1.a there is global variation in human rights norms
Definition: Basic rights and freedoms inherent to all human beings, to which all people are
entitled to without discrimination
Genocide: deliberate and systematic destruction of a specific group
➔ Example: 1971 Bangladesh Genocide (West pakistan) imposed military crackdown to
surpress eastern wing of nation who were calling for self-determination. Around 500k
were killed and pakistan military raped 200,000-400,000 women
Examples of laws according to the UN:
➔ Everyone should be treated equally
➔ Everyone has duty to care for their community
➔ Everyone should take part in the government of their country
➔ Everyone has right to freedom of thought
➔ Everyone has the right to have a family
➔ (https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights)
What are human rights norms?
➔ Established customary behaviour based on moral principles and ways of living inculcated
into culture of a country
➔ Foundation of human rights
➔ Humans rights norms that apply to particular groups of people e.g children
➔ There are also smaller scale human rights regulations governing regions
What is intervention?
➔ Use of economic, political or military power by countries or groups of countries in
different regions of the world to bring about change
➔ Usually carried out in response to breaches of human rights and with intention of
restoring rights of the people affected
➔ Intervention can take forms including: Development aid, direct military intervention,
non-direct military intervention eg peacekeepers helping with ebola in west africa)
Norms: These are accepted standards of behavior or guidelines that dictate how states and
individuals should act. They are fundamental to maintaining peace and ensuring equality globally.
Intervention: This refers to actions taken by states, international organizations, or coalitions to
address human rights violations, including military intervention, sanctions, or humanitarian aid.
, Geopolitics: This examines how geographic factors and political interests influence human rights,
highlighting the complexity of enforcing universal norms in different cultural and political
contexts.
Complexities of human rights:
- Human rights are affected by cultural, economic, and political variations globally. What
one society considers a violation might not align with another's cultural or political
norms.
- Power dynamics between nations, including intervention and enforcement, often lead to
debates about sovereignty and the global responsibility to uphold human rights.
Military intervention
pros cons
➔ Can help protect human rights and quality of life ➔ More issues if gov are not cooperative
➔ WHO can help with disease ➔ Potential to create a power vacuum when
➔ Give local people skills e.g farming disposing dictators
➔ Help establish democracy in hostile regions e.g ➔ Civilian casualties
Afghanistan ➔ Population displacement
1.b Patterns of human rights violations are influenced by a range of factors
Forced labour
➔ Often linked to poverty as it created vulnerability
➔ Forced labour is any work or service which people are forced to do against their will
including: agriculture, domestic work, market trading
➔ 4.5 million are in forced sexual exploitation and 5.5 million children are in forced labour
➔ Highest rates in africa, russia and india
Restavek - forced child labour in Haiti
➔ Restaavek is a child in haiti sent by their parents to work for a household as a slave
➔ Often the move is from rural to urban, Often subjected to abuse
➔ Expectations is that they are given food and housing in exchange for housework
➔ Affects as estimated 300,000 Haitian children
Modern slavery - Britain
➔ Estimated that tens of thousands are people are in modern slavery in the UK, with most
coming from overseas, most common countries of origin being Albania, Vietnam, Nigeria
➔ Most often work in agriculture, construction, hospitality, manufacturing and car washes
➔ Many women and girls also trafficked for sexual exploitation and domestic slavery
➔ In 2017 5,000+ people were potential victims of slavery ⅓ up from 2016
➔ anti slavery .org founded in 1839 and modern slavery act of 2015, work to reduced slavery
, Factors influencing global variations of forced labour
Economic:
➔ Poverty
➔ Lack of economic opportunities and Unemployment
➔ Low wages
➔ Subsistence farming
➔ migration
Political:
➔ Instability and conflict
➔ Corruption
➔ State sponsorship of modern slavery e.g cotton harvest in Uzbekistan
➔ High levels of discrimination and prejudice
Social:
➔ Gender and age inequality
➔ Entire families being enslaved through bonded labour
➔ Women and children exploited for sexual traffiking
➔ Indigenous people
Environmental:
➔ Escaping climate-related disasters including food and water shortages
➔ Hazardous working conditions in open mines
Maternal mortality
Definition: the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy…
from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management
➔ In 2015 alone 300,000+ women died following women die from preventable causes related
to pregnancy and childbirth
➔ 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries
➔ In 2015 the richest 20% of households were 2x more likely to be attend by a skilled health
personnel than those in the poorest 20%
Social factors for maternal mortality:
➔ Variations in accessibility of treatment for pregnancy and birth complications
➔ Quality of medical care services
➔ Distance from healthcare services
➔ Bicycle ambulances have decreased MMR
➔ Availability of information and education
➔ Cultural barriers which affect discrimination, including religious beliefs that prevent
women being tended to by male doctors e.g in Sierra Leone husband has to approve
➔ Some women refuse to allow a male doctor or an uncircumcised nurse to examine her
Economic factors for maternal mortality:
➔ Poverty
➔ High income countries most women have at least 4 antenatal care visits attended by a
skilled healthcare worker during childbirth and receive postpartum care
➔ Level of political commitment and government investment in maternal healthcare
Definition: Basic rights and freedoms inherent to all human beings, to which all people are
entitled to without discrimination
Genocide: deliberate and systematic destruction of a specific group
➔ Example: 1971 Bangladesh Genocide (West pakistan) imposed military crackdown to
surpress eastern wing of nation who were calling for self-determination. Around 500k
were killed and pakistan military raped 200,000-400,000 women
Examples of laws according to the UN:
➔ Everyone should be treated equally
➔ Everyone has duty to care for their community
➔ Everyone should take part in the government of their country
➔ Everyone has right to freedom of thought
➔ Everyone has the right to have a family
➔ (https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights)
What are human rights norms?
