HOW HRSJ 5220: TRAUMA, RIGHTS AND JUSTICE: FROM WAR AND GENDER BASED VIOLENCE TO PEACE BUILDING, HAS BEEN ABLE TO HELP ME TO DEMONSTRATE A CRITICAL AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE PAST AND PRESENT DEBATES THAT HAVE SHAPED HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES.
Introduction
Participating in HRSJ 5220 has been extremely useful in enhancing my understanding and critical awareness of the complex issues surrounding human rights and social justice, especially considering the trauma endured because of war and gender-based violence.
Understanding the Multifaceted Nature of Human Rights Debates.
My knowledge of how human rights disputes come about and are resolved has been increased to an incredible extent by this course. Before I took the course, I did not know how human rights disputes were not all the same in each area. I never knew that in each individual culture, they were viewed differently based on the background history of where they were from. It is more important to understand society’s and region’s sophistication when discussing human rights. Arguing facts only gets across a small portion of one’s ignorance. Something could have happened historically in every single person’s life in a specific region, which makes them look at certain human rights issues differently. This became very prevalent to me, especially when we were discussing war and the cruelty of gender-based crime. I came to realize during the class that different types of judicial systems were in place that upheld human rights issues in war. My in-depth study in this course, has made me a more informed determinant fighter for human rights.
Insights from the Final Project on Trauma
Before the end of the semester, I had to finish a final thesis which was reflective of the ongoing intergenerational impacts of trauma in the Indigenous community from the Canadian Indian Residential School system, something I had known generally about previously but needed to conduct research into for final proofs of it ongoing and how it continues to damage entire communities, not simply individuals. The research made it incredibly clear to me the need for trauma-informed resolution for human rights abuses at large and has since become a mainstay of the social justice landscapes I have continued to study at the university , due to the fact that it pertains to the effects of historical trauma on survivors and their descendants’ mental health, cultural identity, and social outreach/behavior. Moving forward on this inquisition, I have begun realizing the need to see abuses in their historical contexts to remediate them and work towards better healing and reparation.
Learning from Class Assignments
The significance of class assignments in the application of theory to practical contexts cannot be overemphasized. I learned that the world is facing the challenge of war in apparent situations. Similarly, gender-based violence, which cuts across all geographic divides and cultural backgrounds, is a problem. With these examples, I have been able to critically assess the global nature of these challenges and establish the effectiveness of the peace-building programs and judicial processes in contemporary society concerning the aftermath of such cases. Further, class exercises promoted collaborative learning, which helped me engage in intelligent conversations with colleagues who held different opinions; hence, the interactive sessions enabled me to study, question, and enhance my understanding of difficult concepts. This is important because it further developed my logical, analytical, and problem-solving skills for the future, where I will be involved in serious social issues.
Critical Analysis of Past and Present Debates
Perhaps one of the most momentous aspects of the course, however, was the ability to critically assess historical and contemporary circumstances and world issues. This latter characteristic was most lucidly demonstrated in many of the course discussions about how the nature of human rights is changing, that is – from a state-centric perspective to a more human-centric approach, as well as the fact that many in today’s age are finally realizing that there are many more aspects of rights and justice than was first known beforehand. Specifically, this means that when we talk about human rights, we also need to talk about the rights of a human to be able to think whatever thoughts one wants to think or feel whatever one wants to feel after psychological trauma.
Enhanced Awareness of Social Justice Issues
The training has been very informative regarding what I need regarding social justice problems to better understand and identify the deep, underlying issues of inequality and injustices people face and society. This increased knowledge has really transformed me for the better, and I am even more motivated to stand and work on projects or anything that fights this widespread vice and helps empower the people behind it.
Conclusion
In conclusion, HRSJ 5220 has impacted how I understand human rights and social justice. My previously held views were very basic, but I now have a more complex understanding of these issues through the course’s focus on trauma, rights, and justice. I have learned more about historical and current debates in the sphere of these issues through various assignments and the final project. I plan to continue building on this newfound knowledge and engage in meaningful conversations about these important topics in my future activities.
