As I looked around the South Auditorium in the Old Executive Office Building during the White House's Forum to Combat Human Trafficking, I felt a surge of hope in a field that could use so much more. Members of the Obama administration joined with many of the nation's leading abolitionists to take stock of the nation's effort to end the scourge of human trafficking and share information to bolster the fight yet ahead of us.
Too often, those of us who fight against human slavery beat our heads against the walls of misinformation and prejudice.
No, we have to explain, trafficking victims aren't just those vulnerable people who are smuggled in from other countries so their labor and bodies can be exploited -- 80 percent of sex trafficking victims are U.S. citizens, mostly homeless, abused, and impoverished young people who see no other options.
Human Trafficking Training. Through Shared Hope International's offering of various human trafficking training programs, the goal is to increase the identification of those victimized and vulnerable to trafficking and improve the response of service providers and justice systems. See the site here
The Human Rights Education (HRE) Library contains over 3,000 full-text guides, curricula, textbooks and other documents for both formal and non-formal education in human rights.
Cambridge – HREA announces the release of Human Total: A Violence Prevention Learning Resource, a new manual created by HREA, the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP) and the Instituto Mexicano de Investigación Familia y de Población (IMIFAP)
"Adolescence is an ideal time to promote attitudes and behaviours that prevent interpersonal violence. Human Total is the first resource to blend life skills with human rights education" says HREA's Founder and Senior Advisor, Felisa Tibbitts, who helped prepare the pilot draft of the manual.
Human Total will be a vital resource for students, educators and parents. Targeted towards young people between the ages of 10 and 14, the manual helps learners understand attitudes that promote violent behaviour (often brought about by the misuse of alcohol) by males and cultivates methods to minimise these behaviours’ harms and prevent their perpetuation.
Human Total contains 32 adaptable lesson plans, including ways to recognise and understand violence in social contexts and techniques for minimising violence through education about human rights and active participation in the community. The manual also features a note for facilitators on how to use it, tools for outreach to parents and guardians, recommendations for additional resources, and eight annexes with supplemental information. The resource was piloted in El Salvador and Kenya.
Recognizing the Signs - Is someone you know being trafficked? Is human trafficking happening in your community? Is the situation you may have encountered actually human trafficking? The following is a list of potential red flags and indicators of human trafficking to help you recognize the signs. Read the full article here
Human Rights in the United States - a contemporary and informative history from Wikipedia.
Excerpt:
Human rights in the United States are legally protected by the Constitution of the United States, including the amendments,state constitutions, conferred by treaty, and enacted legislatively through Congress, state legislatures, and state referenda and citizen's initiatives. Federal courts in the United States have jurisdiction over international human rights laws as a federal question, arising under international law, which is part of the law of the United States..
HREA, in collaboration with INTRAC and the Jordan Civil Society Program, conducted a "bootcamp" for human rights trainers in Amman. Twenty trainers from NGOs and other civil society organisation participated in the five-day training of trainers that addressed topics like theory of change, methodology, the human rights framework, curriculum development, and impact assessment.
HREA organises trainings for a range of professionals groups, including human rights defenders, development workers, humanitarian workers, educators, legal professionals, law enforcement officials, social workers, health professionals, and media professionals.
The World As It Could Be - Human Rights Education Program is an outgrowth of a series of successful initiatives carried out since 2006 to educate and inspire youth and adults to further human rights for all people. These initiatives have used the creative arts to deepen learning about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); they have also given participating youth the voice to teach their peers and adults about the importance of the UDHR concepts.
Rapid E-Courses on Human Rights | ||
HREA offers short on-line courses introducing human rights topics. These rapid e-courses take between 3 and 5 hours to complete, yet are completely self-paced and thus can be spread out over days or even months depending on the situation of the learner. The rapid e-courses combine readings with rich multimedia, including videos and podcasts. |
Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center - Free Holocaust Education Curriculum: This curriculum guide was developed by a group of master teachers who have studied and taught the Holocaust in the context of history and the language arts. All materials and activities have been field-tested; they are challenging, age-appropriate and well suited to the needs of a diverse student population.
Facing History And Ourselves - Numerous educator materials and resources in multiple formats (publications, video, podcast, on-line and more) that combats racism, antisemitism, and prejudice.
Reports from the Council of Europe’s “European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment”, reporting on their systematic visits to places of detention.
Creating Safe And Engaging Schools: Bullying: Educators DVD (Bully) and tookit to help students find their voice, make ethical choices, and transform their communities.
Educational DVD and Toolkit
The DVD toolkit for educational use is available now. You can order the toolkit at thebullyproject.com.
Lesson Ideas: These lesson ideas are designed to provide classroom activities based on resources from Facing History And Ourselves. They suggest applications within a classroom setting; different from detailed Lesson Plans, these Lesson Ideas provide a broad foundation for activities and investigations and a spark for looking at content with a Facing History and Ourselves lens.
On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
This animation brings all 30 articles to life using different techniques, from pen and ink to digital animation.
Gambia: The National Council for Civic Education (NCCE), in collaboration with Action-Aid The Gambia, on Monday ended a two-week nationwide sensitization of schools on basic human rights.
The tour took NCCE officials to various schools across the length and breadth of the country.
The sensitization that targeted thirty schools was funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
August 9, 2013
Washington – On occasion of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urges Member States to guarantee full respect for the human rights of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact in the Americas because they are in a situation of high vulnerability. The lack of protection of their human rights entails a grave risk to their life and physical, cultural and spiritual integrity.
Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact in the Americas inhabit regions of the Amazonian jungle and the Gran Chaco in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. Their territories are often zones in which legal and illegal extractive activities take place in search of natural resources, primarily wood, hydrocarbons and minerals, as well as commercial agriculture and cattle raising in some countries. These activities in general constitute a threat to the life and integrity of these peoples, since they can lead to contact and all the consequence it entails for their health and physical and cultural survival. Since peoples in voluntary isolation do not have immunological defenses against common illnesses, contact can cause not only the loss of their worldview and cultural identity, but also epidemics that may lead to the disappearance of entire peoples.
Egyptian Human Rights Attorney Ragia Omran Selected for 30th Annual RFK Award
(WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 2, 2013) – Ms. Ragia Omran, a leading Egyptian human rights lawyer and women’s rights activist, has been selected as the honoree for the 2013 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, now in its 30th year. The award recognizes her extraordinary work, and initiates a partnership to support her efforts to advance the women’s rights, the rule of law, and democracy in Egypt through human rights legal advocacy.
“With dedication and courage, Ms. Omran is often the first to arrive on the scene at jails, police stations, court houses, and military and civilian prosecution offices. Hundreds of peaceful activists have her to thank for successfully securing their release and protecting their rights to freedom of speech and association,” said Kerry Kennedy, President of the RFK Center. “She is a beacon of hope for the woman of Egypt and a champion in the global human rights movement. We are proud to honor her with our 30th annual award.”
Curriculum resources for teaching Human Rights: The Speak Truth to Power curriculum introduces general human rights issues through the stories of some remarkable people working in the field, and urges students to become personally involved in the protection of human rights.
Speak Truth To Power, a project of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, is a multi-faceted global initiative that uses the experiences of courageous defenders from around the world to educate students and others about human rights, and urge them to take action. Issues range from slavery and environmental activism to religious self-determination and political participation.