{"id":16,"date":"2017-08-31T13:43:57","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T11:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs2.abo.fi\/vulnerability\/?page_id=16"},"modified":"2026-02-19T11:09:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:09:44","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs2.abo.fi\/vulnerability\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the homepage of the ROVU and RELAY research projects hosted by the \u00c5bo Akademi Institute for Human Rights<\/a> and funded by the Academy of Finland. The ROVU project (2021-2025) studied the roles of vulnerability in human rights and criminal law, building on the results of the\u00a0 RELAY project (2017-2021) that analysed vulnerability as a human rights concept. For brief project presentations, please see below. For more information and updates, please see the publications<\/a>, activities<\/a> and news<\/a> sections on this website, or the ROVU page in the \u00c5bo Akademi University Research Portal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The ROVU project led to another Research Council of Finland project, \u2019Model for evaluating legislation: How to take vulnerability into account?\u2019 (MOPO)<\/a>. MOPO is funded by the Research Council of Finland for the years 2026-2027 through the call for research utilization, which aims to help researchers translate research ideas into practical benefits for society, business and the public sector. The aim of the project is to develop tools for analysing how laws affect people or groups in a vulnerable position.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The many faces of special protection: Unpacking the roles of vulnerability in human rights and criminal law (ROVU)<\/h1>\n

A research project funded by the Academy of Finland, September\u00a02021 – August 2025, \u00c5bo Akademi University Institute for Human Rights<\/h3>\n
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Project description<\/h3>\n

With the amplified expectations on states to use their criminal law systems to protect human rights, international human rights law (IHRL) today interacts with national\u00a0criminal law\u00a0in an unprecedented manner. Often this takes place with the explicit aim of special protection of the rights of the \u2018vulnerable\u2019. Through such a focus, it can be said that the national\u00a0criminal law\u00a0systems have become extensions of the so-called \u2018vulnerabilisation\u2019 (or \u2018special protection\u2019) trend within IHRL. While the increased use of special protection and vulnerability rhetoric within human rights law\u00a0has been researched\u00a0from several perspectives, the implications that this development has for the build-up of the vulnerability rhetoric within national\u00a0criminal law\u00a0systems remain largely unchartered.\u00a0ROVU contributes to narrowing this knowledge gap.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Drawing on doctrinal research methods and interviews, the project aims at uncovering some of the embedded rationales and agendas of the special protection extended to the vulnerable through the structures of\u00a0criminal law. This will be achieved by scrutinising the justifications for the turn to\u00a0criminal law\u00a0in IHRL and by identifying the opportunities and\u00a0challenges\u00a0it entails. In order to unpack the notion of special protection as a structural factor in the interaction between IHRL and\u00a0criminal\u00a0law, ROVU\u00a0researches\u00a0the\u00a0vulnerabilisation\u00a0as a transformative element within\u00a0criminal law\u00a0and the construction of vulnerable legal identities.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shedding light on some of the intrinsic power structures and politicisation guiding\u00a0vulnerabilisation\u00a0processes in IHRL and\u00a0criminal law, ROVU\u00a0is expected\u00a0to contribute to a novel conceptualisation of vulnerability as a legal variable within\u00a0criminal law. This is anticipated to have both scientific and societal impact, leading in the long term to a more nuanced and analytical approach to the vulnerability narrative as a tool for equality in law and\u00a0policy-making.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vulnerability as Particularity \u2014 Towards Relativizing the Universality of Human Rights?\u00a0(RELAY)<\/h1>\n

A research project funded by the Academy of Finland, September\u00a02017 – August 2021, \u00c5bo Akademi University Institute for Human Rights<\/h3>\n
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Project description<\/h3>\n

While \u2018vulnerability\u2019 has become a regularly used notion in human rights law, as a legal concept it remains ambiguous and contested. It is now necessary to take a critical look at the vulnerability reasoning as a structural element in human rights law. Is the expansion of vulnerability reasoning indicative of a trend towards particularisation of human rights?<\/p>\n

The aim of the project Vulnerability as Particularity \u2014 Towards Relativizing the Universality of Human Rights?\u00a0is to unpack the notion of vulnerability in order to analyse its function in the interpretation of law and to problematize its use as an operative principle in the implementation of policies and laws. Drawing on discourse analysis and interviews, the project addresses vulnerability from three angles: particularity, exclusion and inclusion, and power. The project contributes to an analytically critical understanding and operationalisation of the notion of vulnerability.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the homepage of the ROVU and RELAY research projects hosted by the \u00c5bo Akademi Institute for Human Rights and funded by the Academy of Finland. The ROVU project (2021-2025) studied the roles of vulnerability in human rights and criminal law, building on the results of the\u00a0 RELAY project (2017-2021) that analysed vulnerability as … <\/p>\n

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