The Global Human Rights Community: An Analysis of International Non-Governmental Organizations from a Network Perspective

Human rights has become a global issue. This is due, in large part, to the increasing number of organizations around the globe focusing on this critical issue and the availability of technologies that are creating new pathways of communication and connectedness that are drawing attention to this issue. As a result, a new paradigm has emerged; global advocacy and knowledge networks are rapidly emerging and are spanning the globe generating and managing new and critical knowledge about human rights. This study is intended to examine this new global community by conducting an exploratory network analysis of international organizations involved in efforts to end gender based violence against women. Initially, the YearBook of International Organizations was used to identify International Non-governmental Organizations (INGOs) and their relations. The identified organizations and their relations were then used to create a one-mode undirected network of INGOs. The results of this analysis show the existence of a low density network in which the number of relations or ties relative the number of potential relations or ties is low. From a human rights perspective one could conclude that although these organizations are all working on a common goal, they are not maximizing their full potential in terms of shared goal attainment. The most significant conclusion is that INGOs should seek to increase their number of relationships to facilitate additional sharing and information dissemination which, in turn, may lead to a significant impact on human rights issues.