Types Of Human Rights

What Are The Types Of Human Rights? – Must Read In 2024

8 Mins Read August, 08 2022 Posted by Susmita Sen

So, you wanted to know about your rights, huh? 

I am sure we have all heard of the landmark case of Loving v. Virginia 1967. Here the Supreme Court ruled that banning interracial marriage was against the equal protection of law clause established by the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution.    

Pretty ahead of its time, right?

This verdict by the Supreme Court struck down the once-prevalent race-based law. By doing so, it was actually implementing one of the basic human rights established by the United Nation’s Universal Declaration Of Human Rights. 

Humanity Will Extinct Without The Human Rights

Humanity Will Extinct Without The Human Rights

There are various types of human rights that we, as common men, do not consider to be a “human right” per se. Speaking our minds, expressing our thoughts freely, and going to a church/temple/mosque are a few of the things that we happen to do regularly. 

We cannot possibly analyze every action, or else we could’ve known how many of these are actually privileges we enjoy by virtue of being human beings. 

So, what are the different types of human rights? Read on to know more.

Human Rights: What Are They?

Human Rights What Are They

Human Rights are the rights that we enjoy inherently by birth. Hence, they are not vested in us by the government of any state or federally, although they are often protected by them. 

The most common human rights that we enjoy every day since time immemorial are: 

Right to life and liberties, speech, thought, and expression. 

As a result, comparatively recent additions to this list include the right to vote, religion, and the right against discrimination. Therefore, more rights are to be added with the progress of society and with time.  

UDHR: The Godfather

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a comprehensive guideline on the list of human rights and freedoms adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. As a result it includes the 30 rights that one enjoys as a human being. They are as follows:

Right to EqualityFreedom from any kind of Discrimination
Right to Life, Liberty, and Personal SecurityFreedom from Slavery
Freedom from Torture and Degrading TreatmentRight to Recognition as a Person before the Law
Right to bring up Equality right before the LawRight to the Remedy by the Competent Tribunal
Freedom from making an Arbitrary Arrest and an Exile.Right for a Fair public hearing.
Right to be Considered Innocent until Proven GuiltyFreedom from third-party Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, and other types of different correspondence.
Right to Free Movement in and out of the CountryRight to admit in an Asylum in other Countries from the Persecution
Right to Nationality and the Freedom of Changing ItRight to choice Marriage and Family
Right to Owning a PropertyFreedom of a specific Belief and certain Religion
Freedom of Opinion and InformationRight of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Right to Participate in Government and in Free ElectionsRight to Social Security
Right to get a Desirable Work and Join the Trade UnionsRight to Rest and Leisure
Right to Adequate Life and Living StandardRight to Education
Right to Participating in the Cultural Life of in a CommunityRight to a Social Orders with the Articulates of this Documents
Community Duties Essential to Free and Full DevelopmentFreedom from State or Personal Interference in the above Rights

It has been a source and standard of conduct for members that have implemented most of the rights mentioned in it, into their Constitutions. 

Wondering About The Types Of Human Rights?

Wondering About The Types Of Human Rights

Human rights are fundamental rights and freedoms enjoyed by an individual. Therefore, these rights are applicable to humans irrespective of their caste, color, religion, national origin, language, gender identity, sexual orientation, and economic or social background. 

Human rights can be allotted into various categories based on the spheres they serve. 

For example, the right to vote can be considered to be a human right of political nature. As a result it can serve as a social right up to a certain extent as voting provides one with the opportunity to change the current social settings. Whether women enjoy the same voting rights as men also says a lot about the gender rights scenario of the country. 

Rights Can Be Positive Or Negative

Negative rights can be identified as freedom from certain elements, such as suppression, slavery, torture, and apartheid. Hence, the state is to make sure that these violations do not take place, especially now in the 21st Century. 
Positive rights are the rights that take care of the basic needs of the citizens. They include access to amenities and meeting basic needs like food, shelter, education, healthcare services, etc. This was a rather generic differentiation. Now let us take a more detailed approach to the types of human rights.

The different types of Human Rights include:

Economic, Social, And Cultural Rights

Economic, Social, And Cultural Rights

There is a substantial portion of the rights that constitute the economic, social, and cultural types of human rights. As a result, apart from the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, the International Covenant on the Economical, Social, and Cultural Rights of 1976, acts as a protection and guard of these rights. 

There are group-specific human rights protection agencies, such as the one that looks into human rights violations of children and women. 

The list of Human Rights that fall under this category includes the following:

The right to work- a safe environment, fair wage, and without discrimination; are a few of the conditions. Right to health care- including mental health care.
Right to basic education.The right to proper food, clothing, and shelter.
Right to sanitation and clean drinking water.Right to be culturally active.
Right to keep up and enjoy scientific and technological progress.Right to social security. 

