Human rights barriers for displaced persons in southern Sudan.
OBJECTIVE
This community-based research explores community perspectives on human rights barriers that women encounter in a postconflict setting of southern Sudan.


METHODS
An ethnographic design was used to guide data collection in five focus groups with community members and during in-depth interviews with nine key informants. A constant comparison method of data analysis was used. Atlas.ti data management software facilitated the inductive coding and sorting of data.


RESULTS
Participants identified three formal and one set of informal community structures for human rights. Human rights barriers included shifting legal frameworks, doubt about human rights, weak government infrastructure, and poverty.


CONCLUSIONS
The evolving government infrastructure cannot currently provide adequate human rights protection, especially for women. The nature of living in poverty without development opportunities includes human rights abuses. Good governance, protection, and human development opportunities were emphasized as priority human rights concerns. Human rights framework could serve as a powerful integrator of health and development work with community-based organizations.


CONCLUSIONS
Results help nurses understand the intersection between health and human rights as well as approaches to advancing rights in a culturally attuned manner.
Pavlish
Carol
C
School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. cpavlish@sonnet.ucla.edu
Ho
Anita
A
D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D003256:Community Participation; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D033161:Government Regulation; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration; D045809:Human Rights Abuses / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011057:Politics; D011203:Poverty / Q000208:ethnology; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology*; D013397:Sudan; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D035502:Trust; D014754:Violence / Q000208:ethnology / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control; D014857:Warfare; D014933:Women's Rights / Q000458:organization & administration