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	Workers’ rights really are human rights by Virginia Mantouvalou University College London - Human Rights Institute   21 October 2014   Workers’ rights are human rights, and we have a moral and legal obligation to protect them. No one should be allowed to exploit workers simply to run a more profitable or efficient business.   Most of us spend most of our lives life working. This means that workers’ rights, such as freedom of association, the right to strike, the prohibition of slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour, and the right to fair and just working conditions, are vital. When employers treat their workers with respect, the workplace can be a place of self-fulfilment. When they treat workers with contempt, however, it turns into a site of exploitation and humiliation.   But are workers’ rights really human rights?   A few workers’ rights are codified in international treaties protecting civil and political rights, such as the right to form and join trade unions. Other workers’ rights, including the right to work, strike or have fair and just working conditions, are mentioned only in treaties dealing with economic and social rights.   Yet since many view social rights treaties as weaker because they are not “justiciable” in a court of law, some say social rights are mere “aspirations”, rather than “real” human rights.   Others disagree, claiming that all human rights are interdependent. You cannot protect some human rights and neglect others, because they are mutually supportive. Workers’ rights exemplify this connection. The right to work means little, unless there is also a right to decent work; one cannot claim that the right to work is protected when workers are exploited.   Also the prohibition of slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour cannot be separated from the right to decent work.   Still, classification of workers’ rights as human rights is controversial. Consider, for example, debates between proponents of rights of workers on solidarity and human rights, or on rights and workers’ power. Many of these debates focus on trade union rights, which are important because of the unequal bargaining power between employers and workers. Some activists use the law and courts to promote workers’ interests, while others use human rights language to emphasise the morally important nature of workers’ claims.   Sceptics, however, believe human rights are individualistic and thus fundamentally different from workers’ collective rights. They fear that focusing on individual human rights, rather than group worker rights, will undermine worker solidarity.   Making individual claims does not necessarily harm other strategies, however, and can sometimes complement them. Collective labour rights are framed as individual rights in human rights treaties, but are there in order to help people pursue collective, solidaristic goals.   For example the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to form and join a trade union for the promotion of workers’ interests. It is clear in the text, and has been supported by case law, that unionising is protected in order to pursue the interests of workers and to promote their collective goals.   At the same time, trade unions can bring claims too—it is not only individual workers that can use the legal machineries in place. In fact, one of the most notorious cases on trade union rights in Europe was brought by individuals and unions together.   Strategies, of course, vary on circumstances and context. In Europe, labour rights activists have recently been successful in taking cases to the European Court of Human Rights, which has ruled that the right to strike is essential for freedom of association and has issued rulings protecting migrant domestic workers.   In Latin America, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has said that the rights of undocumented workers are indeed human rights, in a most insightful way, by arguing that workers’ rights depend on the status of being human, and not on someone’s status as a documented migrant.   Outside the courts, activists have successfully presented workers’ claims as human rights.   Human Rights Watch, for instance, recently issued a powerful report on migrant domestic workers in the UK. The report discusses workers’ rights (like minimum wage and maximum working time) as human rights, exemplifying how “human rights are also about social justice.”   Beyond courts, legal entitlements for workers can give focus and impetus to campaigns of activists and ultimately award greater dignity. This can be exemplified by recent debates in the UK around new “modern slavery” legislation. These debates have empowered organisations and given focus to campaigns promoting workers’ rights and human rights.   Human rights are, above all, moral claims about the normative standards towards which all decent societies should strive. As moral claims, rights are grounded in human dignity, citizenship and equality, all of which individuals must enjoy both outside and within the workplace.   Both states and employers are bound to respect human rights principles for their citizens and their workers.   Connecting workers’ rights to human rights shows that workers’ rights are vital, and must not be traded off casually. They should, in most cases, trump arguments of profit and efficiency.   Human rights are valuable for workers. They give workers a voice and offer political and moral space for the most vulnerable of groups, such as the unorganised, under-skilled, and undocumented. They demand that the law protect workers, and that no one can easily do away with them. Finally, with human rights to back them, workers are able to refuse exploitation done in the name of efficiency.   * Virginia Mantouvalou is Co-Director of the University College London (UCL) Human Rights Institute, and Reader in Human Rights and Labour Law in the Faculty of Laws at UCL.   http://www.opendemocracy.net/openglobalrights/virginia-mantouvalou/workers%E2%80%99-rights-really-are-human-rights
