The Fundamental Righst Research Centre (FRC) participates in many European and national research projects that offer the centre the opportunity to engage in applied research as well as to build a wide network of international partners. In this page you will find more information about FRC's current and past research projects.
Ongoing research projects
ALUNA: Child-protection based strategies to fight against sexual abuse and exploitation crimes
The EU financed ALUNA project (1/6/2023 - 31/5/2025) proposes an innovative, ambitious, interdisciplinary, international child-protection-centered approach to fight against child sexual abuse/child sexual exploitation crimes.HEROES: NOVEL STRATEGIES TO FIGHT CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING CRIMES AND PROTECT THEIR VICTIMS
The EU-funded HEROES project (01/12/2021 - 30/11/2024) explores how to use the latest technological advances and strategies to prevent and combat child sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation and human trafficking, support investigation into these crimes and their victims' protection.PROMODE: Modernising Codes of Criminal Procedure on digital investigative methods: combining the languages of criminal procedural law, data protection law and European human rights law
This FWO/FNR co-funded project (1/1/2023-31/12/2026) takes a constructive reformist’s perspective with the aim to create a dialogue between criminal procedural law, data protection law and European human rights law in the context of digital investigations.FUTURE-PROOFING HUMAN RIGHTS. DEVELOPING THICKER FORMS OF ACCOUNTABILITY
This fundamental iBof project is a multi-disciplinary and multi-method study that seeks to identify a variety of avenues for achieving better human rights protection that can provide the basis for a thicker conceptualisation of the notion of (human rights) accountability.FAIR: EU Charter of Fundamental rights: Awareness raising and Instruments to promote a culture of Rights
The project “EU Charter of Fundamental rights: Awareness raising and Instruments to promote a culture of Rights” (FAIR), is a direct response to the solicitations enshrined in the European Commission’s 2020 “Strategy to Strengthen the Application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights”. This strategy, launched on the 20th anniversary of the EU Charter, outlines significant progress and persistent challenges in its implementation across EU Member States.
Past research projects
ARBEIDSMIGRATIE EN WERKNEMERSBESCHERMING (LABOUR MIGRATION AND WORKERS PROTECTION)
This project provides a long-term outlook on labour migration needs in Belgium with a dualist evaluation of the extent to which the current labour migration policy (i) corresponds to labour market demands and (ii) ensures protection of social and labour rights of migrant workers.OPTED: OBSERVATORY FOR POLITICAL TEXTS IN EUROPEAN DEMOCRACIES: A EUROPEAN RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE
The OPTED infrastructure, pushes the boundaries of political text analysis by addressing both the development and the application of tools and techniques, the standardisation of measurement quality and legal and ethical frameworks for research data mining.EXIT EUROPE
The EXIT Europe project aims at developing locally embedded exit (deradicalisation) programs across Europe, especially where they are most lacking, such as in the Southern and Eastern regions.REBUILD: ICT-ENABLED INTEGRATION FACILITATOR AND LIFE REBUILDING GUIDANCE
The REBUILD project aims to provide a toolbox of ICTbased solutions that will improve the management procedures for local authorities and assist migrants to build a new life and integrate with the local society.EDULAW: LAW AND RIGHTS MODULES IN TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMMES: ERASMUS+ PROGRAMME 2016-2019
The EduLAw project underlining assumption is that collaboration between educators and lawyers can promote effective teaching, learning, school leadership, and educational innovation and thus the project seeks to strengthen such collaboration.DESIRE: DEMAND FOR SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IN EUROPE
DESIrE aims to generate a better understanding of the impact of sex work legislation on the prevalence of trafficking in human beings.LIVE FOR: CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACCESS TO DIGITAL EVIDENCES IN THE CLOUD - LIVE_FORENSICS
LIVE_FOR aims to boost the use and application of Directive 2014/14/EU concerning the European Investigation Order (EIO) in criminal matters.COST ACTION: AGEISM FROM A MULTINATIONAL, INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE
The COST Action has the overall goal to improve the lives of older adults by enhancing scientific knowledge and attention to the phenomenon of ageism, by integrating the different disciplines of research currently involved in the field of ageism and by developing collaborations with public policy officials and non-academic professionals responsible for the care and wellbeing of older adults as well as with older adults themselves.FRA: BIOMETRIC DATA IN LARGE EU IT SYSTEMS IN THE AREAS OF BORDERS, VISA AND ASYLUM – FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IMPLICATIONS
The FRA research project will analyse the fundamental rights implications of inserting, storing and using biometric data – such as fingerprints – in these IT systems.TRACE: TRAFFICKING AS A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE
TRACE aims to support stakeholders in combating and disrupting human trafficking by assessing and consolidating information surrounding the perpetrators and the wider trafficking enterprise.HRI: THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE OF HUMAN RIGHTS INTEGRATION: TOWARDS A USERS’ PERSPECTIVE
The central research objective of the HRI Research Network is the study of human rights law as an integrated whole from a users’ perspective.FWO PROJECT: PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA REGARDING ETHNIC ORIGIN AND DISABILITY FOR STATISTICAL PURPOSES TO COMBAT DISCRIMINATION
The main research aim is to determine whether the vulnerability of thnic minorities and people with disabilities can be reduced by creating a legal framework to collect and process sensitive data on ethnicity and disability respectively.FRA-PROJECT: FRC AWARDED RESEARCH CONTRACT FROM FRA WITH REGARD TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN BELGIUM
FRC has been awarded a prestigious research contract from the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) in cooperation with consultancy group Milieu Ltd. FRC will be working as legal experts on country reports and other requests of the FRA with regard to the implementation of fundamental rights in Belgium.FWO-PROJECT: REKENSCHAPSPLICHTIGHEID VOOR MENSENRECHTENSCHENDINGEN DOOR INTERNATIONALE ORGANISATIES
Het project heeft als doel te onderzoeken via welke technieken, mechanismen en fora internationale organisaties en/of hun lidstaten rekenschapsplichtig (kunnen) gemaakt worden voor schendingen van mensenrechten gepleegd door, of toe te schrijven aan, deze internationale organisaties.VLIR-UOS PROJECT: PROJET PORTANT À LA CRÉATION D’UN 3IÈME CYCLE (D.E.S.) EN DROITS DE L’HOMME À L’UNIVERSITÉ CATHOLIQUE DE BUKAVU (RDC)
PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA REGARDING ETHNIC ORIGIN AND DISABILITY FOR STATISTICAL PURPOSES TO COMBAT DISCRIMINATION
This project focuses on the use of sensitive data for the implementation of anti-discrimination policies.HUMAN RIGHTS IN SITUATIONS OF (EXTREME) DEPENDENCY
The aim of this research proposal is to analyse the dynamics of relations of (extreme) institutional dependency and the influence of human rights standards and legislation on these relations.