{"id":14249,"date":"2020-06-13T13:04:54","date_gmt":"2020-06-13T11:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.humanrightscareers.com\/?p=14249"},"modified":"2022-04-24T12:10:35","modified_gmt":"2022-04-24T10:10:35","slug":"what-kinds-of-human-rights-exist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.humanrightscareers.com\/issues\/what-kinds-of-human-rights-exist\/","title":{"rendered":"What Kinds of Human Rights Exist?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Human rights are inherent to all humans, regardless of their nationality, race, gender, religion, language, or sexual orientation. The concept of human rights may not be new, but it’s gone through significant changes over time. In the past, only the rights of privileged groups of people were respected. In 1948, the newly-formed United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)<\/a>. This codified the necessity of human rights for all. International law, national constitutions, and other conventions support and expand on the UDHR. What kinds of human rights exist?<\/p>\n

Theoretical categorizations<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Some theories help us understand where the concept of current-day human rights comes from. “Natural rights<\/a>” are a very old philosophical concept. Related to natural law, natural rights refer to rights that are universal and inalienable. They are not related to any government or culture. By being human, a person is entitled to their natural rights. That\u2019s where we get the concept of universal human rights.<\/p>\n

Another example of human rights categorization is the distinction between positive rights and negative rights<\/a>. The state must provide access to positive rights, like food, housing, education, and healthcare. Negative rights refers to the freedom from certain things, like slavery, torture, and suppression. It\u2019s the state\u2019s role to ensure these violations do not occur. In the \u201cthree generations<\/a>\u201d framework of human rights law, which has most impacted Europe, negative rights are first generation, while positive rights are part of the second and third generations.<\/p>\n

Economic, social, and cultural rights <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The UDHR and other documents lay out five kinds of human rights: economic, social, cultural, civil, and political. Economic, social, and cultural rights include the right to work, the right to food and water, the right to housing, and the right to education. Documents like the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights<\/a>, which was established in 1976, protect these rights. Conventions like the Convention on the Rights of the Child<\/a> safeguard the economic, social, and cultural rights of specific groups. As with all types of human rights, the state\u2019s responsibility is to protect, promote, and implement economic, social, and cultural rights. Specific examples in this category include:<\/p>\n