Human rights issues are shaping the modern world. They define the
expectations by which nations are judged and affect the policy of
governments, corporations, and foundations. They have set the agenda in
prosecutions at the International Criminal Court at the Hague, funding
decisions by the International Monetary Fund, and corporate expansion
programs by multinationals. Statistics is central to the modern
perspective on human rights. It allows researchers to measure the effect
of health care policies, the penetration of educational opportunity, and
progress towards gender equality.
This book describes the statistics that underlie the social science
research in human rights. It includes case studies, methodology, and
research papers that discuss the fundamental measurement issues.