The first assessment for Care in Contemporary Society is to carry out research into Human Rights in Great Britain. The research to carry out included; providing a timeline of important progress within the Human Rights Legislation, stating the critical principles in the operation of the Human Rights approach and explaining the usefulness of supporting a Human Rights access to care. Human Rights are the basic rights which everyone is entitled to no matter where they are from, what religion they believe in or who they are. Human Rights apply to all to ensure everyone is treated equally. Human Rights has been a building process for many years as many laws have been put in place to ensure everyone is treated equally however not everyone follows the laws. This had to be changed with fighting for Human Rights which is still a growing process.
A timeline of important process in Human Rights Legislation:
The Representation of the People Act 1918: This was the beginning of the female suffrage in Great Britain. However, this did not give all women the right to vote, meaning only women who owned property who were 30 and older were given the right to vote. Whereas males who are 21 and older were given the right to vote therefore women were still at a disadvantage with their voting rights. 10 years later (1928) all women were given equal rights to vote to men.
Human rights commission – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948: This is the first worldwide Human Rights agreement which includes all legal and cultures backgrounds from all over the world. The Universal Declaration is outlined as “The foremost statement of the rights and freedoms of all human begins” This had been acknowledged through The General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948. This legislation was agreed upon after the horrendous events of world war two to ensure everyone was entitled to the basic Human Rights.
[https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/what-are-human-rights/what-universal-declaration-human-rights)]
Human rights act 1998: This act states that
“Human rights are based on important principles like dignity, fairness, respect and equality. They protect you in your everyday life regardless of who you are, where you live and how you chose to live your life.”
[https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-rights/civil-rights/human-rights/what-are-human-rights/]
This means that the human rights act is put in place to ensure all humans are treated equally no matter what. Examples of human rights include:
- The right to freedom of religion and belief
- The right to respect for private and family life
- Your right to a fair trial
Equality and human rights commission 2007 – This commission in Scotland is fighting against discrimination. The commission states that everyone should be “treated fairly and with dignity” [https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/commission-scotland/about-commission-scotland] However discrimination still manages to take place, although having this commission in place allows those who are being discriminated against to be able to fight for their Human Rights.
Stating the critical principles in the operation of the Human Rights approach:
The Human Rights path is about ensuring people know and declare their rights. Everyone must be aware that a person is held responsible for ensuring the rights of an individual are provided and met. A Human Rights approach states that not only people who use the service should have their rights in place and provided with but the other individuals around e.g. A family coming into a hotel, the family should know and be able to declare their rights however the staff in the hotel have also got their rights.
The panel principles are the critical principles which are required in the operation of the Human Rights approach:
- Participation – Everyone is able to cooperate in any changes that could influence their Human Rights.
- Accountability – To ensure successful observation and to also ensure that breaking or failing to observe a law agreement will lead to being solved.
- Non- discrimination and equality – All forms of discrimination should be abolished.
- Empowerment – Everyone should be aware of their rights.
- Legality – Everyone should be aware that rights are legally kept in force.
The usefulness of supporting a Human Rights access to care:
The usefulness of supporting a Human Rights access to care is important as it may be harder for people in care to always be up to date and know their rights. For example, People with dementia have the exact same human rights as every other person in this world however due to the illness they face many obstacles to realise every right they are entitled too. A group of Scottish parliament organisations representing the interests of people with dementia are brought together and work towards supporting people with dementia to ensure their rights are recognised and respected. Dementia over time causes the individual’s capacity to make choices in their everyday life’s. For example, someone with Dementia may need someone to support them with their banking. However, for this it has to be someone the individual trusts so that the individual’s rights are not broken. Therefore, it is important to adopt a Human Rights approach to care to ensure the safety and right to personal and private life.
Conclusion:
Overall Human Rights are important for everyone to ensure each and every individual is treated equally and fairly. The fight for Human Rights has been going on for an extremely long time and the fight to destroy the Human Rights which are not being put in place for every individual. Therefore, in years to come everyone should have their Human Rights set in place.
Reference sheet:
- United Nations – Universal Declaration of Human Rights [online] Available at: http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ [Accessed on 17th October 2016]
- About the commission in Scotland [online] Available at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/commission-scotland/about-commission-scotland [Accessed on 17th October 2016]
- Votes for Victorian Women [online]: Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r9c9r [Accessed on 17th October 2016]
- Human Rights [online] Available at: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-rights/civil-rights/human-rights/ [Accessed on 17th October 2016]
- Scottish Human Rights Commission [online] Available at: http://www.scottishhumanrights.com/application/resources/documents/SHRC_HRBA_MHS_leaflet.pdf [Accessed on 20th October 2016]
- Care about Rights- What is a Human Right Approach? [online] Available at: http://www.scottishhumanrights.com/careaboutrights/whatisahumanrightsbasedapproach [Accessed on 20th October 2016]
- Developing the over-arching principles and NCS. What is meant by a “Human Rights Based Approach?” [online] http://www.newcarestandards.scot/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Human-Rights-Based-Approach.pdf [Accessed on 20th October 2016]
- Charter or Rights for people with Dementia and their careers in Scotland [online] Available at: http://www.scottishhumanrights.com/application/resources/documents/FINALCharterofRights.pdf [Accessed on 21st October 2016]
2016-11-16-1479311929
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