and Josip Lopižić see this book as a good example how psychologists can tell what is being done in their country in their national language. This book is written in Croatian and the publishers are Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka, and The Croatian Psychological Association. Polli Hagenaars and Marlena Plavšić form the GNPHR took part in creating the book 🙂 If you want to learn more, don’t hesitate to contact Marlena mplavsic@unipu.hr

New Book on Hate Speech and the ECHR, Natalie Alkiviadou, 17 July 2025. It focuses on the cal-law of the Court related to the limits of freedom of expressions in cases of hateful messages. ‘This book argues that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) should reconsider its approach to hate speech cases and develop a robust protection of freedom of expression as set out in the benchmark case of Handyside v the United Kingdom. In that case, the ECtHR determined that Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), safeguarding the right to freedom of expression, extends protection not only to opinions which are well received but also to those deemed offensive, shocking, or disturbing.

African Feminist Praxis, Jessica Horn, Sage, Social Science for Social Justice, 2025. So much of the story of African resistance has been told in the masculine, tracing the history of spectacle: great struggles, great speeches, the grand displays of nation building. This book adds to the literature that reverses this, exploring the flesh and breadth of contemporary African feminist politics as articulated across the African continent. It is structured around the key principles of kinship, courage, pleasure, care and memory, and draws on the African feminist academic canon, the “grey literature” of practitioner knowledge and narratives of feminists activists themselves. Through this it evidences the argument that African feminist praxis is fundamentally a politics of proposition, a mode of liberatory worldmaking.

Whiteness, Racial Trauma, and the University. Harshad Keval, Sage, Social Science for Social Justice, 2025. Universities are regarded as safe havens for knowledge production and the educational transformation of lives. There is, however, a long history of universities as sites of contestation where structures of hierarchical legitimacy are played out.
In response to the upsurge in global protests against racial violence and the criticism of colonial, racialised and Eurocentric forms of thinking, universities have adopted new roles as ‘anti-racist’ and ‘decolonial’ beacons of hope. This book unravels how such liberal progressive ‘acts’ hide a much deeper racialised logic of whiteness-framed structural narcissism, producing insidiously powerful and difficult to trace forms of racialised harm.

Slippery Eugenics, An Introduction to the Critical Studies of Race, Gender and Coloniality, R Sánchez-Rivera, Sage, Social Science for Social Justice, 2025. Beginning with the origins of eugenics, Sánchez-Rivera traces the spread of eugenic ideas across different nations, revealing how they intersect with nationalism, populism and individual reproductive rights. Through a comprehensive exploration, this book uncovers how these intertwined legacies still shape our world today offering fresh insights into the subtle forces that define contemporary social and political landscapes, and have lasting impacts on reproductive control, racialization, colonialism, gender norms, and more.

The Shortest History of Migration. Ian Goldin, The Experiment Publishing, February 11, 2025.
When, Why, and How Humans Move—From the Prehistoric Peopling of the Planet to Today and Tomorrow’s Migrants. From the Silk Roads to the Berlin Wall, discover the globe-turning history of human migration.

Network of Concerned Historians NCH  Annual Report 2025
This thirty-first Annual Report of the Network of Concerned Historians (NCH) contains news about the domain where history and human rights intersect, in particular about the censorship of history and the persecution of historians, archivists, and archaeologists around the globe, as reported by various human rights organizations and other sources. It mainly covers events and developments of 2024 and 2025.

Foreign Root, 4 July 2025
Andzej Gavriss and Ivan Dorn’s short film “Foreign Root” celebrates the bravery, resilience and community spirit of migrants and refugees. A subject so often represented with harrowing imagery, Gavriss and Dorn look at it through a new lens, with a fresh and inventive sensitivity and a joyous touch of magical realism. They tell Joe Zadeh about their own experiences of being displaced, reflecting on questions of identity and what it means to belong.
The migrant story is an issue close to both of their hearts. Dorn was forced to leave Ukraine for France when the Russian invasion of his country began in 2022, and Gavriss moved to the UK at the age of 19 as Latvia fell into the depths of economic crisis and unemployment.

The Challenge of Ethnic Wealth Inequalities: Building an Understanding Evidence from Community Reporting. Eleni Karagiannaki, Priya Sahni-Nicholas, Caroline Tosal, the Equality Trust, April 2025.
Wealth is deeply unequal in the UK and getting more so; recent analysis also suggests this increase is particularly stark for younger generations. Within that inequality, the ONS Wealth and Assets Survey indicates a large ethnic wealth inequality.
Household wealth holdings by ethnicity vary enormously, from a low of £34,000 where the head of the household identifies as Black African, to £314,000 for households where the head is White British. However, explanations for the wealth gap have struggled to identify why some groups have been able to build wealth while others not.

