The 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and their application to men

article originally by u/Oncefa2 on Reddit

##Background

These 30 articles were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 and represent some of the most widely agreed upon human rights standards in the world.

Some history and information can be found here:

https://www.ohchr.org/en/what-are-human-rights

And an overview of the 30 articles can be found here:

https://standup4humanrights.org/en/declaration.html

I am going to use this site to go through all 30 articles, point out their relevance to men’s human rights, existing shortfalls in society, and then offer condensed policy recommendations. I am not an expert on any of this and it is definitely not perfect but I think it can give us some ideas to look into. I am also not trying to imply that women do not face issues in any of these areas. The nature of this exercise is to look at issues affecting men because those issues are often ignored by society.

##The 30 articles and their application to men’s human rights

###Article 1: Free and equal

All human beings are born free and equal and should be treated the same way.

Men and women are commonly not treated the same by society, institutions, or under the law

This is a very broad article and covers many of the later categories where I will get more specific. One example that stands out is the Hayden rider modification to the US Equal Rights Amendment which sought to preserve discrimination and unfair treatment against men but not women. Presumably the Hayden rider modification would cause the bill to be in violation of this article because it would establish unequal treatment between men and women. This is true regardless if you think discrimination and unfair treatment against men exists, rendering that argument (which is usually made from a place of ignorance) invalid according to basic human rights standards.

####Proposed policy recommendations

Policies should be mindful of unequal treatment and double standards between men and women
Policies should not exclude one gender
Policies should not focus exclusively or disproportionally on one gender
Policies should not treat men differently from women

###Article 2: Freedom from discrimination

Everyone can claim their rights regardless of sex, race, language, religion, social standing, etc.

Men are commonly discriminated against by sex, marital status, and parental status
There are many articles in this document where active effort to protect women already exist but men are still denied equivalent rights because of their gender

This is another broad category that covers many of the later categories, so I will be expanding on those topics under those articles. A couple examples include education, freedom of movement, freedom from forced labor, and bodily autonomy.

Another thing that comes to mind are discriminatory definitions and implementations of laws concerning sexual assault and domestic violence. The UK’s Sexual Offences Act of 2003 and the US’s 1994 Violence Against Women Act are likely in violation of this article.

In the later case, the bill was eventually amended due to constitutional challenges on the grounds of gender equality, but in practice it is still often exclusionary. One factor that needs to be looked at is the name of the bill itself, since that can influence the implementation of the bill by implying that it is still only about women. Since this and other articles stress implementation as much as definition I think the name of the bill is in violation of this and several other articles.

Another issue that needs talked about more is discrimination against single men, which I think is protected by this article because your marital status represents a type of social standing.

####Proposed policy recommendations

Policies should protect the rights of everyone, including men, regardless of parental or marital status
Policies should not exclude men on the basis of their gender
Policies should be implemented fairly and equally
Checks should be built in to make sure that this is carried out in practice and not just in definition

###Article 3: Right to life

Everyone has the right to life and to live in freedom and safety.

Men are the biggest victims of violence in society and have a much higher mortality rate
The state often perpetuates this problem or is actively part of the problem

The death penalty is pushed onto male criminals more than female criminals, and in some places the death penalty can legally only be applied to men, and not women.

Forced military conscription seems like it violates this article as well.

It is also frequently the case that violence affecting women is taken more seriously than violence against men. Violence against men is often considered normal or may even be invisible to most people.

####Proposed policy recommendations

Policies should seek to protect the safety of all people, regardless of gender
The life and safety of men should not come second to women, especially when men are victimized at considerably higher rates than women, often because of their gender

###Article 4: Freedom from slavery

No one has the right to treat you as a slave nor should you enslave anyone.

A majority of forced labor around the world, including forced child labor, exploits men and boys
Men are often victims of coerced labor as well, for example inside of their families
Husbands and fathers are forced by law to labor for the benefit of women and children against their will

This one intersects with known men’s rights issues on several fronts. The prison industrial complex systematically exploits male labor, and many laws and policies in this area target the criminalization and arrest of men to perpetuate this system.

