Human Rights and Social Care

Sam Smith

Description

In exploring the development of a human rights based approach to social care, Smith challenges the perception of human rights law and practice being the preserve of lawyers and demystifies human rights in a social care context.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• Social work
• Human rights

Informations

• Publié par: Dunedin Academic Press
• Date de parution: 01 juillet 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781780465906
• Langue: English

Extrait

POLICY AND PRACTICE IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE SERIES EDITORS CHARLOTTE L. CLARKE AND CHARLOTTE PEARSON
Human Rights and Social Care
Putting rights into practice
Sam Smith
CEO, C-Change Scotland, Glasgow ( www.c-change.org.uk )
‘It is in each other’s shadows that we flourish.’
Mary Robinson, speaking at the launch of the Scottish Human Rights Commission in July 2008.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Glossary of Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter 1 Towards Human Rights and Social Care
Chapter 2 The Rights of the Child
with Juliet Harris
Chapter 3 The Rights of Women
Chapter 4 The Rights of Disabled People
Chapter 5 The Rights of Older Persons
Chapter 6 Conclusion: The Way Forward
Appendix 1 European Convention on Human Rights
Appendix 2 UK Human Rights Commitments
References
Index
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to my family, friends and colleagues for their unwavering support while I wrote this book. A special thanks to Stanley who was by my side the whole time.
GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS
ASP Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007
AWI Adults With Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000
BME black and minority ethnic
CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
CESCR Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
COSLA Coalition of Scottish Local Authorities
CRC Committee on the Rights of the Child
CRPD Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
DOLS Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
ECHR European Convention on Human Rights
ECtHR European Court of Human Rights
EHRC Equality and Human Rights Commission
FRA European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
HRA Human Rights Act 1998
HRBA Human Rights Based Approach
HRC Human Rights Committee
ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
LGB lesbian, gay or bisexual
LGBT lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
MCA Mental Capacity Act 2005
MHA Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003
MWC Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
NGO non-governmental organisations
NHRI national human rights institutions
NRS National Records of Scotland
ONS Office for National Statistics
PANEL Participation; Accountability; Non-Discrimination and Equality; Empowerment; and Legality
PCT Primary Care Trust
SA Scotland Act 1998
SCQF Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
SDS Self-Directed Support
SHRC Scottish Human Rights Commission
SNAP Scottish National Action Plan
UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights
UK United Kingdom
UN United Nations
UNCRC UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
INTRODUCTION
Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighbourhood ( s )he lives in; the school or college (s) he attends; the factory, farm, or office where ( s )he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world (Eleanor Roosevelt). 1
I have taken the liberty of slightly amending (in italics ) this famous quote by Eleanor Roosevelt to address the gender-specific nature of the original statement. However, the sentiment prevails and provides the focus for this book, which aims to act as a counterbalance to the notion of human rights, and human rights law, as the preserve of lawyers, courtrooms and judges. This is not to say that the legal profession and the court of law are not important in the realisation of human rights. They are, and careful attention will be paid throughout this volume to particularly significant case law that has set precedent for the development of human rights jurisprudence. The focus of this book, however, is on the universality of human rights and the role of the citizen in manifesting and bringing these rights to life, in the living breathing reality of our day-to-day lives. Its aim is to contribute to a growing understanding of the power and potential of human rights in the many different roles citizens fulfil daily as family members, as colleagues, as those in receipt of additional support and as professionals working in the field of social care. Human rights are, if understood, owned and exercised, a set of shared values and aspirations that form a common lexicon of oneness in our humanity, that transcends age, gender, race, religion, disability and sexual orientation. In that, they can be the source of great inspiration, power and solidarity.

1 Excerpt from a speech at the presentation of ‘In Your Hands: A Guide for Community Action for the Tenth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, Thursday, 27 March 1958, United Nations, New York. As head of the Human Rights Commission, Eleanor Roosevelt was instrumental in formulating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which she submitted to the UN General Assembly with these words: ‘We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind. This declaration may well become the international Magna Carta for all men everywhere.’
CHAPTER 1
Towards Human Rights and Social Care
That there are limitations to the law in human services is indisputable. That the rule of law is indispensable to a civilised society is equally indisputable. At best, the law ideally provides a mechanism by which justice can ultimately triumph over injustice, but that will never happen for vulnerable persons unless the common streams of rights and advocacy continue to flow. The law in and of itself does not protect people; people protect people, if necessary by shaping and invoking laws that express society’s commitment to dignity and equality for all persons (Orville Endicott). 1
Introduction
Human rights belong to us; by the very nature of our humanity they are ours to exercise and realise (EHRC, 2014a). Their universality means they are inclusive of all and, consequently, they have the potential to challenge social orders based on exclusion (de Feyter, 2011). Human rights are indivisible, in that those in positions of authority and power cannot pick and choose which rights to respect. A right is an entitlement that endures ‘even when the right holder is not actually making a verbal claim’ (Orend, 2002, p. 24). The very inalienability of human rights, the fact that they cannot be taken away from someone, should require all those involved in social care to know and understand the human rights framework within which they operate. Human rights are inabrogable, meaning that they cannot be given up voluntarily or traded for additional privileges. Human rights impact on every aspect of our lives and can, if developed to their full potential, be a powerful driver for positive change in our homes, in our communities, our schools and our workplaces. Human rights provide an internationally accepted set of conditions by which we, as citizens, should live with dignity, be respected and afforded the opportunity to flourish.
Some threats to human dignity, such as poverty and violence, may originate, at least in part, beyond national borders. As human rights are now generally recognised as a matter of international concern, framing a claim in human rights terms creates the possibility of drawing on support from external forces (de Feyter, 2011). With the development of the Internet and social media, this support may come from allies around the world. Using the language of human rights potentially leverages change by providing an internationally recognised and agreed lexicon. Recognising the implications of international issues such as climate change, extremist violence and forced migration, there is a need to move from human rights declarations into ‘times of implementation’ (Miller, 2016, p. 2).
International human rights law is a broad and complex arena. This book will focus on specific UN Conventions relating to children, women and disabled people and more specifically the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the regional human rights Convention with relevant application to the UK. The discussion of human rights and social care within this work is rooted in the philosophical context of citizenship and social justice.
The development of international human rights
The conceptual precursor to modern human rights can be traced back to ancient civilisations (Ishay, 2004). The Magna Carta (1215) 2 is also cited as the first legal recognition of individual rights (Freeman, 2002). A line is often drawn between the natural law theorists of the Enlightenment, such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, and the development of human rights in the mid-twentieth century (Ife, 2012; Freeman, 2002).
The modern system of human rights can be traced back to the devastating global events of the first half of the twentieth century. Two world wars, the Great Depression and the Holocaust led the world to restate the common values of humanity. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 3 adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, defined human rights as the fundamental freedoms of thought, opinion, expression and belief (Skegg, 2005). The declaration was intended to create a benchmark of standards for people of all nations to enjoy regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity, culture, age or gender (Robson, 1997):
Human rights are equal rights: one either is or is not a human being, and therefore has the same human rights as everyone else (or none at all). They are also inalienable rights: one cannot stop being human, no matter how badly one behaves or how barbarously one is treated. And they are univ