Civil And Political Rights

Civil And Political Rights

The first half of the UN Declaration of Human Rights deals with the civil and political types of human rights guaranteed under it. As a result, the Political rights are to be enjoyed by all humans alike without facing any sort of discrimination. 

These civil rights mostly protect from certain violations such as slavery, torture, apartheid, etc. 

An International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights lays down the following rights.

Right to life, against infringements like torture, neglect, force, death, etc.Right to freedom of speech and expression, against infringements like limiting free speech, imposing limitations on the press, etc.
Right to privacy, and against violations that invade one’s personal space, sexual misconduct, etc.Subsequently, these right to asylum is infringed when a person seeking refuge is deported back to their country where their lives would be at risk.
The right to a free and fair trial.The right to freedom of religion- one is free to preach and practice his choice of faith.
The right to be free of discrimination.The right to vote and take part in government policy.

Theoretical Classification Of Human Rights 

Human rights are classified into a broad spectrum. It also consists of several theories that coin the overall concept of human rights. They are: 

Civil and Political Rights 

These are the basic rights that are given to individuals. As a result, it safeguards the basic dignity of a person. These rights theoretically maintain the security of the person. These rights include the right to life, liberty, and security, the right to own property, and also freedom of thought religion, and movement. 

On the other hand, political rights allows the people to participate in any form of government activities. Rights like the right to vote, are one of the finest examples of political rights. 

Civil and political rights are interconnected to one another. They are also known as first-generation rights originating way back in the 17th and the 18th century. As a result, these rights evolved right after the American and French revolutions. 

Natural Rights 

The history of human rights is rooted in the philosophical concepts of natural laws. Hence this is one of the oldest forms of rights we had that embarked upon our development. These rights showcase the overall ethical code of moral conduct. 

Natural rights are derived from natural law that reflects the moral reasoning of mankind. Therefore, natural rights mean a sense of positivity among us that acts as an enactment of statutes coming with various sanctions. 

Moral Rights 

Human rights are one of the biggest flagbearers of spiritual and moral conduct. Hence, these rights primarily entail various moral values that you cannot highlight with any set of institutional rights. They promote moral values and try and maintain peace in society. 

In layman’s terms, legal rights specifically recognized by the legal system. Since rights and duties are correlative to each other, legal rights safeguard human rights violation. Article 2 of the UDHR talks about this specific terminology in detail. It lays down the primary duties of the state that will foster legislative advancements. 

Economic and Social Rights 

These rights are often termed as freedom and guarantee the overall minimum necessities of life. The rights included mostly in the International Covenant of Economic Social and Cultural Rights. As a result, they’re a form of positive rights. Hence, substantially, they help in forming different policies and provisions to implement these rights. They’re primarily based on the concept of social equality.

Types Of Human Rights Violation

Types Of Human Rights Violation

Just as we have various types of human rights, we have different types of Human Rights Violations. They include:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):-

Q1: What Are The 10 Basic Human Rights? 

Ans: There are a few basic human rights that we, as woke statesmen, must be aware of. 
They are: 👇
⦿ Right to life
⦿ Right to freedom from torture.
⦿ Right to equal treatment. Right to privacy.
⦿ Right to marry.
⦿ Right to asylum.
⦿ Freedom of thought and expression.
⦿ Right to work.
⦿ Right to education.
⦿ Right to social services.

Q2.What Are Rights And Their Types?

Rights are powers or a claim vested in someone by law. The different kinds of rights include:
⦿ Economic Rights
⦿ Social Rights.
⦿ Political Rights.
⦿ Natural Rights.
⦿ Civil Rights.

The Future of Human Rights 

The future of human rights dates back to the days of Babylon and its ethical codes are the new flagbearers of legality. From the past, we can learn about the present scenarios that will help us shape our future. 

The concept of human rights dates way back to the period of Babylonian laws. There were various ethical codes of conduct that later coined as laws to sustain in the Babylonian society. 

The Codes specifically included provisions about fair wages, property protection, and even trial procedures. 

Today’s human rights come from the Hittite laws, Dharma, and even the laws prescribed in the Assyrian codes. Rights are hence an ever-evolving concept and you cannot get enough of it. 

To sum it up, whatever rights you’re now enjoying and witnessing will later evolve and change to provide societies with some greater good.

Bottomline: The ‘Right’ful Way

The abovementioned list of different kinds of human rights protects bodies on international, national, state, and even local levels. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is one such safeguarding authority that has offices in the Americas, Africa, Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, and South Asia. 

Human Right Treaty bodies ensure that the treaties and deals receives respect from different nations. These are core human rights treaties, like the International Convention on an Elimination of all types of Forms which are related to the different types of Racial Discrimination. The International Covenant on Civil rights and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, etc. 

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