Universal Declaration of Human Rights Essay PDF

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This is an essay I did for a Human Rights course. ...

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Alexandria Cuadros Human Rights Studies UDHR Assignment

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a series of inalienable rights that was adopted by the United Nations in 1948, by adopting this declaration it promised the citizens of participating countries listed fundamental rights protected by the law. In unison, the United States and several other countries signed this declaration and discussed justice and entitlement. The United States has disregarded this agreement multiple times since it has joined the United Nations. Discrimination is shown in the wage gap between men and women and police brutality. This is just a few of many violations, Niger pays no heed to their United Nations membership with arranged marriages. The enforcement of these rules are not defined and is not legally binding.

Women get paid less than men. Problematically, women are earning less for the same jobs and the same amount of work men do. The Institute For Women’s Policy Research comments on the issue: “Women are almost half of the workforce… Yet, on average, women continue to earn considerably less than men. In 2017, female full-time, year-round workers made only 80.5 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 20 percent.” IWPR emphasizes the role of women and is concerned about the wage gap that is consistent and demeaning. Women are unjustly receiving less income than men for the same professions. Forbes

magazine acknowledges this and provides a graph in their article “Women Are Still Paid Less Than Men - Even In The Same Job.” “The data in this research shows clear evidence that women earn lower wages than their male counterparts even when in the same role,” Forbes says. Women are experiencing inequality, which Forbes interprets as “blunt discrimination.” Article 23 of the UDHR protects the right of equal pay for equal work without discrimination. The application of the article would resolve the wage gap. Article 23 is also supposed to protect transgender rights. Identifying as transgender can deter job opportunities. People are at disadvantage when they disclose their orientation and the Human Rights Campaign wrote an article titled “Transgender Workers at Greater Risk for Unemployment and Poverty” showing statistics of the discrimination. “Transgender workers report unemployment at twice the rate of the population as a whole,” the Human Rights Campaign stated, against the unfair treatment of transgendered people. Article 23 is an important article regarding the right to work.

Police brutality shows extreme racism. African Americans are targeted by policemen, profiling is apparent and policemen go unpunished. Mic Network’s Aaron Morrison posted a list focused on policemen that were “non indictments” and “not guilty verdicts or mistrials.” The article Morssion wrote in 2017 titled “16 recent police brutality cases that show how often officers aren’t held accountable” shows the increasing amount of corruption among police. Article 7 grants equal protection of the law, without discrimination. If the United States pursued its government accordingly to the UDHR, several lives could be saved, not just African Americans. The Death Penalty is undoubtedly a violation of human rights. Article 3 of the UDHR promises the right to life and article 5 protects against cruel punishment. The Center for

Constitutional Rights deems the death penalty a human rights violation and claim “As long as governments have the right to extinguish lives, they maintain the power to deny access to every other right enumerated in the Declaration.” Confinement is classified is torture and powers are being abused. The Center for Constitutional Rights mentions “humans experience isolation as torture” while describing the failure to comply with the UDHR.

Article 16 of the UDHR protects marriage rights. In article 16, consent on the intending spouse is legislated. Niger is the country with the highest child marriage rate and Niger joined the United Nations in 1960. Children under the age of 18 are not of age to make such a decision, Daniele Selby of Global Citizen blames it on “(the) symptomatic of gender-based discrimination against girls and cultural norms that value girl less than boys.” Selby stresses the replacement of education with planned marriage and its negative outcomes. Article 16 of the UDHR gives citizens of involved countries the right to marry. Only just in 2015, gay marriage was legalized in all states, prior to that, states did not have to acknowledge same sex marriage. Same sex couples were invalidated which is blatantly unjust treatment. Ignoring the legitimacy of two peoples matrimony is against human rights. The majority of the United States allowed gay marriage but conservative states needed the US Supreme Court ruling to become tolerant of gay marriage.

The UDHR is crucial in deciding what is right by the people. These fundamental rights avoid chaos and bring order when applied. The United States, Niger and other countries who signed the UDHR ignore the guidelines set. Considering the UDHR is morally correct and can only be beneficial. Equality should be a universal agreement.

Works Cited Center for Constitutional Rights. “The Death Penalty Is a Human Rights Violation: An Examination of the Death Penalty in the U.S. from a Human Rights Perspective.” Human Rights Campaign. “Transgender Workers at Greater Risk For Unemployment and Poverty.” Human Rights Campaign, www.hrc.org/blog/transgender-workers-at-greater-risk-forunemployment-and-poverty. Kathryn Reid. “Untying the Knot: 10 Worst Places for Child Marriage.” World Vision, 25 July 2018, www.worldvision.org/child-protection-news-stories/10-worst-places-child-marriage. Morrison, Aaron. “16 Recent Police Brutality Cases That Show How Often Officers Aren't Held Accountable.” Mic, Mic Network Inc., 27 Mar. 2018, mic.com/articles/184491/14-recent-policebrutality-cases-that-show-how-often-officers-arent-held-accountable#.g8QquhxKP. “Pay Equity & Discrimination.” Pay Equity & Discrimination, iwpr.org/issue/employmenteducation-economic-change/pay-equity-discrimination/. Selby, Daniele. “Child Marriage: Everything You Need to Know.” Global Citizen, 2018, www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/child-marriage-brides-india-niger-syria/. Webb, Jonathan. “Women Are Still Paid Less Than Men - Even In The Same Job.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 31 Mar. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/jwebb/2016/03/31/women-are-still-paidless-than-men-even-in-the-same-job/#3e8388284709....