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Despite the fact that human rights are defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, cases related to human rights violations have been identified throughout the world.

What are some examples of human rights violations?

Definition of human rights violations and specific examples of different types of human rights violations.

Human Rights Violation

Human rights are being recognized all over the world with the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948.

Human rights are the dignity and the worth of human beings as well as the rights that everyone has regardless of gender, race, and other factors.

Violating human rights through discrimination or abuse can be subject to social sanctions.

Refderence : “Universal Declaration of Human Rights(UDHR) – United Nations”

Definition of Human Rights Violations

A state may violate human rights directly or indirectly.

Alternatively, cases of failure to protect human rights when there is conflict between individuals or groups within a society can also constitute a human rights violation.

In the United States, the government failed to protect black Americans when lynchings occurred frequently across the country.

Failure to protect human rights can also be considered as a case of human rights violation.

A state commits human rights violations either directly or indirectly.
Violations can either be intentionally performed by the state and or come as a result of the state failing to prevent the violation.
When a state engages in human rights violations, various actors can be involved such as police, judges, prosecutors, government officials, and more.
The violation can be physically violent in nature, such as police brutality, while rights such as the right to a fair trial can also be violated, where no physical violence is involved.

Reference : Definition and types of human rights violations – Human Rights Careers”

Types of Human Rights Violations

Types of human rights violations include civil and political rights as well as economic, social, and cultural rights.

These cases can lead to human rights violations in any given setting.

Civil and political rights

There are cases where civil and political rights are violated through genocide, torture, and arbitrary arrest.

Economic, social, and cultural rights

Economic, social, and cultural rights are the right to health, both physical and mental.

They include the right to work, the right to education, and the right to physical and mental health.

Cases where people are not paid adequate wages at work are considered to be a violation of these rights.

Examples of Human Rights Violations

Examples of human rights violations by states have been identified in many countries and regions today.

According to BORGEN MAGAZINE, the following examples of the human rights violations have been identified around the world.

International human rights organizations are cracking down on human rights violations, but not all cases are being addressed.

• 1. Child Slavery in the LRA
• 2. Forced sterilization for disabled underage girls
• 3. Forced vaginal examinations of Afghan women
• 4. Uganda’s “Anti-Gay Bill”
• 5. Child Labour During the Industrial Revolution
• 6. Slavery in The United States
• 7. The Holocaust
• 8. Modern Sex Trafficking
• 9. Taliban Crimes in Afghanistan
• 10. Jim Crow Laws in the U.S. South

Reference : “10 Worst Human Rights Violations of All Time – BORGEN MAGAZINE”

Child Slavery in the LRA

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda has been kidnapping young boys and training them to be soldiers.

Using children as tools of war, regardless of their intentions, is a clear case of human rights violation that must not be allowed to happen.

Forced sterilization for disabled underage girls

Sterilization of underage girls with disabilities is legal in Australia.

According to human rights groups, the risks associated with sexual exploitation of sterilized girls with disabilities are considered a violation as it is a form of violence against women.

Sterilization is a process in which surgical tools are used in order to make a person incapable of reproducing.
This is used to prevent pregnancies by tying the ends of the Fallopian tubes and is an option in the means of birth control.
A form of sterilization is eugenics which is forced upon uneducated, poor, and young men and women, also known as forced sterilization.

Reference : “AUSTRALIA’S FORCED STERILIZATION OF DISABLED UNDERAGE GIRLS – WOMEN’S REPUBLIC”

Forced vaginal examinations of Afghan women

In Afghanistan, every time a girl is arrested for moral charges, she is forced to have her vagina examined.

Uganda’s “Anti-Gay Bill”

Uganda has strengthened the penalties against homosexuals and made homosexual acts a crime.

This law is problematic because it violates human rights for LGBT people.

Child Labour During the Industrial Revolution

During the Industrial Revolution, children were forced to work in dangerous conditions for no pay.

Forced labor of children is a violation of human rights.

Slavery in The United States

Slavery in the United States is a violation of human rights.

Africans brought to the U.S. were subjected to forced labor and cruel treatment.

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries people were kidnapped from the continent of Africa, forced into slavery in the American colonies and exploited to work as indentured servants and labor in the production of crops such as tobacco and cotton.
By the mid-19th century, America’s westward expansion and the abolition movement provoked a great debate over slavery that would tear the nation apart in the bloody Civil War.

Reference : “Slavery in America – HISTORY.com”

The Holocaust

The Holocaust is one of the most well-known human rights violations in history.

Adolf Hitler claimed to “cleanse the world” and denied humanity to Jews, homosexuals, communists, Slavs, and other groups.
These acts are discrimination, abuse, and human rights violations.

Modern Sex Trafficking

International sex trafficking is taking place even today.

The sale of women and girls’ bodies is a form of gender inequality and a human rights violation.

Taliban Crimes in Afghanistan

The Taliban use their extensive concentration camps to enslave the female population.

Jim Crow Laws in the U.S. South

Jim Crow laws were a collection of laws that legalized racial segregation.

They existed even after the abolition of slavery and violated the human rights of African-Americans.

Jim Crow laws were a collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation. Named after a Black minstrel show character, the laws—which existed for about 100 years, from the post-Civil War era until 1968—were meant to marginalize African Americans by denying them the right to vote, hold jobs, get an education or other opportunities. Those who attempted to defy Jim Crow laws often faced arrest, fines, jail sentences, violence and death.

Reference “Jim Crow Laws – HISTORY.com”

Measures to Prevent Human Rights Violations

Historically, there have been many human rights violations.

Unfortunately, there are still cases of what can be considered human rights violations by the state in the world today.

In order to prevent human rights violations, the power of human rights organizations is necessary.

Human rights must be protected by a movement to eliminate human rights violations.