gp essay on human rights

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Essay on Human Rights: Samples in 500 and 1500

• Updated on  
• Dec 9, 2023

Essay writing is an integral part of the school curriculum and various academic and competitive exams like IELTS , TOEFL , SAT , UPSC , etc. It is designed to test your command of the English language and how well you can gather your thoughts and present them in a structure with a flow. To master your ability to write an essay, you must read as much as possible and practise on any given topic. This blog brings you a detailed guide on how to write an essay on Human Rights , with useful essay samples on Human rights.

This Blog Includes:

The basic human rights, 200 words essay on human rights, 500 words essay on human rights, 500+ words essay on human rights in india, 1500 words essay on human rights, importance of human rights, essay on human rights pdf.

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Also Read: 1-Minute Speech on Human Rights for Students

What are Human Rights

Human rights mark everyone as free and equal, irrespective of age, gender, caste, creed, religion and nationality. The United Nations adopted human rights in light of the atrocities people faced during the Second World War. On the 10th of December 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Its adoption led to the recognition of human rights as the foundation for freedom, justice and peace for every individual. Although it’s not legally binding, most nations have incorporated these human rights into their constitutions and domestic legal frameworks. Human rights safeguard us from discrimination and guarantee that our most basic needs are protected.

Did you know that the 10th of December is celebrated as Human Rights Day ?

Before we move on to the essays on human rights, let’s check out the basics of what they are.

Also Read: What are Human Rights?

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Here is a 200-word short sample essay on basic Human Rights.

Human rights are a set of rights given to every human being regardless of their gender, caste, creed, religion, nation, location or economic status. These are said to be moral principles that illustrate certain standards of human behaviour. Protected by law , these rights are applicable everywhere and at any time. Basic human rights include the right to life, right to a fair trial, right to remedy by a competent tribunal, right to liberty and personal security, right to own property, right to education, right of peaceful assembly and association, right to marriage and family, right to nationality and freedom to change it, freedom of speech, freedom from discrimination, freedom from slavery, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of movement, right of opinion and information, right to adequate living standard and freedom from interference with privacy, family, home and correspondence.

Also Read: Law Courses

Check out this 500-word long essay on Human Rights.

Every person has dignity and value. One of the ways that we recognise the fundamental worth of every person is by acknowledging and respecting their human rights. Human rights are a set of principles concerned with equality and fairness. They recognise our freedom to make choices about our lives and develop our potential as human beings. They are about living a life free from fear, harassment or discrimination.

Human rights can broadly be defined as the basic rights that people worldwide have agreed are essential. These include the right to life, the right to a fair trial, freedom from torture and other cruel and inhuman treatment, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to health, education and an adequate standard of living. These human rights are the same for all people everywhere – men and women, young and old, rich and poor, regardless of our background, where we live, what we think or believe. This basic property is what makes human rights’ universal’.

Human rights connect us all through a shared set of rights and responsibilities. People’s ability to enjoy their human rights depends on other people respecting those rights. This means that human rights involve responsibility and duties towards other people and the community. Individuals have a responsibility to ensure that they exercise their rights with consideration for the rights of others. For example, when someone uses their right to freedom of speech, they should do so without interfering with someone else’s right to privacy.

Governments have a particular responsibility to ensure that people can enjoy their rights. They must establish and maintain laws and services that enable people to enjoy a life in which their rights are respected and protected. For example, the right to education says that everyone is entitled to a good education. Therefore, governments must provide good quality education facilities and services to their people. If the government fails to respect or protect their basic human rights, people can take it into account.

Values of tolerance, equality and respect can help reduce friction within society. Putting human rights ideas into practice can help us create the kind of society we want to live in. There has been tremendous growth in how we think about and apply human rights ideas in recent decades. This growth has had many positive results – knowledge about human rights can empower individuals and offer solutions for specific problems.

Human rights are an important part of how people interact with others at all levels of society – in the family, the community, school, workplace, politics and international relations. Therefore, people everywhere must strive to understand what human rights are. When people better understand human rights, it is easier for them to promote justice and the well-being of society. 

Also Read: Important Articles in Indian Constitution

Here is a human rights essay focused on India.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. It has been rightly proclaimed in the American Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Created with certain unalienable rights….” Similarly, the Indian Constitution has ensured and enshrined Fundamental rights for all citizens irrespective of caste, creed, religion, colour, sex or nationality. These basic rights, commonly known as human rights, are recognised the world over as basic rights with which every individual is born.

In recognition of human rights, “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was made on the 10th of December, 1948. This declaration is the basic instrument of human rights. Even though this declaration has no legal bindings and authority, it forms the basis of all laws on human rights. The necessity of formulating laws to protect human rights is now being felt all over the world. According to social thinkers, the issue of human rights became very important after World War II concluded. It is important for social stability both at the national and international levels. Wherever there is a breach of human rights, there is conflict at one level or the other.

Given the increasing importance of the subject, it becomes necessary that educational institutions recognise the subject of human rights as an independent discipline. The course contents and curriculum of the discipline of human rights may vary according to the nature and circumstances of a particular institution. Still, generally, it should include the rights of a child, rights of minorities, rights of the needy and the disabled, right to live, convention on women, trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation etc.

Since the formation of the United Nations , the promotion and protection of human rights have been its main focus. The United Nations has created a wide range of mechanisms for monitoring human rights violations. The conventional mechanisms include treaties and organisations, U.N. special reporters, representatives and experts and working groups. Asian countries like China argue in favour of collective rights. According to Chinese thinkers, European countries lay stress upon individual rights and values while Asian countries esteem collective rights and obligations to the family and society as a whole.

With the freedom movement the world over after World War II, the end of colonisation also ended the policy of apartheid and thereby the most aggressive violation of human rights. With the spread of education, women are asserting their rights. Women’s movements play an important role in spreading the message of human rights. They are fighting for their rights and supporting the struggle for human rights of other weaker and deprived sections like bonded labour, child labour, landless labour, unemployed persons, Dalits and elderly people.

Unfortunately, violation of human rights continues in most parts of the world. Ethnic cleansing and genocide can still be seen in several parts of the world. Large sections of the world population are deprived of the necessities of life i.e. food, shelter and security of life. Right to minimum basic needs viz. Work, health care, education and shelter are denied to them. These deprivations amount to the negation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Also Read: Human Rights Courses

Check out this detailed 1500-word essay on human rights.

The human right to live and exist, the right to equality, including equality before the law, non-discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, and equality of opportunity in matters of employment, the right to freedom of speech and expression, assembly, association, movement, residence, the right to practice any profession or occupation, the right against exploitation, prohibiting all forms of forced labour, child labour and trafficking in human beings, the right to freedom of conscience, practice and propagation of religion and the right to legal remedies for enforcement of the above are basic human rights. These rights and freedoms are the very foundations of democracy.

