Human Rights

• Human rights - the basic rights and freedom which are entitled to all humans at all times and places to protect equally without discrimination.
• Human right norms - ways of living that have been incorporated into the culture of a country/group over a long period of time.
• Global governance - the process of creating and maintaining international institutions and the rules that regulate global issues
• Geopolitics - study of power imbalance on a global scale
• current spatial patterns of human rights

  • forced labour
  • maternal mortality rates
  • capital punishment
• Forced labour - Qatar 


  2 million account for the migrant labour force

  Economic migrants from Pakistan

  200 passport confiscated

  chronically delayed wages

  hazardous, labour intensive activity during 2022 world cup construction
• Capital punishment - USA

  Texas is a hotspot for executions due to strong gun laws

  65 scheduled on average
• Capital punishment is the denial of the most basic human right - the right to life

  • often defended on moral grounds to defend members of society
• Gender inequality is the unequal treatment of men and women within society and is exacerbated by patriarchal cultural norms in poorly developed communities.
• What increases global variations of MMR -

  • poverty
  • poor provision of skilled medical services
  • lack education
  • cultural beliefs and discrimination
  • access to treatment for pregnancy and issues
• 3 ways gender inequality can be identified and measured

  > Educational: literacy rate and enrolment in education sectors

  > Political: amount of women in parliament

  > Economic: labour force participation, estimated incomes

  > Health and survival: sex ratio at birth
• How is gender inequality measured? - UN's gender inequality index (GII)
• Gender inequality can also be exacerbated by racial prejudices

  • in USA it is 2.6 x more likely to be pregnant and have low MMR due to poor acess to services, education and stigmas in society
• How can the UN protect human rights

  Military intervention, trade embargo, legislations
• Role of technology in human right intervention

  • drones, surveillance and satellite imagery
  • air strikes - could increase casualties (wikileaks)
  • news and social media - Amnesty international publishes info on human right violations globally to raise awareness and donations
• Issues with military intervention - Wikileaks

  drones and surveillance promoted airstrikes from the US

  • young pilots engaged in an unauthorised attack - inhumane response to children, humanitarian personnel
• C.S: Strategies for global governance of human rights in an area of conflict - Afghanistan
• C.S: The impact of global governance on human rights - DRC
• Suggest factors that might account for global variation in maternal mortality rates:

  • access to treatment for pregnancy and birth complications
  • quality of medical services/ provision of skilled attendance at birth
  • level of political commitment and government investment
  • availability of information and education
  • cultural barriers - discrimination
  • poverty of governments and households
• quality of life - standard of health, comfort, and happiness
• Standard of living: the degree of wealth and material comfort available