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Issue Description
Human rights are often the subject of controversy, with issues such as the Government’s proposed 42 days’ detention without charge for terror suspects making the news. In addition, there is divided public opinion about the UK’s Human Rights Act and how it is being used. This book examines these issues, and also looks at topics which include torture, slavery, people trafficking, exploitation of children, terrorism, and whether smacking should or should not be considered an abuse of human rights.
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Key Facts
- The ideas behind human rights have been present throughout history in many different societies and civilisations. However, the modern concept of human rights emerged in the twentieth century as a response to the events of the Second World War, particularly the mass crimes committed during the Holocaust. (page 1)
- In the UK today, a number of fundamental individual freedoms are protected by the Human Rights Act 1998. This requires all UK law to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950 (and its First and Sixth Protocols), makes the Convention enforceable in UK courts, and requires the judiciary to interpret domestic law so as to comply with the Convention. Appeals against the rulings of UK courts can still be taken to the European Court of Human Rights, as they could be prior to the Act. (page 4)
- Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood’. (page 8)
- Amnesty International documented cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in more than 81 countries in 2007. (page 14)
- 56% of people surveyed agreed that ‘people only talk about their human rights when they’re trying to get something they’re not entitled to’. (page 19)
- An estimated 126 million children work in the worst forms of child labour – one in 12 of the world’s 5- to 17-year-olds. (page 20)
- Eighteen countries have changed the law to stop parents hitting their children (the date in brackets is when the law was changed) – Sweden (1979), Finland (1983), Norway (1987), Austria (1989), Cyprus (1994), Denmark (1997), Latvia (1998), Croatia (1999), Germany (2000), Bulgaria (2000), Israel (2000), Iceland (2003), Romania (2004), Ukraine (2004), Hungary (2005), Greece (2006), the Netherlands (2007) and New Zealand (2007). (page 30)
- At any one time across the world, around 1.8 million children are being abused through prostitution, child pornography and sex tourism. (page 32)
- 2.45 million people are victims of trafficking annually, of which 50% are children (ILO, 2005). (page 34)
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Table of Contents
Chapter One: Human Rights
Introducing human rights, Human rights and politics, Human rights timeline, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Tears and smiles in the fight for justice, Amnesty International Report 2008, Inside the Human Rights Act, Human Rights Act is a law for ne’er-do-wells, Mythbuster: the Human Rights Act, Public attitudes to human rights, Facts about modern slavery, Slavery in modern Britain, Trafficking cases, Human rights in a time of terror, Public support for terror measures, Torture: myths and facts.
Chapter Two: Young People’s Rights
Children’s rights, Children’s rights – the facts, Child labour, Widespread forms of child slavery, Child soldiers, Child trafficking – facts, All equal?, Smacking – facts, figures and arguments, Treatment of children in the UK, Smacking children is a decision for parents.
Key Facts
Glossary
Index
Additional Resources
Acknowledgements
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The Study Guide for: Our Human Rights - Volume 167
Each book in the Issues series has a study guide. These four-page guides provide a variety of discussion points and other activities to suit a wide range of ability levels and interests.
Publisher: Independence Educational Publishers
Price: £1.95
ISBN: 978 1 86168 493 6