HUMAN RIGHTS: LOOKING BEYOND THE DECLARATION(S)

It’s 60 years today since the adoption of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
So, today’s date was “absurdly” made Human Rights Day.

Isn’t it absurd that we, humans, should have a day to celebrate, or simply be reminded of, our rights? Aren’t we supposed to be entitled to human rights every single day of our lives?

Yet, these too become “absurd” questions in the face of the absurdly frequent violations of human rights everywhere, everyday, in the world.

And they often become even more “absurd” when, as we try to find answers to questions such as “what exactly constitutes a 'human rights violation' to different people in different contexts?”, we come across the many layers there are to human rights issues beyond what “universal” declarations usually manage to convey.

That’s the sort of question Australian cartoonist Nicholson addresses in what he called the “Great Wall of Feminism”, depicting how, in the context of women's rights (it was his take on the Beijing Declaration), the exact same issues are experienced on either side of the divide (left-click on the image for a better reading):

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N.B.: Apesar de apenas ter visto este cartoon pela primeira vez no proprio dia em que aqui o postei, ele ilustra de algum modo algumas das questoes que tinha em mente neste post e tambem neste artigo e nesta discussao.

It’s 60 years today since the adoption of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
So, today’s date was “absurdly” made Human Rights Day.

Isn’t it absurd that we, humans, should have a day to celebrate, or simply be reminded of, our rights? Aren’t we supposed to be entitled to human rights every single day of our lives?

Yet, these too become “absurd” questions in the face of the absurdly frequent violations of human rights everywhere, everyday, in the world.

And they often become even more “absurd” when, as we try to find answers to questions such as “what exactly constitutes a 'human rights violation' to different people in different contexts?”, we come across the many layers there are to human rights issues beyond what “universal” declarations usually manage to convey.

That’s the sort of question Australian cartoonist Nicholson addresses in what he called the “Great Wall of Feminism”, depicting how, in the context of women's rights (it was his take on the Beijing Declaration), the exact same issues are experienced on either side of the divide (left-click on the image for a better reading):

*****
N.B.: Apesar de apenas ter visto este cartoon pela primeira vez no proprio dia em que aqui o postei, ele ilustra de algum modo algumas das questoes que tinha em mente neste post e tambem neste artigo e nesta discussao.