As the movement is rooted in the world community's response to the excesses inflicted upon humanity by the Nazi and Fascist regimes during the Second World War, the founders of the United Nations ensured that the Charter would reflect the close relationship between international peace and security and international human rights. Thus, the first two goals embodied in the Preamble of the U.N. Charter are: "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war" and "to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, the dignity and worth of the human person, [and] in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small...." Article 1 of the Charter lists among the purposes of the U.N. "[t]o achieve international co-operation in... promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion." (2) Nanda 2007 II ¶ 1)
Portrayals of Human Rights Violations
In" Globalization and Human Trafficking," Jones, Engstrom, Hilliard, and Diaz (2007) purport that human trafficking mirrors one particularly repugnant portrayal of human rights violations. They contend that human trafficking could be perceived as one of globalization's dark sides. When humans are sold for prostitution, to work in sweatshops, completing labor projects, to beg on streets, for completing domestic work, for marriage, for adoption, "agricultural work, construction, armed conflicts (child soldiers), and other forms of exploitive labor or services" (¶ 3), albeit these actions constitute the violation of universal human rights.
The following Daily Nebraskan newspaper article relating a recent case in an Atlanta, Georgia courthouse reveals some of the challenges the contemporary global cultural divide presents regarding human rights violations.
On Nov. 1, Khalid Adem, an Ethiopian immigrant, was sentenced to 10 years in a Georgian prison for aggravated battery and cruelty to children. By the listed charges, it would seem that he repeatedly beat his little girl, now 7.
In reality, prosecutors said Adem used scissors to remove his daughter's clitoris. And while Georgia recently passed an anti-mutilation law -- pushed through with the help of the girl's mother -- that law wasn't on the books when the mutilation occurred.
Adem said that he never circumcised his daughter, and that he grew up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, and he considers the practice to be more common in rural areas.
While he hasn't admitted guilt, Adem's case highlights one of the world's most culturally divisive practices, a topic of great debate within the human rights community.
Female genital mutilation, also known as female genital cutting or sometimes female circumcision, comes in numerous variations, but often involves cutting the clitoris from the female, usually young girls. This has various cultural justifications and implications, but is often intended as sexual damage-control.
Since the clitoris contains thousands of nerve endings, removing it can serve to moderate or completely dissolve a woman's ability to experience sexual stimulation. This quells promiscuity and removes physical temptation, sometimes with intent to keep women "pure" until marriage. Hence, those on the receiving end of this brutal procedure tend to be young.
As the Daily Nebraskan's audience is almost exclusively Western, it's safe to suggest that readers are either still cringing or are now just plain disgusted. That's because of our upbringing. An act as brutal as FGM -- often performed with unsanitary and primitive objects like broken bottles, sticks or sharp rocks -- can seem barbaric to those of us in the West.
Cultural anthropologists can explain this with the theory of cultural relativism. The idea is that no culture is inherently superior to another, no value system more correct. There is no one standard set of morals by which we can objectively judge all cultures, so comparing morality between cultures -- which retain independent and distinct histories and influences -- is basically futile.
This stands in stark contrast to the theory of moral universalism, which suggests that there are at least some moral standards by which all cultures and value systems may be judged. Murder, maybe they'll say, or rape shan't ever be justified with cultural arguments. Moral universalists look for values found consistently across cultures and identify them.
The theory of human rights takes principle from cultural relativism, but finally rests on the law of universalism. Human rights, simply by their nature, are universal. They do not rely on geography or political system...
It is also unlikely that the UN will ever really have an aggressive standing army but will continue to be required to call upon others to be its arms in any given place. "Is it not true that the nation state and state sovereignty will be with us for some time? But in what form?" (Forsythe, 2006, 26) State sovereignty will be a universal application for many years to
The human rights police occasionally violate human rights in the name of rights preservation. Therefore, those who have the political power to underwrite human rights legislation also have the power to re-write that legislation or simply be excused from the table. In some cases, human rights violations are clear-cut. Genocide is a prime example of a situation in which the global community screams for a more conscientious enforcement of human
Instead, the commission offers as a compromise more humane treatment of refugees. ("Migration Amendment," Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 2006, p.1) But while this may be a laudable effort, it shows that the creation of a perfect schema of justice will always be lacking, as by an accident of birth certain individuals will have access to better opportunities, housing, and a quality of life. Even legally, refugees are deemed
Human freedoms are innate to every person, regardless of their status; whether tribe, nationality, area of residence, race, language or gender. Human rights are equal for all, and are given without any kind of discrimination. All human rights are interconnected, interdependent and cannot be separated. There are international law sources that guarantee and express these rights, such as customary law, general principles treaties and international law itself. International law of
As it pertains to sweatshops, indications that the company was operating sweatshops came first in 1998. During this time sweatshops were found in Asia and the company was only paying workers 80 cents per day. Nike's behavior in both these instances created a backlash that is still present. Prior to the findings of human rights violations, Nike had a good reputation as an employer. However, after the presence of human
Ngos & Human Rights in Africa Non-governmental organizations have had an unprecedented effect on international human rights in the African system. NGOs have been recognized for their forward thinking ability in improving international human rights in Africa. NGOs participation in the African Human Rights system has been in two ways. The first is through international and government commissions like the OAU, with some having rights to participate in public meetings. This presents
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