	Empowering adolescent girls: ending the cycle of violence by UN News, agencies   The International Day of the Girl Child was created to recognize girls rights and highlight the unique challenges girls face worldwide. This year focuses on “empowering adolescent girls: ending the cycle of violence.”   “All over the world, an alarming number of adolescent girls are assaulted, beaten, raped, mutilated and even murdered,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his message marking International Day of the Girl Child.   “The threat of violence at the hands of family members, partners, teachers and peers grossly violates their rights, diminishes their power and suppresses their potential”.   Adolescent girls, in particular, face “multiple deprivations” such as unequal access to education, sexual and reproductive health services and social and economic resources.   “Girls are subjected to discriminatory social norms and harmful practices – such as female genital mutilation – that perpetuate a cycle of violence. A culture of impunity allows violence against adolescent girls to continue unabated”.   We must all join forces and reaffirm our commitment to ending violence against adolescent girls and to promoting their empowerment.   We need to invest in adolescent girls to equip them with skills, confidence, and life options; we need to make services and technology accessible to girls and effective in meeting their needs for safety, connectivity and mobility; we must facilitate adolescent girls engagement in civic, economic and political life; we must all continue to advocate for making any violence against girls and women visible and unacceptable both in private and public domains. And we must continue to strengthen the measurement, data, and evidence base in relation to the empowerment of and violence against adolescent girls.   The UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign is working to raise awareness and increase political will and resources in the ongoing fight against violence against women and girls. The campaign known as HeForShe calls on all men to become active participants in the continuing efforts for gender equality.   “Ending gender violence and promoting the empowerment of girls and women must be at the heart of our global agenda”.   The level of violence and abuse adolescent girls continue to face remains distressingly high, according to a new compilation of data issued by the UN Children"s Fund (UNICEF).   An estimated 70 million girls aged 15 to 19 report being victims of some form of physical violence while around 120 million girls under the age of 20 have experienced forced intercourse or other forced sexual acts. At the same time, 70 per cent of girls aged 15 to 19 who had been victims of physical or sexual violence never sought help as many said they did not think it was abuse or did not see a problem.   “These numbers speak to a mind-set that tolerates, perpetuates, and even justifies violence – and should sound an alarm to everyone, everywhere,” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Geeta Rao Gupta.   “The problem is global but the solutions must be found at the national, community and family level. We have a responsibility to protect, educate, and empower adolescents. We are all accountable for ending violence against girls.”   UN Women"s Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, warned that such widespread gender-based violence ultimately led to “a catastrophic loss of human potential”.   “The promise made to girls must be delivered. Protecting girls from all forms of violence and promoting girls empowerment must be at the heart of the global development agenda,” she said.   “The International Day of the Girl Child is an opportunity to step up collective action to break the cycle of violence against girls and women. Empowering girls today makes for a safer, healthier, more prosperous and sustainable tomorrow.”   A group of UN human rights experts also called on Member States to bring their efforts against gender violence “to the next level” to “move beyond awareness-raising to supporting adolescent girls as key actors in shaping the present and the future.”   The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, said, "today, the international community pays tribute to the one billion young girls living around the world; acknowledges their immense potential for the future of humanity and once again commits to eradicating the unique challenges that regrettably still stand in the way of fully realizing such promising potential.   Today, we must renew our collective commitment to do all that we can to protect their daily lives as children and ensure their promise for adulthood as constructive and productive citizens is fulfilled.   The shameful truth remains, however, that the cycle of violence against girls is yet to be decisively broken. We cannot turn a blind eye to the suffering of girls subjected to terrifying forms of violence, including sexual and gender-based crimes, whether in armed conflict or otherwise.   Sexual violence is often used as a most destructive criminal weapon of war. As we have seen time and again, it has the power to not only destroy the individual, but to shatter the family unit and tear violently at the social fabric of society.   Forced marriages continue to blight the lives of countless girls, and an estimated 100,000 girls are currently being used as child soldiers in raging conflicts around the world. The effects of such crimes on the girls are unbearable to contemplate. It is a global curse that weighs heavily on our collective consciousness.   Violence against girls and women is a scourge that must be confronted with unified resolve. We all have a role to play in this struggle.   http://www.unicef.org/media/media_76221.html http://www.unfpa.org/public/home/news/pid/18364 http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2014/10/ed-statement-international-day-girl-child http://www.un.org/en/women/endviolence/index.shtml http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15156&LangID=E Visit the related web page
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