The Faculty of Law recently held a competition to find the best master's thesis on the topic of racial discrimination at the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo.Students were nominated by supervisors and examiners, and seven excellent dissertations were considered by the judging committee.
The event to award the price was held on 21 March, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, gathering a large and diverse crowd wanting to celebrate the students' accomplishment. The judging committee was impressed by all seven submissions, and took the time to present each work to the audience. The theses covered a variety of topics, and approached the issue of racial discrimination in diverse and interesting ways. The committee expressed their appreciation for the high quality of the students' work.
Rights awareness in circular migration
The winning thesis was written by NCHR masters' student Maria Leal Lillo, focusing on the topic "Rights awareness in circular migration: a multi-stakeholder approach. The case of Moroccan women migrant workers in Huelva (Spain)”.
Lillo's dissertation was deemed to have both broad coverage of international human rights mechanisms and the intricacies of national laws in Spain, while also being able to describe the vulnerabilities of female berry pickers through undertaking interviews.
Strong research with contemporary significance
When awarding the prize, the chair of the committee applauded Lillo's work:
"Maria describes through the interviews the vulnerability of the women; the berry pickers are only women (men are explicitly not wanted), the berry pickers are offered substandard living conditions, housing is on isolated places in rural areas and far away from health services, sexual exploitation is common, not to mention hard working conditions," she said. "The women are illiterate, and Maria builds on earlier research that shows that migrant workers are often unaware of their rights, and seeks to understand what is being done to inform these women of their rights."
Through multidisciplinary research, not only are the gaps in implementation established but Maria also makes several policy recommendations for fixing the gap.
Additionally, the awarding committee noted how the topic also captures the contemporary significance of Business and Human Rights and the need for more robust due diligence measures.
Congratulations
The NCHR would very much like to congratulate Maria on her success and wish her well for the future!