➔ Established customary behaviour based on moral principles and ways of living inculcated
into culture of a country
➔ Foundation of human rights
➔ Humans rights norms that apply to particular groups of people e.g children
➔ There are also smaller scale human rights regulations governing regions
What is intervention?
➔ Use of economic, political or military power by countries or groups of countries in
different regions of the world to bring about change
➔ Usually carried out in response to breaches of human rights and with intention of
restoring rights of the people affected
➔ Intervention can take forms including: Development aid, direct military intervention,
non-direct military intervention eg peacekeepers helping with ebola in west africa)
Norms: These are accepted standards of behavior or guidelines that dictate how states and
individuals should act. They are fundamental to maintaining peace and ensuring equality globally.
Intervention: This refers to actions taken by states, international organizations, or coalitions to
address human rights violations, including military intervention, sanctions, or humanitarian aid.
, Geopolitics: This examines how geographic factors and political interests influence human rights,
highlighting the complexity of enforcing universal norms in different cultural and political
contexts.
Complexities of human rights:
- Human rights are affected by cultural, economic, and political variations globally. What
one society considers a violation might not align with another's cultural or political
norms.
- Power dynamics between nations, including intervention and enforcement, often lead to
debates about sovereignty and the global responsibility to uphold human rights.
Military intervention
pros cons
➔ Can help protect human rights and quality of life ➔ More issues if gov are not cooperative
➔ WHO can help with disease ➔ Potential to create a power vacuum when
➔ Give local people skills e.g farming disposing dictators
➔ Help establish democracy in hostile regions e.g ➔ Civilian casualties
Afghanistan ➔ Population displacement
1.b Patterns of human rights violations are influenced by a range of factors
Forced labour
➔ Often linked to poverty as it created vulnerability
➔ Forced labour is any work or service which people are forced to do against their will
including: agriculture, domestic work, market trading
➔ 4.5 million are in forced sexual exploitation and 5.5 million children are in forced labour
➔ Highest rates in africa, russia and india
Restavek - forced child labour in Haiti
➔ Restaavek is a child in haiti sent by their parents to work for a household as a slave
➔ Often the move is from rural to urban, Often subjected to abuse
➔ Expectations is that they are given food and housing in exchange for housework
➔ Affects as estimated 300,000 Haitian children
Modern slavery - Britain
➔ Estimated that tens of thousands are people are in modern slavery in the UK, with most
coming from overseas, most common countries of origin being Albania, Vietnam, Nigeria
➔ Most often work in agriculture, construction, hospitality, manufacturing and car washes
➔ Many women and girls also trafficked for sexual exploitation and domestic slavery
➔ In 2017 5,000+ people were potential victims of slavery ⅓ up from 2016
➔ anti slavery .org founded in 1839 and modern slavery act of 2015, work to reduced slavery
, Factors influencing global variations of forced labour
Economic:
➔ Poverty
➔ Lack of economic opportunities and Unemployment
➔ Low wages
➔ Subsistence farming
➔ migration
Political:
➔ Instability and conflict
➔ Corruption
➔ State sponsorship of modern slavery e.g cotton harvest in Uzbekistan
➔ High levels of discrimination and prejudice
Social:
➔ Gender and age inequality
➔ Entire families being enslaved through bonded labour
➔ Women and children exploited for sexual traffiking
➔ Indigenous people
Environmental:
➔ Escaping climate-related disasters including food and water shortages
➔ Hazardous working conditions in open mines
Maternal mortality
Definition: the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy…
from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management
➔ In 2015 alone 300,000+ women died following women die from preventable causes related
to pregnancy and childbirth
➔ 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries
➔ In 2015 the richest 20% of households were 2x more likely to be attend by a skilled health
personnel than those in the poorest 20%
Social factors for maternal mortality:
➔ Variations in accessibility of treatment for pregnancy and birth complications
➔ Quality of medical care services
➔ Distance from healthcare services
➔ Bicycle ambulances have decreased MMR
➔ Availability of information and education
➔ Cultural barriers which affect discrimination, including religious beliefs that prevent
women being tended to by male doctors e.g in Sierra Leone husband has to approve
➔ Some women refuse to allow a male doctor or an uncircumcised nurse to examine her
Economic factors for maternal mortality:
➔ Poverty
➔ High income countries most women have at least 4 antenatal care visits attended by a
skilled healthcare worker during childbirth and receive postpartum care
➔ Level of political commitment and government investment in maternal healthcare
