Human Rights and Diversity: Legal Perspectives

Today, the legal aspects of human rights and diversity are very important. This article looks at how justice, equality, and inclusivity connect across communities. We will explore the legal basics of equality, diversity, and human rights.¹

The Equality Act 2010, Human Rights Act 1998, Care Act 2014, and Mental Capacity Act 2005 are vital laws. These laws guide adult social care and protect people’s rights. Understanding these helps us see why it’s crucial to support human rights and diversity in our areas.¹

This piece will show you how important these laws are. They make sure everyone’s rights and unique needs are recognized, protected, and enjoyed. Let’s learn how human rights and diversity work together and how laws build a fairer, welcoming world.¹

### Key Takeaways

– The Equality Act 2010, Human Rights Act 1998, Care Act 2014, and Mental Capacity Act 2005 are key legal foundations for upholding human rights and diversity.
– These legal frameworks shape adult social care practices and protect the rights of individuals, including those with protected characteristics.
– Understanding the legal perspectives on human rights and diversity is crucial for creating a more inclusive and equitable society.
– The article explores the intersection of justice, equality, and diversity, highlighting the importance of these legal principles in shaping social care practices.
– By delving into the legal foundations, the article aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how human rights and diversity are protected and promoted within the law.

Equality, Diversity, and Human Rights: Legal Foundations

The Equality Act 2010 stops discrimination against individuals for many reasons. These reasons are called “protected characteristics.” This includes age, race, and more.² The act says you can’t treat people differently because of who they are. It makes sure everyone has the same chances and people from different groups get along well.

The Human Rights Act 1998

The Human Rights Act 1998 protects everyone’s basic rights, called “articles.” It says we all have the right to live, and not be tortured or enslaved.³ It also guarantees freedoms like the right to religion and the right to marry. This act makes sure these rights are always respected and protected.

The Care Act 2014

The Care Act 2014 calls out discrimination as a kind of mistreatment. If someone is discriminated against, it’s considered a problem for the authorities to handle.² This act points out the need to stop discrimination in how we care for each other.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 forbids judging someone’s mind just by looking at them. You can’t guess if someone lacks the ability to make decisions.² It’s a way to treat everyone fairly, no matter their mental abilities.

Understanding Human Rights

The Human Rights Act 1998 outlines rights for everyone. These rights are based on the European Convention on Human Rights, signed in 1953.⁵ They include the right to life and protection from torture. People also have the right to freedom and a fair trial. Plus, there’s the right to privacy, freedom of thought and expression. Lastly, people have the right to marry and have a family.

The Articles of the Human Rights Act 1998

The Human Rights Act guarantees specific rights.⁵ For instance, it ensures no one can take your life. It also forbids torture and degrading treatment.⁵ Moreover, it prevents slavery and forced work. Its laws protect freedom and security, banning illegal detention.

Interpretation of the Articles

The Human Rights Act’s articles are carefully explained by the law.⁵ These explanations safeguard basic human rights. They help make sure these rights are real in everyday life, defending people’s freedom and respect.

Importance of Equality, Diversity, and Human Rights

Equality, diversity, and human rights are key in adult social care.⁶ They are vital for offering quality care that is centered on each person.⁶ This care respects everyone’s needs and likes.⁶ It removes unfairness and ensures everyone’s rights are valued and safe.⁶

This approach fights against discrimination and unfair treatment.⁶ It helps create a society where everyone is included and supported.⁶ A culture thrives where people’s differences are seen as strengths.⁶⁷ By following these principles, the care improves for service users.⁷ It also helps care workers and professionals in social care grow their skills and understanding.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was a big step for the world to agree on what human rights mean.⁸ It’s been around for 75 years, in over 500 languages. It’s a key guide for “universal” and “inalienable” human rights.⁸ This shows that human rights aren’t just a Western idea. Many nations took part in creating it.⁸ Places like the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia made sure it covered a lot of different views and life experiences.⁸

Inclusive Origins of the UDHR

On December 10, 1948, the United Nations in Paris accepted the UDHR.⁹ It has been translated into more than 500 languages. This makes it widely available to different people worldwide.⁹ Over time, it has influenced the making of over seventy human rights treaties all around the globe.⁹

