What factors lead to major violations of human rights, how do these change over time, and what can be done to prevent them from occurring? Members of the Human Rights Violations and Protections research cluster are focused on understanding the topic’s international and comparative political dynamics. Major violations of human rights arise from large-scale processes and major crimes, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, and have implications for national, regional, and global political systems. In spite of their limitations, efforts within each of these systems to prevent, limit, and punish such violations have given hope to both human rights advocates and victims of abuse.