Topic 1: Introduction to Personal Safety Rights

Personal safety rights are rights to be safe and fairly treated.

They depend on two elements. In the absence of a functioning rule of law, justice and administration are random and capricious. Social stability cannot be taken for granted. The other factor is social norms and behaviour. Often people don’t know how to behave in a way that supports the safety and fair treatment of themselves as well as others.

Peaceful Planet’s Human Dignity Workshop is great training to help people to understand themselves, their needs to be treated with dignity and how to bring out the best in others.

Personal Safety Rights are where we see most clearly the recognition or otherwise of human dignity in your community. Discrimination, bullying, cyber-bullying and name-calling are all local examples of violations of this group of rights and of human dignity. It is at this personal level that human rights education is most important for young people as it sets the scene for their lives and the lives of the people they are in contact with.

Think of Personal Safety rights as the tip of the Human Rights iceberg. Violations of this group of rights are indicators of deeper problems within the structure of the society.

Points to consider:

• Is the Rule of Law (UDHR Articles 6 to 11) functioning as it should?
• Can people move around freely (UDHR Article 13)?
• Can they think their own thoughts, express them safely, gather together in groups and participate in government and other public forums (UDHR Articles 18 to 21, Personal Space and Activity Rights)?