Human Rights in Present-Day Political Communication (Communication and Information) VILNIUS TECH

Overview

Research topic description

Communication rights, grounded in key international instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, are undergoing continuous reinterpretation and refinement. These rights are central to safeguarding freedom of expression and access to information, both of which underpin democratic life (Alcalá, 2021). Human rights discourse remains a key resource in political communication, mobilized to expose injustices and promote social transformation. Yet its impact hinges on narrowing the distance between formal, legal frameworks and concrete, understandable communication practices. In this mediation process, civil society organizations, traditional media, and digital platforms play crucial roles, even as they themselves are subject to considerable pressure, constraints, and criticism.  

Human Rights in Present-Day Political Communication (Communication and Information) at VILNIUS TECH encompass fundamental freedoms and entitlements that belong to every person regardless of race, gender, religion, nationality, or other status. Because they apply universally, cannot legitimately be revoked, and are mutually reinforcing, they are understood as universal, inalienable, and indivisible. Core human rights include civil and political rights—such as the rights to life, liberty, non-discrimination, and protection from persecution—as well as economic, social, and cultural rights, including the rights to an adequate standard of living, health care, and education. Safeguarding these rights is essential to ensuring that people are treated with dignity and respect and to building fair and equitable societies. At the same time, how these rights are interpreted and claimed varies across settings, and they remain sites of contestation, particularly in debates over HIV-related policies, the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other marginalized groups, sex workers’ rights, and responses to sexual and gender-based violence. Sexuality research that examines how sexual agency, rights, and freedoms are shaped by social, economic, religious, and political power structures has significantly reshaped approaches to sexual health, underscoring its deep connection to sexual rights (Logie, 2021).  

Nonetheless, both sexual rights and broader human rights remain fragile in practice, and many people are unable to fully exercise them; violations are especially concentrated among marginalized communities (Castro-Peraza et al., 2019). Persistent discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and other characteristics continues to exclude individuals from education, employment, and other fundamental opportunities. When diversity is not meaningfully ensured in educational and workplace environments, marginalized groups are pushed to the periphery of social, economic, and political life. Another critical area of infringement is access to health: large segments of the global population lack adequate health services, leading to preventable disease, disability, and death. These human rights violations fuel social injustice, conflict, and entrenched poverty. It is therefore imperative to work actively to protect and advance human rights for all, regardless of identity or background. Achieving this requires embedding diversity, inclusion, and integrity into everyday practices. Valuing difference and individuality strengthens social cohesion, while cultivating environments in which everyone feels respected and acknowledged forms a core component of human rights in practice. Societies must also strive for integrity in daily interactions and uphold honesty and ethical behaviour as the basis of social life.

The selected candidate will work on the PhD thesis under the supervision of Prof. dr. Jolita ŠliogerienÄ—. The successful applicant will have to attend scientific conferences, meetings and internships at the other universities.