Limitations and Challenges

Though the UDHR aims to set worldwide human rights, it doesn’t force nations to follow it legally.⁸ This makes it hard to fully guarantee that its rules are followed everywhere. Also, some places don’t agree on who should really get human rights.⁸ Often, the Global North receives more support in human rights issues than the Global South.⁸ Therefore, it’s important for the world to listen to and include all people when working on human rights.⁸

Balancing Cultural Norms and Universal Principles

It’s tough to protect respect for both worldwide human rights norms and local cultural diversity.¹ A big issue is the threat from cultural relativism. This danger comes because some say universal human rights standards are just Western ideas. They’re said to interfere with cultural beliefs or ideals.

Trying to honor these cultural beliefs, even when they conflict with human rights, can weaken global human rights standards.¹ This situation shows we need to find a way to match global human rights with local cultures. We should ensure that we can keep both the ideas of human rights for everyone and still respect different cultures.

The Threat of Cultural Relativism

Conflicts between cultural beliefs and human rights aren’t always unsolvable.¹ Simon Caney shows that many cultural beliefs and human rights can actually work together. He explains various ways rights and traditions can relate, some even find common ground.

In some cases, they just don’t conflict.¹ For example, Caney looked at Theravada Buddhism. He found that it doesn’t go against human rights. This shows that human rights can be part of traditional values. We can encourage these common points to respect each other’s beliefs and human rights.

Reconciling Human Rights and Ethical Traditions

¹ Simon Caney and Monique Deveaux’s work highlights the importance of finding this balance. They show how we can respect global human rights while still valuing cultural differences.¹⁰ The 17th IESE International Symposium in 2012 had talks that stressed this. They focused on how understanding moral differences and having shared ethical values can make the world better for everyone.

Human Rights and Diversity: Legal Perspectives

This section looks back at legal foundations discussed before. It talks about the Equality Act 2010, the Human Rights Act 1998, the Care Act 2014, and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.¹¹ These laws are key for equality, diversity, and human rights. They guide social care and protect people’s rights.¹² It’s vital to know and use these laws for social care to be fair and respect people’s rights.

The Equality Act 2010 mentions nine protected characteristics. These include Age, Race, Sex, Gender reassignment, Disability, Religion or belief, Sexual orientation, Marriage or civil partnership, and Pregnancy and maternity.¹² The Human Rights Act 1998 lists important rights such as Right to life and Freedom from torture. It also includes Freedom from slavery, Right to liberty, and other basic freedoms.¹²

The Care Act 2014 sees discrimination as a type of abuse or neglect. It says we must report any discrimination we see.¹² The Mental Capacity Act 2005 warns against assuming someone’s mental abilities. It says don’t judge by age or looks.¹² It’s wrong to restrict someone’s freedom without good reason, as seen in the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This includes cases where someone needs care but can’t refuse it, among other items.¹²

It’s vital to understand and use these laws for social care. By sticking to equality, diversity, and human rights principles, we make society better. We respect everyone’s rights and dignity.¹¹¹²

Integrating Cultural Diversity into Liberal Thought

Monique Deveaux discusses cultural pluralism and justice challenges in her book, “Cultural Pluralism and Dilemmas of Justice.” She argues that lack of inclusion of cultural differences in current liberal theories causes a divide. This makes it hard to balance universal norms with cultural rights. Deveaux examines several liberal strategies but dismisses them. Instead, she offers her own approach known as deliberative liberalism.¹

Deliberative Liberalism

Deveaux doesn’t view cultural diversity as a hurdle but as an asset to democracy. Her model, deliberative liberalism, offers a way to unite human rights principles with cultural diversity. It aims to celebrate and respect different cultures within a democratic setting. This approach offers hope for bridging the gap between universal ideals and cultural freedoms.¹

Deprivation of Liberty and the Mental Capacity Act

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 talks about deprivations of liberty. These issues are linked to Article 5 of the Human Rights Act. This article covers the right to liberty and security. A deprivation of liberty happens when someone can’t agree to their care. They must be under constant watch and not free to go where they want. All this is due to state care, support, or treatment.¹³

Before a deprivation of liberty can occur, legal steps must be taken. This can come through the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) or via the Court of Protection.¹³ It is vital to spot and address situations where someone’s liberty might be taken. This helps to protect their human rights in adult social care settings.