Men are also treated like indentured servants by child support and alimony policies where they are forced to labor for the benefit of women and children against their will. The use and exploitation of male labor to support women and children takes on many forms and people are often blind to this.

####Proposed policy recommendations

Policies should investigate and put an end to forced labor, including forced labor inside the prison industrial complex, and peonage in the form of child support, alimony, marriage laws, and divorce laws

###Article 5: Freedom from torture

No one has the right to torture you.

The treatment of men in prison has been argued to be cruel and unusual
Enhanced interrogation tactics are still used by militaries around the world, and men are disproportionally the victims of this

One note here is the difference between male prisons and female prisons. If a given treatment is considered too inhumane for female inmates, then it should also be considered inhumane for male inmates.

####Proposed policy recommendations

A person’s gender should not influence our willingness to engage in torture
A person’s gender should not change what we consider to be torture. If it is something we wouldn’t inflict upon a woman, then we should not inflict it upon a man.

###Article 6: Right to recognition before the law

You should be legally protected in the same way everywhere like anyone else.

Men are commonly excluded from legal definitions of sexual assault
Men are commonly excluded from protections and funding offered for victims of domestic violence
Male bodily autonomy is recognized almost nowhere on the planet

There’s probably a lot more but all of this should be covered by this article. We need to legally recognize male victims of sexual assault and we need to protect infant boys from nonconsensual genital modifications.

####Proposed policy recommendations

Adopt gender neutral legislation in name, content, and enforcement
Extend to men existing protections and rights that are already afford to women

###Article 7: Right to equality before the law

The law is the same for everyone and should be applied in the same manner to all.

Men are profiled by the police and are more likely to be found guilty given the same evidence
Men receive harsher punishment for the same crimes and mitigating factors
When the victim of a crime is a man, the police do not investigate the crime as thoroughly, and the perpetrator is punished less severely
Legislation may be formally written in a gender neutral manner but still end up being enforced unequally

There is again quite a bit you could put here. While legislation is sometimes gendered, what is more common is that legislation is gender neutral on paper but is still enforced unequally. This ranges from things like clubs being allowed to charge different cover amounts depending on your gender to the police not believing or caring about male victims of sexual and domestic abuse.

####Proposed policy recommendations

Legislation should be gender neutral and apply to everyone equally
Special care should be taken so that gender neutral legislation is enforced in a gender neutral manner

###Article 8: Access to justice

You have the right to obtain legal help and access the justice system when your rights are not respected.

Men who are going through a divorce or child custody battle usually cannot finance their cases and therefore do not have equal access to justice
Men who are victims of false allegations find it difficult to clear their names and pursue compensatory damages

This category is something that we fall short of in many ways for everybody. But men probably run into this a lot more than women, since the legal system is usually set up for women on issues that are commonly gendered. For example, emergency court ordered alimony and child support payments based on existing prejudices and gendered legislation makes it difficult to seek counsel and fight for a fair and equal outcome to the trial.

Men also find themselves the victims of legal aggression for which they do not have the means to adequately defend themselves. And in cases of libel, men are usually unable to get the state to intervene on their behalf.

####Proposed policy recommendations

Courts should not make temporary orders that interfere with a person’s ability to obtain adequate legal counsel
The state should pay for legal counsel in civil and family cases like it does for criminal cases

###Article 9: Freedom from arbitrary detention

No one can arrest or detain you arbitrarily, or send you away from your country unjustly.

Many militaries do not operate under this principle

Since the military is made up predominantly by men, internal military detention affects more men than women. And since women and children receive better protection from military aggression, victims of detainment related to military conflicts are also more likely to be men.

####Proposed policy recommendations

Militaries should not be granted exceptions to this article

###Article 10: Right to a fair trial

Trials should be public and tried in a fair manner by an impartial and independent tribunal.

Men are more likely to be found guilty given the same evidence and mitigating factors against them
In cases of hearsay, female testimony is more likely to be believed than male testimony

This indicates that juries are not impartial, likely because of systemic gender biases against men.

####Proposed policy recommendations

Judges and juries should be educated about unconscious gender biases against men and be reminded to remain impartial
Courts should formally adopt procedures to strike out testimony and evidence that relies on known gender biases

###Article 11: Presumption of innocence

You are considered innocent until it can be proved you are guilty according to law. If accused of a crime you have the right to a defence.

