Research history¶
My path into GRIMdata began with experimental computing, then a question my brother and I worked out together: how could we make human-rights documents easier to search and understand? The research grew through building, reading and following what the documents revealed.
Earlier experiments in machine learning, neural networks, sociophysics and embodied systems (2014–2018) formed part of the computational background to this work.
Origins and milestones¶
2019 · SGBV–UPR inquiry¶
The inquiry took shape around sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and related rights concerns in Universal Periodic Review (UPR) documents for Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states.
2020 · Document analysis¶
The exploratory workflow brought together UPR source discovery, document retrieval, text extraction, search terms, tagging, frequency analysis and passage ranking. Documents were organized by country for legal examination. Inconsistent file formats and source access shaped the methods.
2021 · Conference presentation¶
The research was presented at the International Conference on the Responsiveness of the African Human Rights System to SGBV in September 2021. Work also began to document the computational pipeline in a dedicated research repository.
2022 · Journal article¶
The study published in Stellenbosch Law Review examined SGBV and related rights concerns in SADC UPR records. It combined computational document analysis with legal interpretation and discussed the practical challenges of retrieving and analysing documents whose formats, terminology and availability varied.
2025 · LittleRainbowRights¶
LittleRainbowRights extended the inquiry across countries and document sources to child and LGBTQ+ rights in relation to advanced digital technologies. Its scorecard brings together dated assessments, sources and gaps for examination. The research was presented in 2025.
Conference contribution · Explore the scorecard
Planned · SGBV–UPR renewal¶
The next stage aims to complete the original Cycle 3 coverage and examine Cycle 4 across UPR countries. Wider coverage will require further collection, validation and legal interpretation.
Planned · Canadian Projects & Environmental Oversight¶
Build Canada and other major Canadian projects form the next oversight direction: tracking commitments, decisions and implementation alongside environmental consequences, Indigenous rights, climate and affordability claims.
Proposed · Research Provenance & Institutional Continuity¶
A proposed research direction examines how research contributions, funding and knowledge move across grants, institutions and teams, and what helps methods and work continue through those transitions.
Methods and contributions¶
Retrieval, language-pattern selection and passage ranking developed through repeated examination of the UPR documents. Legal interpretation connected those passages to the review process and legal texts. The project methods describe how the two approaches worked together.
Read the SGBV–UPR project methods
From documents to dated assessments¶
LittleRainbowRights expanded the number of countries and kinds of documents under examination. The index tracker grew from a need to retain a dated, source-linked account of documented conditions, including missing and uncertain information, as material changes over time. My three years as a public-employee union president brought the same question into collective bargaining: what are the actual conditions we are working with?
Working with uneven source access also informs a longer-term interest in documentation methods that small teams can use when connectivity and computing resources are limited. The question of what information makes possible—and whom it may expose—connects this work to Viability.^. and the wider Research Context.
Public research record¶
2022 SGBV–UPR article · 2025 LittleRainbowRights contribution · DigitalChild software · Project pages