Human rights barriers for displaced persons in southern Sudan

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

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.

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.

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.

Results help nurses understand the intersection between health and human rights as well as approaches to advancing rights in a culturally attuned manner.