Exiled Scholars in Western Academia: Refugees or Intellectuals? Alfred Babo & Sayed Hassan Akhlaq (Eds.), Reflections on the Paradox of Inclusion and Exclusion, Springer Nature, 2025. The book includes autoethnographies from scholars originally from scholars originally from Afghanistan, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Türkiye, Ukraine, and Yemen.
This volume focuses on the experiences of refugee scholars in Western academia through first-hand narratives that move between dominant humanitarianism and the academic establishment. It provides an intellectual view of this humanitarian industry from a refugee perspective, alongside stories of the refugee scholars’ contribution to the production of knowledge in the West. Contributors discuss their unique experiences and reflect on the changing nature of knowledge production, transfer, and exchange in a world increasingly affected by forced migration. Such reflections are not new. However, in this volume they explore how personal life difficulties and/or successes, mixed with emotional distress and cultural adjustments, could be framed into a scholarly analysis of academia in exile. In today’s globalized world, the term “refugee” often evokes both sympathy and criticism, leaving refugee scholars in Western universities to ponder the ambivalent nature of their identity. This duality of identity creates new opportunities for rethinking concepts such as humanitarianism, indigenization, asylum, diversity equity and integration, scholar activism, and the transnational production of knowledge in the universities of the twenty-first century. Assembling scholars from around the world working in political sciences, international studies, anthropology, law, philosophy, and the humanities, this volume addresses both the geopolitical predicaments and the intellectual contributions of exiled academics in our troubled times.

UPCOMING EVENTS

61st Psychological Association of the Philippines Annual Convention and 8th ASEAN Regional Union of Psychological Societies Congress  September 25-27, 2025. Cebu, Philippines.
At the heart of this year’s theme, “Futurescaping Psychology: The Role of Psychology in Achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” exemplifies psychology’s powerful force that can help shape a better and more sustainable world. “Futurescaping” is about looking ahead, anticipating challenges, and taking strategic action to create a world where individuals and communities can thrive. Psychology plays a crucial role in this process because at the core of all global issues—whether it’s poverty, education, mental health, or climate change—are human thoughts, emotions, and behaviours.

2nd Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies
International Conference on Mental Health, Human Dignity, and Climate Change: Mitigating Global Psychological Risk in Lahore, Pakistan and online
Monday – Tuesday, 27th – 28th October 2025: Dignilogues
Wednesday – Thursday, 29th – 30th October 2025: Academic Dignity Conference
Please visit this webpage regularly for the latest information, as plans for this conference unfold,
If you wish to participate, please register here!
Please know that you are invited to spend the entire conference with us, so that true dignity-family-building can emerge! All our events are part of an ongoing effort to nurture a global dignity community. You are invited to fill out our Appreciative Introduction form, print it out, and bring it with you.
There is no registration fee, we share minimal cost according to ability at the end.

Children’s rights under pressure in a changing world: Need for a new research agenda?
Ann Skelton. https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/2025/10/childrens-rights-under-pressure-in-a-changing-world
Date – Thursday 16 October 2025 – Friday 17 October 2025
Location – Kamerlingh Onnes Gebouw, Steenschuur 25, 2311 ES Leiden
The 11th CREAN Children’s Rights Research PhD Symposium brings together doctoral candidates and supervisors from different universities and disciplines. Its aim is to actively promote exchange and cooperation. The Symposium offers an opportunity to hear about current, cutting edge research by PhD’s and to work together on a research agenda.

18th EUROPEAN PUBLIC HEALTH CONFERENCE
Helsinki, Finland
PRE-CONFERENCES 11 NOVEMBER 2025 MAIN CONFERENCE 12 – 14 NOVEMBER 2025

Reflecting on progress and charting the future. Global Refugee Forum Progress Review 2025
The Global Refugee Forum Progress Review 2025, the second high-level officials meeting, will take place from 15-17 December 2025, at the International Conference Centre (CICG) in Geneva, Switzerland, following on from the Global Refugee Forum 2023.
Priorities for the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review 2025 include:

• Expanding support for refugees and the countries who receive them;
• Advancing implementation of pledges made as part of the Global Refugee Forums including through the multi-stakeholder pledge framework;
• Directing efforts to the areas in need of further support.

The roadmap is available online, and the programme will be available soon.

ENDNOTES

CONTACTS: Published by the Global Network of Psychologists for Human Rights – www.humanrightspsychology.org

Disclaimer: The website of the Global Network of Psychologists for Human Rights (GNPHR) contains articles, events and news about the domain where psychology and human rights intersect. The information presented in this Bulletin, does not imply that the GNPHR shares the views and beliefs in the articles.

• @GNPHR1
• How to get involved – read how you can contribute to the global network
• Consider contributing a Blog/Commentary
• News and Bulletins from the GNPHR – Subscribe to GNPHR
• Email addresses:
  • blogeditor@humanrightspsychology.org
  • info@humanrightspsychology.org
  • globalnetworkgnphr@gmail.com

Ways to Participate in Global Network Activities

• Share Your Experiences and Examples
  One of the best ways to illustrate the intersection of psychology and human rights is through example. We are looking for examples of your encounters with human rights issues in your professional life. You might describe a time when you protected (or failed to protect) human rights, or advocated for what you saw as a human rights issue. The events might be in your clinical, research, academic, applied, or volunteer work. Please send your narrative / story (500-1000 words) to Marlena Plavšić (marlena_plavsic@hotmail.com). We will compile these for publication in the GNPHR Bulletin and on the website. Please also indicate if you would like your stories to remain anonymous.
• Share your Expertise and Opinions
  We invite you to contribute a blog or opinion piece on general human rights issues; human rights education or strategies for raising the profile of human rights within psychology or your professional life. Students are welcome to contribute, including on student needs for learning about and addressing human rights. Please contact the GNPHR Blog editor (blogeditor@humanrightspsychology.org) with ideas for the article you would like to write!
• Send articles/news/events
  If you come across a human rights article or news, or know of an upcoming hunman rights event, please send for publication in the Bulletin. Send to the Bulletin editor Polli Hagenaars (polli.hagenaars@gmail.com).