Human Rights

This is an interdisciplinary platform for exciting insights, opinions, reviews, and critical analyses of human rights issues in Africa. A cross-section of contributors shares and cover human rights issues related to policy, advocacy, practice, and awareness. The insights shared unveil a wide spectrum where human rights principles and theories interface with lived realities of people and communities in Africa.

Besides the blog contributions, the africanlegalstudies.blog and the Chair of African Legal Studies at the University of Bayreuth are constantly developing new initiatives to exchange and engage with scholars and practitioners. These include research projects such as “Intractable Human Rights Issues” or debate series (e.g. “Everyone’s human rights”).

Symbols Without Substance? Interrogating the Potential of the African Union Convention on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls

Adenike AkandeOct 3, 202512 min read
Symbols Without Substance? Interrogating the Potential of the African Union Convention on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls

Prelude to the AUCEVAWG UN Women reports that in 2023, approximately 51,100 women and girls worldwide were murdered by an intimate partner or family member.[1]…

South Africa is actively failing one of its most vulnerable groups of citizens

Nicole KroppenstedtSep 26, 20257 min read
South Africa is actively failing one of its most vulnerable groups of citizens

GBV is on the rise in South Africa On April 11 2025, the Non-Profit Organisation Women for Change[1], which is dedicated to ending Gender Based…

Intergenerational Learning and Belonging in African Legal Studies: A conversation with Prof. Fareda Banda and Prof. Lea Mwambene

Prof. Dr Fareda BandaSep 5, 20257 min read
Intergenerational Learning and Belonging in African Legal Studies: A conversation with Prof. Fareda Banda and Prof. Lea Mwambene

Introduction It is not every day that a conference opens with a work of art, but the African Legal Studies conference in Bayreuth chose to…

From the Niger Delta to Global Academia: Dr Godswill Agbaitoro on Energy Justice

Dr Godswill AgbaitoroAug 29, 20259 min read
From the Niger Delta to Global Academia: Dr Godswill Agbaitoro on Energy Justice

Introduction This interview was conducted by Merlin Mitschker during the “Law and Belonging” conference in Bayreuth. The conversation features Dr Godswill Agbaitoro, lecturer in International…

Rising for Justice: A conversation with Milka Wahu on Legal Mentorship and Public Interest Litigation

Milka Kuria WahuAug 22, 202513 min read
Rising for Justice: A conversation with Milka Wahu on Legal Mentorship and Public Interest Litigation

Introduction Kenyan legal scholar and social justice advocate Milka Wahu caught up with Aristid Banyurwahe while visiting Bayreuth. She was in town for Law and…

When Law Meets Life: Dr Cyprian Kambili on Inclusion in African Economies

Merlin MitschkerAug 15, 20257 min read
When Law Meets Life: Dr Cyprian Kambili on Inclusion in African Economies

Introduction What happens when the laws meant to help people do not quite work in practice? Dr. Cyprian Kambili from Malawi explores this in a…