Summary OCR Geography A Level - HUMAN RIGHTS Notes

HUMAN RIGHTS
1. WHAT IS MEANT BY HUMAN RIGHTS?
1.A. THERE IS GLOBAL VARIATION IN HUMAN RIGHTS NORMS.
Human rights = Basic rights and freedoms inherent to all human beings to which all people
are entitled without discrimination
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
 Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948
 30 statements




Issues with UDHR
 Not legally binding
 No enforcement component
o Many of the principles have been violated
 Not everyone was involved with writing it
 Some cultures don’t agree with some of the statements

,Impact of globalisation
 Positive and negative
o Positive = enhanced ability of society to work across borders and to promote
human rights
 Ideas – more democratic
 Comms – problems in other countries can be identified
 Transport – easier to flee, sharing of cultures
 Trade – better exports, economy grows
o Negative = enabled some organisations to gain power and perpetrate
violations
 Transport – more human trafficking
 Trade – more forced labour
 Technology – revenge porn, up-skirting, trolling
Sustainable Development Goals
 Socio-economic development and inequalities in terms of human rights are closely
related
 Many development programmes have been developed to improve development with
human rights a priority


Human Rights Norms
Human rights norms = Universally accepted standards of human behaviour based on moral
principles
 Ways of living that have been inculcated into the culture of a country over a long
period of time
 The foundation of human rights
 The UDHR was devised based on the established culture and norms drawn from all
cultures and religions across the world
 The statements in the UDHR are accepted as ‘international’ human rights norms
o Human rights are protected by international law
 International human rights law sets out the obligations of state
government
 By signing international treaties, it is their duty to respect, protect and
fulfil international human rights
 Governments that sign treaties have to put into practise domestic
measures and legislation which are compatible with that treaty
 Eg UNCRC (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child), CEDAW
(Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against All Women)

, Issues with Human Rights Norms
 Majority Muslim countries
o Sharia/Islamic Laws cultural norms are sometimes interpreted as being
different from Western human rights norms
 Eg women are inferior in society  have to wear hijab etc
o In 1990 45 Islamic countries signed the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in
Islam which takes into account the role of Sharia Law
 FGM
o FGM is practised in 27 countries affecting over 200 million women
o It is an ancient tradition – procedure is carried out by women on women and
even children < 5
o Most countries have banned it but the law is not well enforced
 Gender pay gap
 Arranged marriages
 Child marriages
 Male circumcision
Complexity and variation in HR norms
 Defining
 Listing
 Interpretation
 Implementation
 Enforcement
 Omissions
 Change over time


Intervention
Intervention = actions of a state, group of states or international organisations in a foreign
territory to end gross violations of human rights. This includes military force, economic
sanctions and the assistance of NGOs
Types of Intervention
 Military intervention
 Humanitarian intervention
 UN intervention
 (Non-aggressive, peacekeeping)