In March 2014, the House of Lords Select Committee said the DoLS weren’t working well. They recommended finding a new system.¹³ A paper on the Mental Capacity Act and the DoLS came out on July 7, 2015. It drew 583 responses during a four-month public review.¹³ The Law Commission held 83 events to gather feedback across England and Wales. This made it one of the biggest public feedback sessions ever.¹³

By May 2016, an initial feedback report was ready. It summarized what the public and experts said and suggested some changes.¹³ 583 written feedbacks were collected.¹³ The final decision was to get rid of the DoLS and bring in something new, called the Liberty Protection Safeguards.¹³

The Government’s initial reaction to the Law Commission’s report came out on October 30, 2017. It favored the report’s suggestions.¹³ Finally, on March 14, 2018, they agreed to start anew with the Liberty Protection Safeguards.¹³

In 2022–2023, the Care Quality Commission heard about 130,000 cases related to DoLS. Of these, 80,000 were in social care settings and 50,000 in hospitals.¹⁴ Over that year, there were 300,000 requests for DoLS in England.¹⁴ The average time to decide on a DoLS request was 156 days, which is much longer than expected.¹⁴

In England in 2022–2023, 126,965 DoLS requests were granted but 161,320 were not.¹⁴ This number of approved requests was more than the prison population at 95,000.¹⁴ Later, the UK government chose to delay starting the Liberty Protection Safeguards indefinitely in April 2023.¹⁴

The Health and Social Care Act 2008’s Regulations of 2014 put a big focus on human rights. This includes respecting privacy, dignity, and independence in care.¹⁴ The CQC rates care services based on their respect for human rights. The best services are praised for their safety, enabling people, and for training staff well on acts like the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and DoLS.¹⁴

International Response to Human Rights Violations

The world often reacts differently to various human rights violations. This is seen in how the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is treated differently from the human rights issues in Palestine. There is a big gap in how quickly and seriously we act.¹⁵ Also, when looking at the limited help for Darfur after the 2003 genocide, it’s clear. Efforts to protect rights are often stronger in the Global North than the Global South.¹⁵

Inconsistencies and Double Standards

The way we approach human rights must be more fair around the globe. We need to make sure all voices are loud and clear in decisions. This includes using standards like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights properly.³ It is crucial that fairness and all-inclusiveness lead the way in human rights work. This paves the road for peace and safety everywhere.¹⁵

Even though many human rights rules exist from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, our reactions can still be different. Two significant treaties, regarding both civil and political rights and economic and social rights, have been in place since 1976.³ However, the way these are used varies. While all countries are part of the United Nations and have signed at least one human rights treaty, there’s still a lot of work to do.³ Only about 80% of them agreed to four or more. This shows we need a more even approach.

International human rights laws demand countries to honor, protect, and ensure rights.³ But the system often falls short in dealing with issues brought by people and communities.³ To truly stand up for rights, we must work together to reduce unfair practices. This includes making sure everyone has a say in seeking justice and peace.

Source Links

1. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1028&context=hrhw
2. https://www.acbanet.org/2023/06/07/diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-legal-profession-challenges-and-solutions/
3. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/udhr/foundation-of-international-human-rights-law
4. https://www.elft.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/2022-01/equality_diversity_and_human_rights_policy_-_final_version_-_21.11.2018.pdf
5. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/134/2016/07/Human-Rights-A-brief-intro-2016.pdf
6. https://careadvice.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/information-and-advice/why-is-equality-diversity-important/
7. https://www.proceduresonline.com/croydon/adults/chapters/default_chapters/p_equality_diversity.html
8. https://www.csis.org/analysis/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-forgotten-lessons-udhr
9. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
10. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-013-1814-z
11. https://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/academics/areas-of-study/human-rights/
12. https://www.proceduresonline.com/sutton/adults/chapters/default_chapters/p_equality_diversity.html
13. https://lawcom.gov.uk/project/mental-capacity-and-deprivation-of-liberty/
14. https://app.croneri.co.uk/topics/human-rights-and-deprivation-liberty/indepth
15. https://press.un.org/en/2022/gashc4356.doc.htm