Obviously, in a democracy, the people enjoy the maximum number of freedoms and rights. Besides these are political rights, which include the right to contest an election and vote freely for a candidate of one’s choice. Human rights are a benchmark of a developed and civilised society. But rights cannot exist in a vacuum. They have their corresponding duties. Rights and duties are the two aspects of the same coin.

Liberty never means license. Rights presuppose the rule of law, where everyone in the society follows a code of conduct and behaviour for the good of all. It is the sense of duty and tolerance that gives meaning to rights. Rights have their basis in the ‘live and let live’ principle. For example, my right to speech and expression involves my duty to allow others to enjoy the same freedom of speech and expression. Rights and duties are inextricably interlinked and interdependent. A perfect balance is to be maintained between the two. Whenever there is an imbalance, there is chaos.

A sense of tolerance, propriety and adjustment is a must to enjoy rights and freedom. Human life sans basic freedom and rights is meaningless. Freedom is the most precious possession without which life would become intolerable, a mere abject and slavish existence. In this context, Milton’s famous and oft-quoted lines from his Paradise Lost come to mind: “To reign is worth ambition though in hell/Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven.”

However, liberty cannot survive without its corresponding obligations and duties. An individual is a part of society in which he enjoys certain rights and freedom only because of the fulfilment of certain duties and obligations towards others. Thus, freedom is based on mutual respect’s rights. A fine balance must be maintained between the two, or there will be anarchy and bloodshed. Therefore, human rights can best be preserved and protected in a society steeped in morality, discipline and social order.

Violation of human rights is most common in totalitarian and despotic states. In the theocratic states, there is much persecution, and violation in the name of religion and the minorities suffer the most. Even in democracies, there is widespread violation and infringement of human rights and freedom. The women, children and the weaker sections of society are victims of these transgressions and violence.

The U.N. Commission on Human Rights’ main concern is to protect and promote human rights and freedom in the world’s nations. In its various sessions held from time to time in Geneva, it adopts various measures to encourage worldwide observations of these basic human rights and freedom. It calls on its member states to furnish information regarding measures that comply with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights whenever there is a complaint of a violation of these rights. In addition, it reviews human rights situations in various countries and initiates remedial measures when required.

The U.N. Commission was much concerned and dismayed at the apartheid being practised in South Africa till recently. The Secretary-General then declared, “The United Nations cannot tolerate apartheid. It is a legalised system of racial discrimination, violating the most basic human rights in South Africa. It contradicts the letter and spirit of the United Nations Charter. That is why over the last forty years, my predecessors and I have urged the Government of South Africa to dismantle it.”

Now, although apartheid is no longer practised in that country, other forms of apartheid are being blatantly practised worldwide. For example, sex apartheid is most rampant. Women are subject to abuse and exploitation. They are not treated equally and get less pay than their male counterparts for the same jobs. In employment, promotions, possession of property etc., they are most discriminated against. Similarly, the rights of children are not observed properly. They are forced to work hard in very dangerous situations, sexually assaulted and exploited, sold and bonded for labour.

The Commission found that religious persecution, torture, summary executions without judicial trials, intolerance, slavery-like practices, kidnapping, political disappearance, etc., are being practised even in the so-called advanced countries and societies. The continued acts of extreme violence, terrorism and extremism in various parts of the world like Pakistan, India, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Somalia, Algeria, Lebanon, Chile, China, and Myanmar, etc., by the governments, terrorists, religious fundamentalists, and mafia outfits, etc., is a matter of grave concern for the entire human race.

Violation of freedom and rights by terrorist groups backed by states is one of the most difficult problems society faces. For example, Pakistan has been openly collaborating with various terrorist groups, indulging in extreme violence in India and other countries. In this regard the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva adopted a significant resolution, which was co-sponsored by India, focusing on gross violation of human rights perpetrated by state-backed terrorist groups.

The resolution expressed its solidarity with the victims of terrorism and proposed that a U.N. Fund for victims of terrorism be established soon. The Indian delegation recalled that according to the Vienna Declaration, terrorism is nothing but the destruction of human rights. It shows total disregard for the lives of innocent men, women and children. The delegation further argued that terrorism cannot be treated as a mere crime because it is systematic and widespread in its killing of civilians.

Violation of human rights, whether by states, terrorists, separatist groups, armed fundamentalists or extremists, is condemnable. Regardless of the motivation, such acts should be condemned categorically in all forms and manifestations, wherever and by whomever they are committed, as acts of aggression aimed at destroying human rights, fundamental freedom and democracy. The Indian delegation also underlined concerns about the growing connection between terrorist groups and the consequent commission of serious crimes. These include rape, torture, arson, looting, murder, kidnappings, blasts, and extortion, etc.

Violation of human rights and freedom gives rise to alienation, dissatisfaction, frustration and acts of terrorism. Governments run by ambitious and self-seeking people often use repressive measures and find violence and terror an effective means of control. However, state terrorism, violence, and human freedom transgressions are very dangerous strategies. This has been the background of all revolutions in the world. Whenever there is systematic and widespread state persecution and violation of human rights, rebellion and revolution have taken place. The French, American, Russian and Chinese Revolutions are glowing examples of human history.

The first war of India’s Independence in 1857 resulted from long and systematic oppression of the Indian masses. The rapidly increasing discontent, frustration and alienation with British rule gave rise to strong national feelings and demand for political privileges and rights. Ultimately the Indian people, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, made the British leave India, setting the country free and independent.

Human rights and freedom ought to be preserved at all costs. Their curtailment degrades human life. The political needs of a country may reshape Human rights, but they should not be completely distorted. Tyranny, regimentation, etc., are inimical of humanity and should be resisted effectively and united. The sanctity of human values, freedom and rights must be preserved and protected. Human Rights Commissions should be established in all countries to take care of human freedom and rights. In cases of violation of human rights, affected individuals should be properly compensated, and it should be ensured that these do not take place in future.

These commissions can become effective instruments in percolating the sensitivity to human rights down to the lowest levels of governments and administrations. The formation of the National Human Rights Commission in October 1993 in India is commendable and should be followed by other countries.

Also Read: Law Courses in India

Human rights are of utmost importance to seek basic equality and human dignity. Human rights ensure that the basic needs of every human are met. They protect vulnerable groups from discrimination and abuse, allow people to stand up for themselves, and follow any religion without fear and give them the freedom to express their thoughts freely. In addition, they grant people access to basic education and equal work opportunities. Thus implementing these rights is crucial to ensure freedom, peace and safety.

Human Rights Day is annually celebrated on the 10th of December.

Human Rights Day is celebrated to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UNGA in 1948.

Some of the common Human Rights are the right to life and liberty, freedom of opinion and expression, freedom from slavery and torture and the right to work and education.

