Human Rights Assessment
Overview
Respect for or abuse of human rights impacts the lives, wellbeing, life chances and security of all humans around the world. Human rights instruments and bodies are tasked with guaranteeing, overseeing and highlighting the implementation and/or violation of the international human rights law. Despite momentous achievements and celebration of numerous milestones in human rights, the most basic human rights of millions are violated in many contexts and by perpetrators of different nature: individuals, groups, and structures. Among those victims, different variations of direct, cultural and structural violence continue to be inflicted on women, children, indigenous peoples, and refugees. We called these groups “vulnerable persons and groups.” The purpose of this task is for students to research the plight of one specific “vulnerable persons and groups” whose human rights are particularly susceptible to being violated.
Title: Choose one of the vulnerable persons and groups listed above and write a 1000-word essay exploring their human rights and drawing on examples from around the world.
In researching your chosen group consider the following:
- Provide a description of your chosen group, including an explanation as to why this group is categorised as vulnerable (Include in this a reflection on both historical and/or contemporary movements whose goals it is to raise awareness of this group).
- Summarise the established and consolidated human rights of your chosen group analysing the impact to your groups social conditions.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of human rights instruments that aim to protect the rights of your chosen group and some of the challenges in its implementation drawing on examples from around the world to support your analysis.
Note: These points are to help you to think about the topic and do not constitute a prescribed structure for your essay.
