WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS FOR? - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Human rights serve to establish international standards and parameters of civilized life applicable at all levels of society, based on the most fundamental, universal and inherent conditions that everyone has and needs.

Without human rights there would be no democracy, freedom or peace, and there would be a world with a high crime rate. Furthermore, without them the quality of life of the people would be notably lower, since health, housing or access to employment and food would not be guaranteed.

Throughout the centuries and among many cultures, religions and societies, humanity has struggled to define accepted notions regarding the concepts of "law", "justice", and "legitimacy".

After the socio-political and economic ravages suffered as a result of the Second World War, the international community placed the protection of people's rights as a priority.

Not long after the creation of the United Nations in 1945, the general assembly with more than 50 representatives of states entered into working sessions to draft a document that would establish fundamental rights and freedoms of humans.

The result was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was proclaimed in Paris, on December 10, 1948. It has 30 articles that describe and recognize 30 universal principles that every human being has and which must be respected and protected.

What are human rights for?

Here is a short list of aspects related to the role of human rights and what they are for.

- They define the basic conditions for human life in dignity

Human rights represent the highest protection of human integrity. The idea is based on the fact that each person, regardless of who they are or where they were born, deserves to enjoy the same basic rights and freedoms.

In their simplest form, these rights exist to benefit everyone equally.

- Represent, protect and promote basic values

Eleanor Roosevelt with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

This is probably the most famous, discussed and evoked aspect of human rights. The 30 articles of the document manifest principles based on primordial needs that every person must have and exercise in civilized societies.

The idea was for these values ​​to become replicable and expandable standards in every state system; and in itself, human rights serve governments and their institutions as a platform to guarantee compliance.

Most of the values ​​are based on the principle that every human being is free and equal to all in dignity and rights.

Some of these values ​​are:

Equality and non-discrimination

Everyone deserves to exercise each and every one of these rights to live a dignified life, regardless of differences. Discrimination at any level is rejected.

Consequently, human rights are managed above other types of moral, legal and political rights demands; and above all, any social differentiation (age, race, ethnicity, sex, religion, gender identity, culture, profession, socio-economic level, occupation, nationality, disability, etc.).

As has been said before, the simple qualification of what a human being is is the only sufficient and necessary reason to exercise basic rights. This condition makes all people equal and eliminates the aforementioned distinctions.

Respect and tolerance

Taking into account the existing individual and group differences and the condition of equality between them, it is necessary to establish a kind of guarantee line for the rights of all parties when people interact, coexist and interact.

The rights of one individual end where the rights of others begin. Just as someone deserves respect for their integrity and tolerance for their determined conditions, that same person must also respect the integrity of others and tolerate their conditions.

Freedom

Mainly, this value rejects slavery and servitude in any circumstance, since it would be an obvious limitation, obstruction or interference in the full and dignified exercise of the essential rights of a human being.

On the other hand, it establishes basic civil and political rights such as freedom of expression, opinion, exercise of religious beliefs, choice (options and decisions during life), transit and movement, among others.

Peace

This value would be, in some way, the ultimate goal that would encompass everyone. In theory, the fulfillment in exercise of each and every one of the human rights should help to raise the standard of living of all people, in one way or another (ideally), for harmonious coexistence in society.

- Help states to draft their human rights protection laws

Since the document was created in 1948, it has served to lay the foundations for international human rights law. Articles continue to be used to develop better internal policies that increasingly guarantee the dignity of life of the inhabitants.

In the last six decades, human rights have served as a safeguard against struggles and social changes in many countries around the world. His concepts have helped standardize socio-political equalities in countries that were considered oppressed.

- Set standards of what is fair to all

Every human being deserves equal opportunities to develop and emerge within society. The declaration promotes basic social, economic and cultural rights in education, profession, occupation and fair remuneration for work.

Actions, systems or institutions that prevent or limit the scope of any person to all educational, professional and economic opportunities, based on social differences of any kind, are totally rejected.

Likewise, it establishes that every justice system (the law) must also be applied equally to every person, without differentiation.

This includes the right to a fair trial and the appropriate sanctions according to the conditions of the case; not the individual characteristics of the person.

- Establish obligations

The power systems of each nation, that is, the states, assume the obligation under international laws to respect, protect and fulfill human rights. This means, first of all, that the state must refrain from interfering with or limiting the free exercise and enjoyment of human rights by the individuals of its population.

Second, that the state must focus on protecting individual and group rights against abuse. And third, the state must commit to taking positive actions to facilitate and guarantee the enjoyment of human rights within its territories.

In this particular, everyone has the power to demand and invoke their rights whenever they feel the need to do so, or believe that the free exercise of them is not being guaranteed.

References

1. Jack Donnelly (2003). Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice (Online book). Cornell University Press. Recovered from books.google.co.ve.
2. Howard Chan (2011). What are the basic characteristics of human rights? Uber Digests. Recovered from uberdigests.info.
3. Felicitas Gerlach. What are Human Rights and how do they function? Human Rights in a Political Context. Recovered from mtholyoke.edu.
4. United Nations - Human Rights - Office of the High Commissioner. What are human rights? Recovered from ohchr.org.
5. Equality and Human Rights Commission (2017). What are human rights? Recovered from equalityhumanrights.com.
6. United Nations (1948). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Online document). United Nation official site. Recovered from un.org.
7. Benedetta Berti (2015). What are the universal human rights? (Online video). TED-Ed. Recovered from ed.ted.com.