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We hope our sample essays on Human Rights have given you some great ideas. For more information on such interesting blogs, visit our essay writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

Sonal is a creative, enthusiastic writer and editor who has worked extensively for the Study Abroad domain. She splits her time between shooting fun insta reels and learning new tools for content marketing. If she is missing from her desk, you can find her with a group of people cracking silly jokes or petting neighbourhood dogs.

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Human Rights Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on human rights.

Human rights are a set of rights which every human is entitled to. Every human being is inherited with these rights no matter what caste, creed, gender, the economic status they belong to. Human rights are very important for making sure that all humans get treated equally. They are in fact essential for a good standard of living in the world.

Moreover, human rights safeguard the interests of the citizens of a country. You are liable to have human rights if you’re a human being. They will help in giving you a good life full of happiness and prosperity.

Human Rights Categories

Human rights are essentially divided into two categories of civil and political rights, and social rights. This classification is important because it clears the concept of human rights further. Plus, they also make humans realize their role in different spheres.

When we talk about civil and political rights , we refer to the classic rights of humans. These rights are responsible for limiting the government’s authority that may affect any individual’s independence. Furthermore, these rights allow humans to contribute to the involvement of the government. In addition to the determination of laws as well.

Next up, the social rights of people guide the government to encourage ways to plan various ways which will help in improving the life quality of citizens. All the governments of countries are responsible for ensuring the well-being of their citizens. Human rights help countries in doing so efficiently.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Importance of Human Rights

Human rights are extremely important for the overall development of a country and individuals on a personal level. If we take a look at the basic human rights, we see how there are right to life, the right to practice any religion, freedom of movement , freedom from movement and more. Each right plays a major role in the well-being of any human.

Right to life protects the lives of human beings. It ensures no one can kill you and thus safeguards your peace of mind. Subsequently, the freedom of thought and religion allows citizens to follow any religion they wish to. Moreover, it also means anyone can think freely.

Further, freedom of movement is helpful in people’s mobilization. It ensures no one is restricted from traveling and residing in any state of their choice. It allows you to grab opportunities wherever you wish to.

Next up, human rights also give you the right to a fair trial. Every human being has the right to move to the court where there will be impartial decision making . They can trust the court to give them justice when everything else fails.

Most importantly, humans are now free from any form of slavery. No other human being can indulge in slavery and make them their slaves. Further, humans are also free to speak and express their opinion.

In short, human rights are very essential for a happy living of human beings. However, these days they are violated endlessly and we need to come together to tackle this issue. The governments and citizens must take efforts to protect each other and progress for the better. In other words, this will ensure happiness and prosperity all over the world.

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5 Human Rights Topics For Your Human Rights Essay

When you’re writing a paper on human rights, you want to pick a topic that’s relevant and compelling. It seems like our world is heading in a downwards spiral, but writing about the issues provokes action, which in turn results in change. Here are five topics that have been getting attention (or aren’t getting enough attention) in recent years. These are all important; choosing one just comes down to what speaks to you most powerfully:

Police brutality in the United States

Violence by American police is a major issue in the human rights arena these days and data indicates it’s getting worse. According to Killed By Police, a website that tracks police killings, 2018 has witnessed more deaths than in the last five years over the same period of time. It most likely won’t get better, as the DOJ recently ended a program that helped keep corrupt police departments in check. Black Americans are most vulnerable; in 2012, they made up 31% of police-killing victims, while only comprising 13% of the total US population.

Questions an essay could answer: Why are African-Americans and other minorities at a higher risk of police violence than white people? What has been done to undermine efforts to change the policing system? What could reduce killings by law enforcement?

Global mental health treatment

We hear a lot about how the mental health system in America is broken, but on a global scale, it’s just as much of a problem. Close to 800 000 people die due to suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds. Not much has been done to treat this issue, though according to a World Bank study, poor mental health has a drastic effect on one’s quality of life. Most governments have very small budgets for mental health treatment. In a WHO study, around 47 countries (out of 191) do not have any kind of national legislation or policies on mental health.

Questions an essay could answer: What is the current state of mental health treatment around the world? What specific treatments exist? What effect does poor mental health have on a nation’s economy, culture, etc? Why hasn’t the United Nations taken more aggressive action?

US policy on refugees

Since President Trump took office and instituted increasingly harsh limits and action on refugees and immigration, the US has entered a dark time. Just nine months after entering office, he capped the refugee admissions number to 45,000. Other programmes have been completely eliminated, such as the Central Americans Minors programme, which let children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras join their parents who are legally in the US. Those seeking asylum have also been met with significant opposition. The biggest story, of course, is how children are being separated and interned apart from their parents. These are just a few topics that a paper about the US refugee policy could cover.

Questions an essay could answer : How has the current US refugee policy affected other countries’ opinion on America? How is this policy different than America’s stance in the past? What are the potential consequences of letting so few refugees into the country, for them and for the United States?

Transgender rights in Europe

In recent years, transgender rights have been challenged in the political arena with legislation such as the Bathroom Laws and weakened legal protection against work discrimination. What’s happening in Europe? In many countries like Belgium and Switzerland, transgender individuals were until very recently legally required to undergo sterilization and surgery before obtaining new identification papers. What provoked this change?

Questions an essay could answer: What is the history of trans rights in Europe? What countries have made the most positive moves in accepting transgender individuals? What can the United States do to follow progressive European countries into a new era?

Disability rights in America

Though somewhat ignored by the media, disability rights are under attack in America. Various pieces of legislature include deep cuts to Medicaid and removals of protections for disabled workers and students. One of the biggest blows is the Medicaid work requirement, which is currently allowed in three states. In order to receive assistance, people must meet a certain number of hours, but those with disabilities or illnesses won’t be able to. In response, Americans with disabilities are rising up in protest.

Questions an essay could answer:  How are disability advocates fighting for their cause? What is the Trump administration’s response to activists? What can be done to protect those with disabilities?

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Human Rights Careers (HRC) provides information about online courses, jobs, paid internships, masters degrees, scholarships and other opportunities in the human rights sector and related areas.

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2019 General Paper Essay Questions

These are the 12 essay questions for the A-Level General Paper (GP) in 2019, as well as our thoughts on studying smart for it. For 2018 GP Paper 1, click here .

• How far should countries have relations with others whose human rights record is poor?
• To what extent should income equality be a goal in your society? 
• ‘Science is the only answer to global hunger.’ Discuss.
• Consider the view that social media has more influence than politicians. 
• To what extent is artificial intelligence replacing the role of humans? 
• ‘A leader’s responsibility should always be to his or her own country, not other nations.’ Discuss.
• ‘Religion is an important part of the lives of young people today.’ Consider whether this is true in your society.
• Does violence in the visual media portray reality or encourage the unacceptable? 
• Is globalisation to be welcomed or feared today?
• Should both parents take equal responsibility for raising their children? 
• Assess the importance of food within Singaporean culture.
• Can fiction teach us anything meaningful about the real world?

