6 Days To Go…

Credit: Meredith Stern

Only six days left until the #StandUp4HumanRightsCT rally in Hartford THIS Saturday, September 8th! This event will be an incredible opportunity to connect with local changemakers and discuss ways in which your community can collectively defend and preserve human rights.

Human rights are those granted simply on the basis of our humanness. Human rights are indivisible, interdependent, and inalienable.

They are equally applied to every individual regardless of their race and ethnicity, sex and gender, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic status, citizenship, or nation(s) of birth and residence.

Human rights are interconnected and mutually reliant; if you have followed our campaign over the last few weeks, you have probably noticed trends and connections between the various rights outlined in the UDHR. Without the first and second articles, the subsequent twenty-eight would be null. Without the thirtieth article, the inalienability of human rights would not be guaranteed.

On that last point, the inviolability of human rights: human rights cannot be taken away. No governmental authority has the jurisdiction to suppress or remove human rights without being in violation of international human rights law.

In today’s sociopolitical climate, it is all the more important that we educate ourselves about the rights and liberties that we are each guaranteed. The celebratory rally this upcoming weekend will serve as both an informative and empowering event. All are welcome, and we hope to see you there!

Today’s post will highlight Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of movement, also known as mobility rights. The article reads: “(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”

It is difficult to imagine how vastly different our lives would look without the rights guaranteed in this article. Freedom of movement makes possible summer family vacations, studying abroad, spontaneous road trips with friends, relocating one’s place of residence for work, and the holiday beach visits you may very well be making this weekend. To be forever restricted to a single location, unable to travel as necessary or desired, is a condition few would readily accept. On the other hand, to travel beyond the borders of one’s nation of citizenship and then have the ability to return home made insecure or subject to change is an equally disconcerting thought. The physical places in which we spend our time so heavily influence our daily lives, and to have the liberty to personally govern the spaces in which we navigate through life potentially threatened could offset everything that we do.

How does the freedom of movement influence your life? In what ways can you protect this sacrosanct human right for yourself and others?

Come to the #StandUp4HumanRightsCT rally on September 8th to learn more about how you and your community can affect change. Please repost and click “GOING” on our Facebook event