Public and Private Human Rights

Abstract

A s was indicated in Chapter 2, one of the major criticisms of conventional human rights discourse, largely confined to civil and political rights, has been that it has concentrated on the protection of human rights and the prevention of human rights abuse only in the public sphere (Clapham 1993; Brohmer 1997; Ratner & Abrams 1997). The very idea of ‘civil and political’ rights implies that rights are about the capacity to engage freely in the structures and processes of civil society and the body politic. The fact remains, however, that for many people it is not in the public or ‘civil and political’ domain where human rights are threatened or denied and where it is necessary for human rights to be promoted and protected. It is in the private or domestic sphere that, arguably, the greater human rights violations occur and where there is most need for social work practice to seek to redress abuses. A number of groups can be identified to whom such human rights practice most particularly applies. In discussing these particular groups in this chapter, several important issues about human rights, and human rights practice, will emerge and will be considered. The chapter will therefore not only consider the human rights of vulnerable groups but will use these considerations to identify a number of important theoretical and practical issues that apply to any examination of human rights and social work practice.