What we got right?

Some of the essay questions this year were well within the scope of our speculation. Let’s analyse the paper in details.

Firstly, science and technology — one huge and content-heavy topic — makes up two of the twelve questions [Q3 about science on food, and Q5 on AI]. Science and technology is the engine driving the 21st century; it is therefore no wonder that a lot of discussions in the past few years centre around its impact on us. For Q5 on AI, which many students attempted, we need to make some degree of speculation about the future. One probably knows that to answer such speculative questions, the key is to consider these four elements: past successes, past failures, current challenges and current opportunities. To accurately answer this question, students need to distinguish AI from other technologies. Humanoid robots and automation aren’t always AI. Some good examples of AI are self-driving cars and trucks, chatbots, facial recognition, (broadly speaking) machine-learning. We believe that science and technology, alongside environment and globalisation, would be a fruitful topic to cover in the next few years.

Secondly , there is a question on globalisation [Q9]. As discussed, the three forces shaping the world today are Tech, Globalisation and Environment . To do well for this question, you must know what constitute globalisation and what do not. Globalisation is easily defined as the flow of goods and services, capital and information, migration, and the prevalence of MNCs. Students need to recognise that increased air travel and tourism aren’t usually associated with globalisation. Discussions on cultural dilution should also be avoided simply because many students cannot successfully craft a solid paragraph on culture.

Thirdly, Media , as expected, is a subject of growing importance given our fast-changing relationships with news companies and online platforms. There are surprisingly TWO questions on media this year [Q4 and Q8]. Many schools have tested students on media in their preliminary examinations. The key to answering these questions well is understanding the underlying concepts — what constitutes media and what does not.

Lastly, there is the recurring theme of politics and governance . If you recall, questions on diplomacy and international relations appeared three times in the past four years: in 2015 ( How far is it possible for one country to forgive another for its past actions? ), 2016 ( ‘Countries experiencing conflict should be left to sort out their own problems.’ How far do you agree? ) and 2018 ( ‘Foreign aid does not solve long-term problems.’ To what extent is this a fair viewpoint? ). This year, the same is asked about countries with poor human rights records [Q1]. Countries that might come to mind are the usual suspects, North Korea, China (Xinjiang?), Syria, Crimea, Saudi Arabia…

Another question Q6 on politics and governance focuses on slightly more domestic issues of governance. To do well for this question, one has to perform a comparative analysis, which isn’t always easy.

What did we miss?

However, we notice several breaks in patterns this year. The arts, which usually make up one of the twelve questions (this seems to be the case every year, with the exception of 2016) was not tested. The closest is a question on literature: whether we can learn anything practical from fiction.

Secondly, let’s consider the topic of Environment . With activists like Greta Thunberg and the Singapore Climate Rally in 2019, you’d think it’ll be hard to ignore a topic that has garnered so much worldwide attention over the past decade. But nothing was tested on environment this year.

Thirdly, there are usually several questions involving philosophical musings. Take, for example, these questions: How far is failure an essential part of success? (2018) and “No cause is ever worth dying for.” Discuss. (2015) These questions require one to read many biographies and stories on well-known people and draw on personal experiences. But we didn’t get any questions on philosophy this year, either.

In my experience, what usually catches students off guard are questions on sports, education, and crime and punishment . (Hot Tip: When sports questions appear, it tends to appear in years with huge sports tournament i.e. World Cup or Olympics) These smaller topics do not occur as regularly in Cambridge A level GP papers as you might expect. As we anticipated, none of these topics appeared this year. A good rule of thumb is to only focus on these topics when you have some extra revision time or if these are topics that you feel strongly about. I encourage reading widely but these cannot be your only options.

Here’s the thing, we do not spot questions. We only strive to keep students up-to-date with the rapidly evolving world, and perhaps, to view it with a healthy dose of curiosity and fascination. Cambridge has been very consistent in ensuring their questions reflect the modern world that we live in. We have zoomed-in on the topics that are worth pursuing because of their contemporary value. Students should continue to focus on these topics

• Science and Technology
• Globalisation
• Environment

However, we should also consider some emerging topics that are presenting new challenges in our society

• Income equality
• The nature of work

If you would like to learn more about studying smart for your GP, or how to be absolutely in love with it as we are, check out our other guides in our blog section. If you need some First Class help with the GP, call us or email us and we’ll be happy to help!

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The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

On this page, we provide some background information about the global standard upon which the UNGP Reporting Framework is based: the 2011 UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We also recommend this webpage from Shift as a primer on the UN Guiding Principles, which includes a short video. To see more about the specific relationship between the questions of the UNGP Reporting Framework and the UN Guiding Principles, please click here for a graphical representation .

I. BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

A. what are human rights.

*Sections A and B draw on The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights: An Interpretive Guide , produced by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The idea of human rights is as simple as it is powerful: that people have a right to be treated with dignity. Human rights are inherent in all human beings, whatever their nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or other status. Every individual is entitled to enjoy human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.

Human rights are often expressed and guaranteed by law, in the form of treaties, customary international law, general principles and other sources of international law. International human rights law lays down obligations on States to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups.

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drawn up by representatives from many nations to prevent a recurrence of the atrocities of the Second World War and is the cornerstone of modern human rights law. At the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993, all 171 participating countries reaffirmed their commitment to the aspirations expressed in that document.

The Universal Declaration is codified in international law through the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, both of 1966. Each of the Covenants has been ratified by over 150 States. Collectively, all three documents are known as the International Bill of Human Rights.

Regarding the particular human rights of workers, the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work commits all its member States to four categories of principles and rights: freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining; the elimination of compulsory labour; the abolition of child labour; and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. These are covered by the eight core conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Together, these documents constitute the minimum reference point for what the Guiding Principles describe as internationally recognized human rights. For a full list of the human rights contained in the International Bill of Human Rights and the core ILO conventions, see Annex A.

B. The relevance of human rights to business

International human rights treaties generally do not impose direct legal obligations on business enterprises. It is the duty of States to translate their international human rights law obligations into domestic law and provide for their enforcement. Indeed, the laws of all States include various protections against human rights abuse by business, including labour laws, non-discrimination laws, health and safety laws, environmental laws and similar.

At the same time, national laws may not address all internationally recognized human rights, they may be weak, they may not apply to all people, and they may not be enforced by governments and the courts. The Guiding Principles make clear that where national laws fall below the standard of internationally recognized human rights, companies should respect the higher standard; and where national laws conflict with those standards, companies should seek ways to still honour the principles of those standards within the bounds of national law.

Internationally recognized human rights are, therefore, relevant for business beyond mere compliance with the law. The actions of business enterprises can affect people’s enjoyment of their human rights either positively or negatively. Indeed, experience shows that enterprises can and do infringe human rights where they are not paying sufficient attention to this risk.