HOW HRSJ 5110, GENOCIDE IN THE 21ST CENTURY HAS HELPED ME GAIN BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND WHY?
Introduction
The HRSJ 5110 Genocide in the 21st century has been very important to me in understanding human rights. The course has been filled with learning about incidences where human rights have been violated. In fact, killing many people deliberately is itself going against people’s rights. Everyone needs his right to life to be respected and thus no one should come up with schemes to end it to achieve his or her motives. At the end of this course work, I was able to have and gain better incite regarding how human rights have been violated, the fight for human rights, and what should be done to ensure human rights are always upheld.
Human Rights Violations
Genocide, as seen from all the scenes that I have covered throughout the course, has been filled with aspects of human rights violations. The perpetrators of crime have been having motives they want to achieve, such as destroying people’s culture, eliminating a group completely, or causing immense damage to the group. It has been a very painful experience to observe, and the victims have been left with a lot of scars.
People have a right to enjoy their culture and the practices that they deem important to them if they do not break any law. Therefore, it is essential for anybody to respect the culture of any group. If any group wants to introduce its culture to another, it should not coerce, but it should willingly accept the new way of living. Colonialism has been seen as one of the major violators of human rights in culture. They forced people to leave their way of life and emulate what they showed as the important way to live.
As the colonialists made people abandon their culture, they even tortured those who were hesitant to change their way of living. This torture went against the people’s human rights. One of the things that made the colonialists do the heinous without fear is that they knew that they had the power, and no one could hold them accountable for their actions.
Another instance where human rights were violated is in the fight where two groups were warring and to defeat one group they resorted to raping women and girls. Sexual assault being used as a tool to fight one group has gone against the victims’ human rights. The beating they receive, and sexual torture has been having a long-lasting impact on the victims. These sexual offenders violate human rights to take advantage of other groups as they make some part of the population weak and dehumanized. Also, the perpetrators in this case are motivated to violate their rights by the thought that they are appreciating themselves for the work they have done.
Human rights have also been violated when one group kills another to eliminate it. Almost all the cases have been characterized by mass killings and one group has been murdering more people than another. Killing people is the greatest human rights violation according to me. The groups that have been killing others the most have been having a plan to finish its members completely so that in the future they won’t exist. In this incident, the perpetrators are motivated to kill the other by the urge to make the other group completely forgotten.
I have seen that many offenders of human rights have been doing their acts without any fear of being punished. It seems that whatever they want to achieve is more important than what they will face in the future. Also, as during the incidences no fighters of human rights are found in the scene, the perpetrators know that there is little evidence that can be presented against them.
Fight for Human Rights
Many organizations are formed to defend people’s human rights in incidences such as during the genocides. They are supposed to be involved in doing investigations to get the culprits and get evidence against them. Such organizations include Amnesty International, UNHCR, and Human Rights Watch. ICC also is supposed to deal with any offender that is presented to them by listening to the evidence and giving verdicts on how they should be dealt with.
The efforts of these organizations have not been felt regarding the genocide. Very few culprits have been punished and this shows why the acts of violating human rights have continued. The strategies employed by the organizations must be renewed to make their actions effective.
How to Ensure Rights are Upheld
People must rise and form groups that condemn the acts in the community and help in bringing culprits face the law as impunity breeds in silence. The government and other non-government organizations should sensitize people to the impacts of violating human rights and their consequences. It is good to have proactive measures to deal with an issue rather than reactive measures.
Conclusion
My takeaways from the violation of human rights are summarized below. Firstly, people have been violating others’ rights because they have power, and they cannot be held accountable. Secondly, they violate human rights to make the victims weak and dehumanized. Thirdly, they violate human rights for all they care about is seeing the other group eliminated. Lastly, to end human rights violations, proactive measures are the most desirable as reactive measures have proved to be unsuccessful.