My research broadly investigates how states create, change, and comply with international human rights law. I am interested in the dynamics during international negotiations as well as how states remove legal obligations through legal technicalities such as reservations and derogations. An additional thread of my research examines peacekeeper sexual exploitation and abuse and how individuals engage with international human rights law .
Find some publications uploaded here through academia.edu https://asu.academia.edu/AudreyComstock?from_navbar=true Publications
Book
Comstock, Audrey L. 2021. Committed to Rights: UN Human Rights Treaties and Legal Paths for Commitment and Compliance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108908979
Journal Articles
Comstock, Audrey L. 2023. Child Victims and the Punishment of UN Peacekeepers for Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (Accepted at International Studies Quarterly)
Comstock, Audrey L. 2023. Signing CEDAW and Women’s Rights: Human Rights Treaty Signature and Legal Mobilization. First view at Law & Social Inquiryhttps://doi.org/10.1017/lsi.2023.24
Comstock, Audrey L. 2023. In the Shadow of Peace: Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Accountability in UN Peacekeeping. Global Governance 29(2):168-84. https://doi.org/10.1163/19426720-02902003
Comstock, Audrey L., and Andrea Vilán. 2023. Looking Beyond Ratification: Autocrats’ International Engagement with Women’s Rights. Part of the symposium “Gender Equality and Authoritarian Regimes International and Comparative Perspectives” edited by Sarah Bush and Pär Zetterberg. Politics & Gender. Online first.
Comstock, Audrey L. 2023. The UN Voluntary Compact and Peacekeeping Abuse: Assessing a Soft Law Solution for Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. International Journal of Human Rights 27(3):471-97 https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2022.2131774
Comstock, Audrey L. 2022. Legislative Veto Players and Human Rights Treaty Signature Timing. Forthcoming at Journal of Legislative Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13572334.2022.2122198. Pre-proof version available here.
Comstock, Audrey L. 2019. Adjusted Ratification: A Call for Deeper Understanding and Analysis of Post-Commitment Actions to UN Human Rights Treaties. Human Rights Review 20(1): 23-34.
Audrey L. Comstock. 2016. Gay Rights, Foreign Aid, and Africa: A Look at Nigeria and Uganda. The Journal of International Relations, Peace Studies, and Development: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 2. (Earlier version nominated for the 2014 APSA LGBT Caucus Award for Best Paper)
Book Chapter
Comstock, Audrey L. 2019. “Domestic Legal Institutions and International Law: The UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Netherlands”, book chapter in Research Handbook on Law and Courts, eds. Susan Sterett and Lee Walker. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.