Enterprises can affect the human rights of their employees and contract workers, their customers, workers in their supply chains, communities around their operations and end users of their products or services. They can have an impact – directly or indirectly – on virtually the entire spectrum of internationally recognized human rights. Annex A provides some examples.

In practice, some rights will be more relevant than others in particular industries and circumstances, and companies will pay more attention to them. But, in principle, any enterprise could cause or contribute to an adverse impact on any internationally recognized human right.

The Guiding Principles, therefore, make clear:

• The International Bill of Human Rights and the core ILO conventions provide the basic reference points for businesses in starting to understand what human rights are; how their own activities and business relationships may affect them; and how to ensure that they prevent or mitigate the risk of adverse impacts.
• Depending on the circumstances of their operations, companies may need to consider additional human rights standards in order to ensure that they respect the human rights of people who may be disadvantaged, marginalized or excluded from society and, therefore, particularly vulnerable to impacts on their human rights, such as children, women, indigenous peoples, people belonging to ethnic or other minorities, or persons with disabilities.

C. The benefits to business of respecting human rights

The benefits and opportunities for companies that are recognized as respecting human rights include:

• Improved risk management with less chance of business disruptions, public campaigns and criticism, litigation, reputational harm, and harm to employee retention and recruitment;
• Greater access to business opportunities with governments, financers and business customers and buyers, who increasingly recognize the reduced risk to themselves when working with a company that effectively manages risks to human rights;
• Positive recognition, including from socially responsible investors and civil society organizations, of the company’s improving human rights performance and its efforts to address challenges;
• Improved relationships with workers, communities and other stakeholders in societies, resulting in greater trust and a stronger social licence to operate;
• Improved ability to preserve their reputation when negative impacts occur, given better public understanding of their overall efforts to avoid such incidents;
• Improved ability to recruit the next generation of young leaders, who are increasingly focused on companies’ performance in this area;
• A comparative advantage with a growing number of stock exchanges and public and private financial institutions scrutinizing companies’ non-financial performance, including with regard to human rights.

II. THE UN GUIDING PRINCIPLES ON BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

The Guiding Principles were unanimously endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011, supported by governments from all regions of the world.

A. The three pillars of the UN Guiding Principles

One of the major and widely recognized contributions of the Guiding Principles has been to clearly set out the duties of States and the responsibilities of companies to ensure that businesses operate with respect for human rights.

The Guiding Principles are founded on three pillars:

• The State duty to protect human rights against abuse by third parties, including business, through appropriate policies, legislation, regulations and adjudication;
• The corporate responsibility to respect human rights , meaning to act with due diligence to avoid infringing on the rights of others and address adverse impacts with which they are involved;
• The need for greater access to effective remedy , both judicial and non-judicial, for victims of business-related human rights abuse.

Since their endorsement, the Guiding Principles have driven a convergence in standards on business and human rights across the international arena, reinforcing their position as the authoritative global standard on business and human rights.

B. The corporate responsibility to respect human rights

Human rights impacts linked to companies’ activities and business relationships do not typically occur because companies intend or wish them to happen. On the contrary, most people working for companies expect and assume that they are not harming human rights as they go about their work. In practice, companies often become involved in human rights impacts because it requires attention and concerted action across the different parts of a company to ensure that they do not, and because the policies and processes to do so are often weak or absent.

The corporate responsibility to respect human rights, as set out in the second pillar of the Guiding Principles, is a standard of conduct for companies. The Guiding Principles make clear that companies should have in place:

• A statement of their policy commitment to respect human rights;
• assess their actual and potential human rights impacts;
• integrate the findings and take action to prevent or mitigate potential impacts;
• track their performance;
• communicate their performance;
• Processes to provide or enable remedy to those harmed, in the event that the company causes or contributes to a negative impact.

KEY FEATURES OF THE CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY TO RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS

–> The responsibility relates explicitly to the risks to human rights that can result from companies’ activities and business relationships. There is increasing evidence that risks to human rights frequently converge with risks to business, for example, through operational disruptions, reduced productivity and challenges securing new business. However, risk to human rights is the starting point for the Guiding Principles and for this Reporting Framework.

–> Identifying and addressing human rights risks effectively requires an understanding of the perspectives of those who may be impacted. This means engaging wherever possible with those individuals whose human rights may be directly affected, or with their legitimate representatives. Where such direct engagement is not possible, companies may be able to gain insights into their perspectives through consultation with other stakeholders, including relevant independent experts, human rights defenders and others in civil society, and through reports and resources they have developed.

–> The responsibility to respect human rights applies across the company’s own activities and also to its business relationships. Business relationships include the company’s business partners, businesses in its value chain (including those that are one or more tiers removed) and any other business, government or other entity that is directly linked to its operations, products or services. The responsibility to respect therefore extends beyond impacts the company may cause or contribute to through its own activities and includes impacts that are linked to its operations, products or services without any cause or contribution on the company’s part. However, the nature of the responsibility is different in each instance. For more explanation of these distinctions, see the commentary to UN Guiding Principle 19.

–> The responsibility to respect human rights is distinct from a company’s efforts to support or promote human rights. Projects or other initiatives by companies to support or promote human rights can make a significant contribution to societies, but they are voluntary undertakings. By contrast, it is a baseline expectation of all companies, regardless of size, sector or operating context, that they at a minimum, avoid infringing on human rights, and that they address any harms with which they are involved. This responsibility cannot be offset by social investment or philanthropic activities.

C. The ongoing nature of implementation

Implementing the corporate responsibility to respect human rights takes time. Moreover, for many companies, the nature of human rights risks associated with their operations, products or services will change over time, as their operating contexts, activities and business relationships also change. Implementation is therefore an ongoing process.

The steps defined in the Guiding Principles empower companies to know and show that they are advancing adequately in their efforts to meet this responsibility. The expectation that companies should know and show how they are progressing in their human rights performance has reinforced calls for more and better corporate reporting in this regard.

How far is it justifiable for governments to make decisions without the support of the majority?

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INTRODUCTION:

Political legitimacy and authority are foundational concepts in modern political philosophy that determine how justified decisions are made. Disregard for the general will, a concept that has seen a resurgence due to the Brexit brouhaha, is only one of several ways any decision-making can be decried as politicians are out of sync with the electorate, and their decisions therefore unjustified. As William Howard Taft the 27th President of the United States (1909–1913) and as the tenth Chief Justice of the United States said: “You cannot have a decent, popular government unless the majority exercise the self-restraint that men with great power ought to exercise.”

Populist politics may be more of a bane than a boon. Decisions that do not benefit the people may inevitably be unpopular, howbeit, such actions may have been imperative for the greater good of the country and the people. What is favoured by the people may not be the best for the nation moving forward, hence it is justifiable for the governments to make decisions without the support of the majority.

ANTI-THESIS 1

It is not justifiable for governments to make important decisions without the support of the populace, especially when it concerns the environment.

