What Is A Human Rights Activist?

Human Rights are the rights that have been declared for every human to have them – regardless of where they come from. Every person has the right to be treated with decency and respect. However, in our modern era of living, although slavery has been banished, human rights are still being breached on a daily basis.

And while some breaches are not as serious as others, still injustice is a part of our daily lives. So, how do we make sure that human rights are being respected by everyone? Well, in our system there are laws that make sure human rights are being respected.

However, no matter how we design our law system, we simply can’t track every single breach of human rights that occurs. That’s why human rights activists exist – to make sure everyone respects human rights.

“ It means a great deal to those who are oppressed to know that they are not alone. Never let anyone tell you that what you are doing is insignificant.”

— Desmond Tutu

What Is A Human Rights Activist?

The first thing that comes to mind when mentioning the word “Activist” is probably getting chained on a building that is about to go down. Of course, such events might have happened a few times in our history, but most Human Rights activists are not chaining themselves onto anything.

In fact, human rights activists are considered people who don’t stay silent when human rights are being breached. In that sense, even you might be a human rights activist without even realizing it. Of course, there are career paths which you can undertake to work with organizations that fight bigger fights against the breach of human rights, but the truth is that everyone who respects the human rights and fights for them, no matter how small the act, it defines them as a human right activist.

“Some values must be universal, like human rights and the equal worth of every human being.”

— Bjorn Ulvaeus

How Are Human Rights Activists Fighting For Human Rights?

Now that we had that cleared up, what a human rights activist is, it leaves us with a very vast circle of people who can fit into that definition. So, maybe explaining what a human right’s activist does will help you to more easily understand human rights activists. Here is what a human right activist may do:

Stand up when needed

Let’s start with the basics. If you see injustice, discrimination, and oppression – these are the basics breaches of human rights. Whenever you stand up for your own or someone else’s rights, no matter how small the deed might seem to you at that moment, you are a human rights activist.

Get more information

If you want to start fighting for human rights a bit more seriously, then we recommend staying in touch with current issues. That means that you have to dig deep for information and make sure you are well educated on those subjects. By exploring the issues in our system, and getting yourself educated on them, you are ensuring that you will act accordingly on these issues, and even educate others as well.

Sign up for a college class

Speaking of education, if you are a college student and you want to dig deeper into human rights activism, you can always enroll in a class on your college to gain a better perspective. And who knows, one class might be all it takes to inspire you to pursue a degree or a career on human rights activism.

Volunteer in local groups

If you want to fully activate yourself in the human rights activism area, then you can always explore local groups that support human rights activism, and volunteer in your free time.