Men are presumed guilty more often than women
A presumption of innocence does not exist in the court of public opinion
A presumption of innocence does not exist inside family law

In cases of crimes perceived to be gendered, men are usually treated as guilty before the trial, and this treatment often continues even if they are later found to be innocent.

Family court often takes a guilty until proven innocent approach, especially towards men.

####Proposed policy recommendations

The media should be held to higher standards when reporting on crimes
A good model to follow might be what we do with minors, like leaving out the names of accused parties until after a trial
A family court judge should not consider a criminal allegation to have relevance in a trial until those allegations have been proven beyond a reason of doubt in a criminal court
Special care should be taken to identify legal and administrative aggression which is disproportionately utilized by women against men

###Article 12: Right to privacy

You have the right to protection if someone tried to harm your good name, enter your home without permission or interfere with your correspondence.

Men are more likely than women to be the victims of privacy encroachment by significant others and digital stalkers
Due to the weight of a woman’s word against a man’s, men are often the victims of attacks upon their honor and reputation by women

Basically everything that this article covers is commonly gendered against men, especially in the context of intimate relationships. Men are more likely to have correspondences spied on than the reverse and men are more likely to have their correspondences actively manipulated than the reverse. This comes in many forms and includes things like spying on text messages, cyber stalking, and having your social media monitored or even directly controlled by your significant other.

I’m kind of surprised to see that harming someone’s reputation falls under this category, but it does make sense when you think of it terms of things you do in private becoming public.

I assume that this has less to do about false allegations and instead has more to do with an ex-lover spilling secrets that you either told them in confidence, or that they gained on their own during the course of your relationship.

One thing that stood out to me was just how commonly this principle is violated in informal day to day social interactions, and over social media. It is so common that I had no idea this was considered a formal human rights issue. I instead always thought that the right to privacy was something that was meant to protect you from the government, or maybe from a nosy neighbor.

I am also unaware of any formal legal avenue to address violations concerning attacks on your name. In cases of libel, what was said about you has to be false. But in this case the defaming information can actually be true, it just has to have been information that was private.

####Proposed policy recommendations

Victims of privacy encroachment should have accessable legal avenues to pursue compensation and hold perpetrators criminally liable for their actions
We should educate the public about what it means to encroach on someone’s privacy, especially given recent advances in information technology, and the rise of social media

###Article 13: Freedom of movement

You have the right to leave or move within your own country and you should be able to return.

One strategy the state uses to force men into non-consensual labor is restriction of movement
Driver’s licenses and passports are commonly revoked for debtors and peons

It’s also common for people convicted of crimes to have their passports revoked in some countries, including after their sentence has been fulfilled, which to me seems like is in violation of this article as well.

####Proposed policy recommendations

Efforts should be made to facilitate the escape from peonage by crossing legal districts where peonage is being enforced on someone

###Article 14: Right to asylum

If you are persecuted at home, you have the right to seek protection in another country.

Men are more likely to be the victims of political persecution than women

I don’t see this is as being gendered except to the extent that men are more likely to seek political change and be targeted by existing power structures for speaking out against them.

It also seems to me that our definition of political persecution has been eroded over time, and that certain countries have gained near global access to be able to extradite nearly anyone they want for political purposes.

####Proposed policy recommendations

We should look into how extradition treaties are written and enforced

###Article 15: Right to nationality

You have the right to belong to a country and have a nationality.

There is a very well known immigration bias that favors women and children over men
This is especially egregious given the fact that men are more likely to be persecuted in their home county and are more likely to be victims of violence because of their gender

A key part of this article is that you cannot be denied the right to change your nationality. And we commonly see that men have greater trouble with this than women do.

####Proposed policy recommendations

A person’s gender should not affect their ability to travel or gain nationality in another country

###Article 16: Right to marriage and to found a family

Men and women have the right to marry when they are legally able without limits due to race, nationality or religion. Families should be protected by the Government and the justice system.