ELABORATION:

In order for a country to have greater energy independence and less dependence on importing crude oil from a volatile Middle East region, the government supported alternative energy sources despite a majority of its citizens who opposed it because of the environmental ramifications.

Background information for teaching purposes in relation to this question (Note: during the exam, you do not need to put in this info as an example, unless you are writing on environmental damage).

For many years, America has been importing Crude Oil from Saudi Arabia and after the catastrophic 9/11 terrorist attack where 15 of the 19 perpetrators were from Saudi Arabia, United States had to re-evaluate its energy policies i.e. importing less crude oil from the turbulent Middle East and started to look at Shale Gas.

Shale Gas can be found in Texas and Pennsylvania where it is buried to depths of up to 9,000 feet. To obtain the Shale Gas, HYDRAULIC FRACTURING is used, where millions of gallons of SAND, WATER, and CHEMICALS are pumped underground to break the rock and release the gas.

In a 2011 study by the Manhattan Institute called The Economic Opportunities of Shale Energy Development, a single Marcellus well generates an average of sixty-two jobs and $5.46 million in economic output. It generates more job opportunities and economic growth for cities.

EVALUATION OF EXAMPLE:

Insofar as the need for the government to create more jobs and gain greater energy independence, the US government has to take into serious consideration:

When unburnt methane is released into the atmosphere, it is twenty times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat and it could linger in the air for the next 9 to 15 years, exacerbating global warming.

Methane also poses health hazards to humans. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, as the concentration of gas increases it can cause headaches, then nausea, brain damage, and eventually death.

Postulating the argument of bringing the US unemployment rate down and ignoring the “red flags” vehemently raised by scientists and environmentalists from Greenpeace decidedly shows that it is not justifiable for the government to make decisions without the support of the majority, particularly when it concerns clean drinking water and the quality of air.

ANTI-THESIS 2

When the government makes a unilateral decision without the support of the majority to serve politicians’ vested interests, it would be seen as a surreptitious agenda by the international community.

Whilst international law is for the most part consent-based governance, sovereign states that are members of the United Nation and hold prominent positions in the principal organs should be held to an exacting standard.

The P-5 Permanent Members of the UN Security Council enjoy privileges such as veto powers to block substantive resolutions and should be beholden to the same principles. Conversely, President George W Bush Junior defied the UN Security Council and the counsel of the international community and waged a senseless war in Iraq on the pretext that Saddam Hussein had “Weapons of Mass Destruction” and could be used against American interests.

The establishment of the UN is to maintain international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.  The US being the “hegemon” (Superpower/ dominant world power) was supposed to exercise diplomacy first, but went against the P5 Members’ vetoes and went to war in Iraq, hence setting a bad precedent = case.

When the Bush administration made the unilateral decision to invade Iraq without the unanimous support of the Security Council and General Assembly; thereby indiscriminately= anyhow killing innocent Iraqi children and women, the US lost its credibility amongst its allies= member countries and its military actions in Iraq are morally reprehensible (blameworthy).

It is justifiable for governments to make important economic decisions for the country, even in the face of public opposition.

Governments possess all the critical economic data and they are fully privy to the bilateral relationships and the importance of trading within a single bloc.

EXAMPLE No. 1:

This is best epitomised by an anti-migrant poster unveiled by Nigel Farage (UKIP – United Kingdom Independence Party) that incites racial hatred and breaches UK race laws. It shows a queue of mostly non-white migrants and refugees with the slogan “Breaking point: the EU has failed us all. We must break free of the EU and take back control of our borders.” FREE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE. Leave campaigners have exaggerated and descended into the gutter in an attempt to frighten the working class= BLUE COLLAR WORKERS into voting to leave the EU by pretending that migration to the UK is only about people who are non-white.

Example No. 2:

For instance, there is convincing evidence of Russian interference in the Brexit referendum. A UK parliamentary committee was commissioned in 2016 to investigate whether foreign government agents sought to use social channels to drive Brexit propaganda and sway voters, yielding positive results. It turned out that Russian-backed accounts had been used to try to influence voters in the June 2016 in/out EU referendum.

David Cameron, the then UK Prime Minister, had also publicly accused the Russian government of seeking to “weaponize information” by planting fake stories and photoshopped images to try to meddle in elections and sow discord in the West.

Since a Referendum binds the government to its outcome, the UK government has to bear the brunt of the results. Leaving the European Union has severely diminished the UK overall trade volumes, and seminal (leading) surveys from leading economists show overwhelming agreement that Brexit will likely reduce the UK’s competitiveness (NOTE: Leave out your Economics terminology – real per-capita income level!)

It is defensible for Prime Minister David Cameron to make the decision on behalf of the British public to stay on in the EU without calling for a Referendum when he was fully cognisant of the economic benefits that the UK derived from being in the EU.

It is justifiable to make decisions without the support of the majority to achieve greater progress in living standards.

A duly elected government has a duty of care to attend to the needs of society. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, physiological needs and safety needs are paramount. Hence, a government should prioritise lifting its citizens out of poverty, providing public services and instilling public order, over society’s robust debate on major policies founded on liberal values, even if the public is opposed to it.

The case in point, in China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) published a White Paper on democracy in 2005, in which the postponement of democratic reforms was justified partly on the grounds that economic development and the achievement of better standards of living took precedence.

Some 1.5 million residents of Beijing were displaced/ faced displacement (politics – Syrians and Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar) for the 2008 Olympics, many of them were evicted against their will. The Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) said residents were often forced from their homes with little notice and little compensation, as the government embarks on a massive city redevelopment to accommodate the Games. After demolition, inhabitants were often “forced to relocate far from their communities and workplaces, with inadequate transportation networks adding significantly to their cost of living.”

According to the Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau, the Beijing Olympics in 2008 generated 1.8 million new jobs for the city, therefore the majoritarian principle to create more jobs is an acceptable argument.

All in all, a government that disregards the minority group is but a small price to pay for a booming economy and astronomical improvements in living standards.

To ensure that the tenets of a civil society are maintained, it is justifiable for governments to use legislative interventions to achieve that.

By definition, the principles of Civil Society – allowing divergent and dissenting voices to be heard, must be present in a liberal-democratic society. With global social attitudes changing, a socially conservative government can make the decisions that are suited for its country.

As more Western countries progressively sanctioned same-sex marriage and recently Australians voted 61% to allow same-sex marriage, with 38% who voted against (Nov 2017).

The Singapore government has retained Section 377A of the Penal Code that criminalises homosexual sex. A Singapore delegation to the United Nation, led by Ambassador-at-Large Chan Heng Chee, cited that Singapore is a conservative society.” We have to manage such issues sensitively and in a pragmatic way without fracturing our society.”

