APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF VULNERABILITY: INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ASPECT

Abstract

The article analyses a number of international agreements, resolutions and strategic acts adopted under the auspices of universal and regional organisations on the regulation of vulnerable categories of persons. The authors describe the doctrinal approaches to the interpretation and understanding of the concept of “vulnerability”. The paper indicates that the concept of “vulnerability” has become widely used in the context of protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is emphasised that the norms of modern international law do not regulate or reveal the essence and meaning of the concept of “vulnerability”, and do not offer an exhaustive standardised list of criteria by which persons could be classified as a vulnerable group of the population. International agreements and guidelines usually define the need to provide special protection to individuals or emphasise the special situation or vulnerability of certain categories of the population, but the concept of “vulnerability” remains quite broad for interpretation. It is noted that vulnerable categories of persons mainly include individuals who need enhanced or additional protection due to their physiological, age or psychological state, those being children, women, persons with disabilities, the elderly, migrant workers, refugees, national minorities and indigenous peoples, etc. It is emphasised that each vulnerable group may also have several signs of vulnerability. Therefore, when developing mechanisms for protecting the rights of these categories, all signs in aggregate and each of them separately should be taken into account. The author points out that those factors are involved in the formation of vulnerable groups: external and internal, notably, globalisation, extreme poverty, natural disasters, individual physical or mental characteristics, age, gender, disability, any vulnerability of legal status, etc.