Men and boys are commonly not recognized as victims of forced marriages due to gender biases that see men as the more culpable party in a marriage
Boys are commonly not recognized as victims of child marriages due to similar gender biases
The family unit is increasingly coming under attack in Western nations by neoliberal policies

This is an article that looks like has been “solved” in the modern world until you start looking at some of the details in the definition for it.

I’m not one to raise flags over the “destruction of the traditional family” but I think it’s interesting that this article specifically protects the family unit and even calls it the basis for society. It also calls on states to protect the institution of marriage. So I’ve included this bullet point for the sake of completeness and possible discussion.

Another note is that we’ve raised flags over forced marriages and child marriages for women and girls but not for men and boys. The perception is that men are forcing women into marriages but it is very often the case that both parties are forced into a marriage against their will, not just the female partner.

Traditional Western martial ages that are being enforced through cultural hegemony onto non-Western nations also impact our perception on this issue. For example a marriage between an 18 year old male and a 17 year old female will be contextualized as a child marriages for the female partner but not for the male partner.

Note also that in many of these countries it is common and legal for younger people to enter into marriages due to lower life expectancies, and this practice seems to be explicitly protected by the wording of this article because it mentions “legal” and “of age”. This gets defined by the state in which you are married, and the state is then given an obligation to protect these marriages.

####Proposed policy recommendations

We need better research into forced marriages and child marriages that both respect local customs and laws and that are inclusive of male victims as well

###Article 17: Right to own property

You have the right to own things. No one has the right to illegally take them from you.

Men commonly lose their property through marriage and divorce

This is another article that on the surface looks like shouldn’t be a problem, but the full definition does have obvious relevance to gendered issues that men face in society.

In particular there is a very active and state enforced transfer of property from men to women. This primarily happens during a divorce but you can find examples of it elsewhere as well.

####Proposed policy recommendations

Men should not be denied a right to their property in the course of a divorce proceeding
Special care should be taken to look into the various strategies that are used to transfer property from men to women, including coercion, manipulation, assisted suicide, proxy violence, and spousal homicide

###Article 18: Freedom of religion or belief

Everyone has the right to freely manifest their religion, to change it and to practice it alone or with others.

A man’s religious inclinations are seen as more dangerous than a woman’s religious inclinations due to racial, religious, and gendered stereotypes in society
Prejudices against religious men might interfere with their right to movement and their right to nationality

Just making a note that religious prejudices intersect with gendered prejudices against men.

####Proposed policy recommendations

Religious beliefs should not be seen as problematic when they are practiced by a man

###Article 19: Freedom of Expression

Everyone has the right to think and say what they like and no one should forbid it.

Men are expected to be quiet and listen to women, especially in domestic spheres, and on topics of gender
This is often enforced institutionally, through the media, and through social media

While this is not a recent problem, we have seen this manifest more and more often in modern times through social media. Moral panics over the empowerment of women in society have facilitated buzzword like mansplaining to silence men and shut down conversations. This is especially true around the topic of gender which is just as important of an issue for men as it is for women.

####Proposed policy recommendations

We should reiterate that gender issues affect men just as much as they do women
We should reiterate that men are allowed to have opinions about gender issues that affect them
We should reiterate that opinions and views held by men are equally as valid and as important as opinions and views held by women

###Article 20: Freedom of assembly

You have the right to organize and participate in peaceful meetings.

Men are seen as bigger threats than women so peaceful assemblies involving men are more likely to be shut down
Assemblies advocating for men’s human rights are met with opposition and are not adequately protected by the state

This bias is so apparent that movements have organized women’s only (and sometimes children’s only) marches in order to gain sympathy from the public and prevent the police from using excessive force against peaceful demonstrators.

Such a strategy would not have proven useful if this gender stereotype was not an active issue in society.

We have also seen this in the past with conferences for men’s issues and even for suicide awareness seminars where the police do a poor job containing crowds, which prevents men from speaking out against issues of sexism and discrimination that affects them.

####Proposed policy recommendations

The gender makeup of an assembly of people should not influence whether that assembly is seen as peaceful
The gender makeup of an assembly should not influence the amount of protection it receives from the state
Assemblies for men’s human rights should receive the same amount of protection as any other assembly