Human rights violations are a global issue, and they can happen anywhere, anytime. A few examples of human rights violations include child labor and slavery; sexual assault and rape; torture and mutilation; genocide; ethnic cleansing; religious persecution; human trafficking; imprisonment without trial; and unfair trials.
Human rights violations are frequently committed by government officials or other authority figures, but they can also be committed by civilians. In these cases, the victims have their human rights violated on the basis of their race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
Human rights violations can have devastating impacts on the lives of those affected. Some survivors never recover from the violence they’ve experienced and are forever scarred both physically and emotionally. Those who survive face an uphill battle to reestablish their lives in a world that is often unsympathetic to their plight. The perpetrators of these crimes usually go unpunished because human rights abuses are difficult to prove.
Many governments fail to protect their citizens from human rights violations while others turn a blind eye to them as they occur within their borders. However, all governments have agreed to take measures against such crimes and many countries have created institutions specifically designed to protect human rights and prevent future violations from occurring.