She further commented that Section 377A will not be enforced. Singapore’s Civil Service hires LGBT people, while the country makes it legally permissible to host the Pink Dot event. (2015 govt banned foreign companies from sponsoring, citing locally sensitive issue, 2017 foreigners cannot attend the Pink Dot event, must show IC).

Additional info: Last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a BBC interview with Stephen Sackur argued “if there were a referendum on whether to remove Singapore’s law criminalising gay sex, he believed that most Singaporeans would want to keep the statute.”

One can construe (interpret) that retaining S377A legislation is determined in line with public consensus, owing to the public’s largely conservative nature. Hence, Parliament will not call for the repeal (abolition) of S377A anytime soon.

Singapore government is very particular about maintaining social fabrics because they view that as sacrosanct (especially of a principle, place, or routine regarded as too important or valuable to be interfered with) in a very diverse society.

CONCLUSION:

(T1) Governments are fully in the know with regards to the workings behind closed doors, armed with such extensive business data, they are able to make a well informed economic decision on behalf of the country.

(T2) In addition, undesirable decisions may at times be beneficial for society’s welfare as a whole, elevating the country’s standard of living.

(T3) Governments are also able to make decisions irrespective of the majority so as to uphold the social and racial harmony of a civil society.

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GP Essay #5: Is the protection of privacy worthwhile?

Individual privacy has been at the forefront of debates for years with many across the globe constantly weighing the need for privacy against the need for governments to monitor what people are doing in order to prevent events of mass terror. With the rise in terror attacks in the past five years in particular, this discussion has become more critical than ever. The question that needs to be addressed is whether the protection of privacy and thus people’s rights to not have their lives monitored is worth the risks of allowing terrorism, violence and crime to continue to grow, and my view is that the protection of privacy is worthwhile to the extent that it does not impinge on the need for governments to protect the safety and welfare of their people.

    The protection of privacy is worthwhile as a matter of principle, since it is the only thing that stands between an individual’s freedom of expression and living in a lifeless dystopian state. The protection of privacy is inextricably tied up with the protection of individual freedom, with the loss of privacy effectively meaning the loss of people’s rights to their lives, since every decision, choice and action taken from that point onwards would be monitored by the state. This effectively takes away people’s freedom to choose as every decision must be held to the standards of the law and the people monitoring them, creating an environment where people will never be free to act and behave like themselves. Examples of this sad reality have been described throughout popular culture although with added dramatization such as the dreary depiction of life in George Orwell’s renowned novel ‘1984’ and the movie based on the novel which depicts the dark dystopian future that could await people if they choose to forgo their right to privacy. By giving states control over individual’s privacy, we open the door for states to go further and demand the ability to control where individuals can go and control the skills and knowledge that everyone is allowed to learn. The trickle effects of relinquishing the right to privacy can be seen through dictatorial states such as North Korea where every aspect of everyone’s lives are controlled by the state: from the education system and what is taught to the state media and even the food that are available to most people to eat.  We also see this in the People’s Republic of China, where the social credit system, initially meant to address the issue of ungraciousness and crime, has become a tool of mass surveillance and therefore of control. These are prime examples of what could follow should privacy be allowed to be taken away in the name of protection as governments and states might eventually be unsatisfied with just being able to monitor for potential threats, and would instead want the ability to prevent future threats from happening, something which can ultimately only be achieved by complete control of its populace in order to weed out criminal and radical ideological thinking. Thus, the protection of individual privacy is important as it would prevent the descent of democracies into police states as it would be the beginning of individual rights being sacrificed in order to address the issues of crime and terrorism, especially if the only way to do so is to completely control every aspect of people’s lives.

    Why are individual freedoms desirable, then, or even worth protecting from the all-seeing eye of Big Brother? I venture to argue that individual freedoms, including the right to privacy and non-scrutiny, form the basis of happiness, which is presumably the ultimate goal of society. Even if individual freedoms are not explicitly curtailed by despotic regimes, but instead indirectly curtailed by sympathetic and paternalistic governments, this too might affect the happiness of individuals who otherwise might be able to live life in accordance with their own wishes. Contemporary philosopher Michel Foucault goes one step further in suggesting that the lack of privacy is directly connected to the loss of freedom and thus the loss of happiness through the concept of panopticism. Foucault suggests that external surveillance and the intrusion of privacy associated with this surveillance is ultimately internalised, and each person becomes his or her own guard. This greatly reduces people’s freedom of expression, and the happiness associated with that freedom of living according to their own wishes.  A study published by the Applied Research in Quality of Life suggests that an increase in freedoms correlates with an increase in happiness. This understanding and desire presumably underpin historical struggles for freedom, from the ‘Baltic Way’, where more than two million people formed a human chain across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to protest the despotism of the Soviet Union, to the French Revolution, and to how “Wallace fought for Scotland, left the name of Wallace to be found, like a wild flower, all over his dear country”. This suggests that individual freedoms are worth fighting for, and as established earlier, the erosion of the right to privacy ultimately cumulates into the erosion of individual freedoms, and should thus be decried. The right to have a life that is private and non privy to the prying eyes of the state is thus essential despite the risks it entails as without privacy, individuals will not be able to live their lives the way the want and express their true selves, effectively destroying the uniqueness and imaginative joy that makes life worth living.

    However, with the rising threat of crime and violence, the protection of privacy might not be as worthwhile as the need to protect people from acts of mass terror and violence may outweigh this. The ability to monitor individuals would allow states to better address the issues of rising crime and terror by giving them an avenue to better track individuals with a greater risk of being involved in criminal activities. States will also be able to set up alert systems to highlight any actions by individuals that could possibly lead to potentially damaging terrorist or criminal activity such as the planning of crimes of terror attacks by people within their borders. Allowing governments access to sensitive information would have allowed law enforcement agencies to prevent many of the attacks perpetrated by radicals and criminals such as the shooting at a mosque in Christchurch in March 2019 and the multiple school shootings that have taken place in America over the years. In fact, concerns about privacy have actively impeded pre-emptive measures and investigations. Former Federal Bureau of Investigation chief James Comey argued that encrypted messaging platforms, meant to safeguard the privacy of individual users, deprive governments and intelligence agencies of crucial information, “giving terrorists a tremendous advantage against us”. Letting go of the desire for privacy might be the necessary sacrifice that will allow governments to finally get a step ahead of these criminals and extremists as the individualised nature of international terrorism and crime today makes it harder and harder for defence agencies to track and protect us against these threats, which could come from anywhere, even from the people living right next door. Relinquishing the right to privacy might be the only way to allow states to properly address the ever changing and complex network of international crime and terror, and protect us from the many different threats that are brewing just under the surface of society.

