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Bioethics in the MarginsAuthor: Kirk Johnson and Amelia Barwise
Who we are: We are a collaborative of bioethics scholars interested in creating a more inclusive space to explore topics relevant to bioethics and the medical humanities while advancing equity and social change/restitution. Although we found our shared interests through our membership in the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Race Affinity Group, we are independent of ASBH and any other organization. The views expressed in this podcast are our own and the speakers and do not represent our employers, institutions, or professional societies. Mission: Bioethics in the Margins aims to include topics, guests and audiences who are not always highlighted in mainstream bioethics discourse. We will focus on structural inequity and the role bioethics can play in social change. We aim to move beyond traditional bioethics frameworks and intentionally draw on intersectionality, social justice, racial justice, disability ethics, women, LGBTQ ethics, and topics specific to Black, immigrant/refugee, Native American, Latinx populations. Hosts: Kirk Johnson, Amelia Barwise Team Members: Gargi Pandey, Creative Director; Madeline Mahoney, Sound Editor; Wendy Jiang, Social Media Manager; Nicolle Strand, Advisor; Liz Chuang, Producer Language: en Genres: Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Human Rights Violations in US Immigration Detention
Episode 3
Monday, 20 April, 2026
In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Katherine Peeler, founding director of the Peeler Immigration Lab, to discuss her longstanding empirical work on human rights and US immigration systems. Dr. Peeler is an Associate Physician in Pediatrics at the Boston Children's Hospital and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is a faculty member of the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics. Dr. Peeler describes her longstanding interest in building an evidence base of health effects of human rights abuses as a means of changing policy. Her interest in this field was initially sparked by the work of Paul Farmer and Partners in Health and their mission to improve direct care to patients. She was drawn specifically to challenges facing asylum seekers in the US and shifted towards policy work with Physicians for Human Rights. She founded the Peeler Lab during the COVID pandemic out of concern for people facing the pandemic in detention. Her lab has focused on writing for a public and policy audience to improve conditions and health of immigrants. More recently, her work has focused on solitary confinement in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities. She painstakingly documents the multiple human rights violations, record number of deaths in these facilities, and violations of United Nations (UN) minimal standards for treatment of detained individuals. Policies for solitary confinement or "restricted housing" meet UN criteria for torture. She outlines strategies that States and local governments can employ to improve oversight and limit expansion of these facilities. The episode wraps up with a discussion of the role of bioethicists to forge common language across opposition and help parties understand shared values and have more productive conversations.Peeler Lab: https://peelerimmigrationlab.hsites.harvard.edu/Publications:"Praying for Hand Soap and Masks:" Health and Human Rights Violations in U.S. Immigration Detention during the COVID-19 Pandemic.”“Endless Nightmare” Torture and Inhuman Treatment in Solitary Confinement in U.S. Immigration Detention (2024)Cruelty Campaign: Solitary Confinement in US Immigration Detention
