Human Rights Violations Around the World

Human rights violations and discrimination are still rampant throughout societies around the globe. Whenever we hear about human rights violations, the discussion that comes to our mind is mostly regarding our freedom of speech, right to work, and women’s rights.

The Need For Awareness

Various causes are also present when we talk about human rights discrimination. There is an infringement on genders, social classes, race, level of education, etc. Moreover, in today’s generation, there are many ways to promote and protect our human rights. Be it individual efforts or by group, many people are striving to change government laws when there’s injustice.

With that said, the Real Research online survey application aims to find out the public perception with regards to violations of human rights. How well do you think human rights are being practiced in your country? Is the law protecting women, children, teenagers, disabled people, and non-regular workers? How about the people’s freedom of speech and their right to work? and what do you believe is the most effective way to protect yourself when your human rights are infringed?

Highlights

  • The majority are satisfied with NGOs and Media efforts to promote human rights.
  • Almost 35% believe that gender is the main cause of human rights infringement.
  • 86% believe that fixing customs or systems is one of the most effective ways to protect oneself.

From a total of 400,000 survey participants, respondents were asked how often they encounter the words ‘human rights’ in a day. The majority (45.04%) of them said they see it every day. Meanwhile, 23.04% stated that they only see it often. The other 21.86% see these words sometimes, and few (10.06%) of them have never seen them.

Some countries are not that open to talk about human rights. Especially when the leaders or rulers themselves have brutal ways of leading the country. There are a lot of human rights violation examples such as extrajudicial killings, child slavery, civil rights, and many more.

When asked how well respondents think international human rights violations are being respected in their country, 36.91% said it is very well respected. 30.09% think it is moderately respected in their country. Meanwhile, some 18.35% think human rights are not well respected, and 7.01% think it is completely disrespected.

Assessment on NGO and Media Efforts To Promote Human Rights

In today’s generation, individuals and groups seem to be active in different platforms where they can promote human rights. Almost everyone has access to the internet. Technology has let us be more knowledgeable and conscious about what’s happening in the world.

With that said, respondents assessed the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) on their efforts to promote human rights. The majority of them seem satisfied as 30.70% said ‘greatly satisfied’ and 34.67% said ‘somewhat satisfied’.

NGOs have played an important role in the protection of human rights. They help the victim of human rights violations around the world by providing them assistance and advice. The NGOs also file cases, write petitions, and public interest litigation on behalf of victims. Moreover, they have fought against the system, fake encounters by police, protection of women, children’s rights, custodial violence and custodial death, prevention of torture, and other inhuman practices.

On another note, Media can make people aware of the current human rights violations in the world, expose them, and focus attention on areas in need of protection of human rights. The Media can also give publicity to individuals and organizations, who are engaged in securing human rights. With this, 30.83% are ‘greatly satisfied’ and 30.56% are ‘somewhat satisfied’. Few people are unsatisfied with the Media and NGOs’ efforts, so this could mean that the media is indeed serving their purpose and is helping a lot of people.

United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

How many times have you heard about the UN’s UDHR?
Figure 1. How many times have you heard about the UN’s UDHR?

As described in the UDHR, social, economic, and cultural rights cover many areas. These include the right to work, the right to education, and the right to physical and mental health. As is the case with all human rights, they can be violated by states and other factors. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights gives a handful of examples of such cases. They include discriminating at work based on traits like race, gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities.

With that said, respondents were asked how many times they have heard about the UN’s UDHR, 37.36% said they often hear it, 38.82% heard it once or twice, while 23.82% said that they have never heard of it.

Different Aspect of Human Rights

Respondents were asked how well do they think human rights are being respected in their country.

Firstly, the rights for disabled people. 36.44% said very well respected, 30.71% say moderately respected, 18.34% say not well respected, 6.7% say completely disrespected, and 7.81% said they don’t know.

Secondly, the rights for non-regular workers. 31.37% said very well respected, 29.17% say moderately respected, 22.06% say not well respected, 8.79% say completely disrespected, and 8.60% said they don’t know.

Thirdly, women’s rights. 35.22% said very well respected, 29.12% say moderately respected, 19.29% say not well respected, 8.36% say completely disrespected, and 8.01% said they don’t know.

Fourthly, children’s rights. 34.48% said very well respected, 29.58% say moderately respected, 18.96% say not well respected, 8.79% say completely disrespected, and 8.16% said they don’t know.

Fifth, the right to freedom of speech. 34.52% said very well respected, 27.53% say moderately respected, 18.96% say not well respected, 10.66% say completely disrespected, and 8.34% said they don’t know.

Sixth, social security rights. 32.92% said very well respected, 28.82% say moderately respected, 19.67% say not well respected, 9.89% say completely disrespected, and 8.70% said they don’t know.

Lastly, the right to work. 33.28% said very well respected, 27.20% say moderately respected, 19.71% say not well respected, 9.92% say completely disrespected, and 9.90% said they don’t know.

Ways To Promote and Protect Human Rights

What is the most effective way to promote and protect human rights?
Figure 2. What is the most effective way to promote and protect human rights?

Above all, respect for human rights is very important to have a peaceful and safe community. Thus, there are several ways to promote and protect our human rights. Hence, in this survey, we asked the respondents what way they think is the most effective approach.

Firstly, 39.86% believe the most effective way is fixing customs or systems that violate human rights and/or pose the threat of condoning discrimination. Secondly, 35.78% think individual efforts to protect and respect human rights will help promote and protect human rights. Thirdly, 12.15% want their country to create laws or systems that can protect human rights such as an anti-discrimination law. Meanwhile, 2.81% want to educate people regarding human rights to raise public awareness on the issue.

Finally, 2.28% say that the government’s organization for human rights should take action. They can investigate and recommend changes to better promote and protect human rights.

Main cause of human rights infringements
Figure 3. What do you think is the main cause of human rights infringements or discriminations?

Ways To Prevent Human Rights Violations

In this survey, respondents chose the main cause of human rights violations. They also chose what they believe to be the most effective way to protect themselves.

With regards to its causes, respondents took their picks. The choices are respectively as follows: (34.38%) gender, (23.96%) having disabilities, (15.23%) age,  (14.96%) social class such as profession and income level, (5.69%) level of education, (2.70%) race/country of origin, (2.07%) marital status such as being unmarried or divorced, and (1.02%) family situation such as having a single parent or broken family.

most effective way to protect yourself when your human rights are infringed
Figure 4. what do you believe is the most effective way to protect yourself when your human rights are infringed or discriminated against?

On another note, 48.16% think that effective ways to protect oneself from human rights violations include asking the relevant institution to rectify the problem. Moreover, 24.53% said to send an appeal to a public institution and 9.38% said to consult the relevant government organization. Furthermore, 3.61% said to report the situation to the prosecutors or the police, 1.89% said to ask for NGOs for help, and 1.89% said to consult legal experts. Finally, 1.69% said to post about the situation online, and lastly, 0.88% sid to report it to the press.

Methodology

Survey TitleSurvey on Human Rights Violation and Discrimination
DurationApril 6th to 20th, 2021
Number of Participants400,000
DemographicsMales and females, aged 19 to 60+
Participating CountriesAfghanistan, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, AzerbaijanBahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, China (Hong-kong), China (Macao), China (Taiwan), Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar [Burma], Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.