mr. V.M. (Vanessa) Tünsmeyer, Dr

SHIELD M[e] - “Shall not be denied”: Indigenous Peoples and Empirical Legal Research of Minority Cultural Rights

The “SHIELD M[e]” project brings together minority groups who face cultural restrictions with legal researchers to make human rights provisions protecting the right to culture of minorities and Indigenous Peoples more inclusive. These provisions, which do not clearly limit state actions, allow for potential state abuses of minority cultures. The project compares interpretations of these provisions with community perspectives and customary law protections. The overarching project combines doctrinal research in the areas of international and regional human rights law with community-engaged research on the ground.

In a pilot study financed by the NWO, Vanessa Tünsmeyer, a South African researcher, and a South African community engage in community-engaged research to interrogate the protection that local, regional, and international laws offer amid expanding mining activities.