    The protection of privacy is furthermore not worthwhile, as it may prevent people and states from taking responsibility for the actions and being held accountable. While privacy is largely individual, it also extends to states when they are being scrutinised by other nations. Allowing both states and individuals to hide behind the shield of privacy allows people of power to basically go about doing whatever they please without fear of condemnation, if they have significant enough means to keep news of their actions contained. For example, countries such as China have long been using the argument of privacy and national sovereignty to prevent the international community from properly investigating accusations of human rights violations against Chinese Muslims in Xinjiang that have been made against them. The country has used its power in the international community and political red tape to assert that what happens within the country is a private Chinese matter that the international community has no business in. Examples such as this illustrate how the idea of privacy can be used in order to prevent entities from being held accountable for their actions, instead hiding behind privacy as a means of burying and news about their actions. Thus, the protection of privacy is not worthwhile when privacy is just used as a tool to conceal the actions of people and states from the outside world in order to shield themselves from having to deal with the eventual repercussions of these actions, and continue to carry out these atrocities without fear of condemnation due to the protection that privacy give them.

    Overall, whether the protection of privacy is worthwhile depends heavily on the degree that our privacy would be taken away should we choose to stop defending it. Although the relaxing of privacy could have beneficial impacts to society by stopping people and countries from using it as a shield and be held accountable for their actions, and lead to states being more prepared and capable to address the threats that terrorism and crime have towards their communities, the complete relinquishment of privacy might in the long run lead to the loss of all individual freedoms and cause the countries of the world to descend into dystopian police states of our own making.

GP Samples Essays – Women & Human Rights

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Q1: Women have never had it so good. How far do you agree?

For decades, women have been fighting for their rights and for equality amongst men and women, by rallying fellow females and making passionate speeches on how women should be treated with equality. Many people believe that they have made remarkable progress, that indeed, “Women have never had it so good.” (List of human right organisations in Singapore & Asia.)

However, I feel that it is not fair to say that we, women, have “never” had it so good. The word “never” seems so absolute and final. It is a fact that women in the past were treated shabbily, differently with more indifference and less respect but all in all, I still feel that women, then, had their own perception of what constitutes contentment. For instance, women probably felt happier staying at home, looking after the children and doing house chores. They still gained satisfaction watching their children grow and seeing their husband or family eat the dinner they had prepared. This is all part of a female’s basic instinct, to care for others. Of course, man has always exploited this fact, and by reinforcing the idea that women should be the caretakers of the house, they prevented women from pursuing their own interests. This repression led to women becoming domestic slaves. To any modern man or women, the kind of life they led back then must seem really terrible, therefore creating the idea that women now are re ally leading a far better life than they have ever experienced. I feel that it is not fair to see it this way as society’s morals and expectations of women have changed so drastically through the years thus making the comparison between women’s lives then and now not a very good one since difference standards apply.

Another problem is: how does one define “good”? Is it when women are finally on par in terms of equality with men? Where does one draw the line between good and bad? Well, accepting the above idea that women’s lives then and now can be compared, it can be generally said that women’s lives nowadays are more unrestricted, that is, women enjoy greater degree of freedom and more recognition. The fight for women’s rights has come very far to be able to change society’s perceptions and stereotyping tendencies. Previously, women were denied their rights and even in the United States, they were not al lowed to vote or to have any say in anything until fairly recently. Today, many women are finally being recognised for their achievements and praised for breaking through conventions. Prominent females, like Margaret Thatcher, have shown that women, too, can have a say in matters of the world.

In the past, women and girls were denied education by the men since they found it to be redundant and use less to one who is supposed to stay at home and bring up children, but the situation is different now, when young girls are given the same opportunities for education as young boys. Females are generally thought to be living better lives in today’s modern world but the question still remains: Can the situation be even better or is this the best society can do?

I feel that there are still many situations of sexual discrimination which continue to exist despite the fact that life for a female is generally better. This is especially more apparently so in our conservative Asian society where traditionally, men are still believed to be the superior sex. Take Singapore, for example; how many female politicians are there? It is a figure which can be counted on one hand! Although certain ideas (such as the one that women should stay at home) are being gradually worn down, it is still difficult for society to accept certain ideas or dreams a woman might have. For example, a woman might want to join the army but in such a traditionally male-dominated job in certain conservative societies, it is difficult for a lone woman to change this narrow perception. Many women, besides politicians, are also not given the due respect they deserve for achieving so much with their lives. (Changes have been witnessed: Mdm Halimah Yacob as SG’s President, Kalama Harris as USA Vice President , etc) The success of businesswomen who can juggle both a career and family is taken for granted.

I am aware of the sad fact that men and women can never be on equal terms because of the numerous differences between them – biological, emotional or physical but many improvements to the way women are treated by men and society are still desired. Therefore, to the statement, “Women have never had it so good”, I can only say that I can agree with it. In fact, “Women have never had it bad, at least not in Singapore!”

GP Samples Essays – Moral Values & Truth

by ASH | Aug 22, 2021 | GP Essay , GP Exam Skills

Have you been looking for good General Paper sample essays on the topic of Moral Values & Truth? Are you going to prepare this sub-topic of social issues, philosophy, etc as one of your main content topic for your upcoming GP examinations? A good choice, as this...

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Have you been looking for good General Paper sample essays on the topic of Marriage & Women? Aiming to prepare this sub-topic of Social Issues, Roles of Women, etc, as one of your main content topic for your upcoming GP assessments? Bookmark this page, so that you...

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by ASH | Aug 20, 2021 | GP Essay , GP Exam Skills

Searching for good General Paper sample essays on the topic of Moral Issues & Abortion? Aiming to prepare this sub-topic of Social Issues, Roles of Women, as well as Human Rights, as one of your main content topic for your upcoming GP exam, and is seeking for...

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Have you been looking for good General Paper sample essays on the topic of Science & Health? Aiming to prepare this sub-topic of Science & Technology, etc, as one of your main content topic for your upcoming GP exam, and is seeking for complete full length...

GP Model Essays – Film & Media

by ASH | Aug 11, 2021 | GP Essay , GP Exam Skills

Looking for JC General Paper model essays on film and media? Are you trying to write full length answers for this GP topic, but has difficulties finding good real-life examples to apply for Film and Media? Use our well-written model essay for this GP topic on Film...

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by ASH | Aug 10, 2021 | GP Essay , GP Exam Skills

Have you been looking for good General Paper sample essays on the topic of Governance? Aiming to prepare this sub-topic of Political issues, Government, International Affairs, etc, as one of your main content topic for your upcoming GP exam, and is seeking for...

GP Model Essays – Sports

by ASH | Aug 10, 2021 | GP Essay

Have you been looking for good General Paper sample essays on the topic of Sports? Still need help to craft an answer that is at least 36 out of 50 marks? See more of our model Sports essay examples here.   Q1: Why do countries place so much emphasis on sport?...

GP Samples Essays – Humanity

Have you been looking for good General Paper sample essays on the topic of Humanity? Aiming to prepare this sub-topic of Human Rights / Philosophy as one of your main content topic for your upcoming GP exam, and is seeking for complete full length answers?  Bookmark...

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