2017 was a watershed year for gender and human rights … sort of. Landmark legislation aimed to control the migration and advancement of some of the world’s poorest peoples, and an unthinkable tally of abuses has helped galvanize the call for more humane governance across the globe.

Still, the world has made progress. Businesses once again played a critical role in addressing not just the rights of people, but the environment on which they depend.

  • #MeToo Campaign: The outpouring of admissions from celebrities that they too, had endured discrimination (and oftentimes, harassment) has opened the door to frank and surprising discussions about the way women have been treated in Hollywood.
  • Dairy workers’ rights get recognized: Ben & Jerry’s success in negotiating better working conditions and accommodations for dairy workers may seem small, but it reset the benchmark for what dairy workers can and should be able to expect at the job site.
  • VISA speaks up for women’s rights: Microloans often serve as critical pathways for poor landowners who don’t have the collateral or the business equity to get larger loans.
  • Gender discrimination, A transgender perspective: When it comes to intuitively understand the implications of gender discrimination, Dr. Vivienne Ming has an advantage: she knows from personal experience what it is like to be a man in today’s workplace.
  • Human rights and continuing climate change: Mitigating the impacts of global warming will not just mean redesigning waterfronts or reclaiming dried-out forests. It will mean infusing our world with a better understanding of what assures a community’s human rights.

Read the full article by Jan Lee about human rights advances in 2017 from TriplePundit