On Life, Liberty, & Security of Person

Of all the rights we have as human beings, perhaps the one most easy to overlook is Article 3 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which simply notes, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person.”

For many of us, this is an assumption we make every waking day; something so basic that it hardly seems to merit much thought. Indeed, only one other article in the UDHR takes as few words to state.

Of course we all have the right to life, liberty, and security of person — and those ideas are ones that we in the United States are also intimately familiar with from the Bill of Rights.

What does this right look like in practice, however?

In everyday life, it seems like this right is not equally distributed. The spectrum of stories being raised in the #MeToo movement illustrate that, for many, security of person is more of an ideal than an actuality. The fact that a significant portion of the population cannot even walk down a street without unwelcome attention; whether that be lecherous glances or catcalling or groping or any other form of physical or verbal assault; is painfully indicative that we as a nation, a city, a neighborhood, and a community need to reconsider our understanding of this right to security of person.

When we perpetrate acts such as the above mentioned on the streets, in our workplaces, in our homes — anywhere — we are violating the basic human right to have security of person.

When we create or perpetuate systems and actions that cause any portion of our population — our fellow human beings — to live without security of person, we are violating a fundamental human right.

Security of Person means:

• To be pulled over by the police and know the reason is not because of your identity characterization, but because you actually gave cause to be pulled over.
• To know that if you report a crime perpetrated against you, it will be promptly and justly prosecuted and you won’t be the one who ends up on trial.
• To walk down a street and not have to have your thumb on an emergency speed-dial or your hand on a disguised can of mace or your keys tucked between your fingers like a ring knife just because of who you are and how you identify as a person.
• To not have to worry about losing your job, or making less money, or being stopped on the street or followed around, or any of these things that, in fact, we do see in our communities and on the news all the time.

This small little article of the UDHR is pivotal to a healthy society. It is vital that we not only recognize this most basic, fundamental human right, but begin to have the difficult conversations of what it actually means to respect it for everyone, practice it fully, and defend it on the individual, local, national, and global levels.

Learn more about what you can do to help improve human rights in the DC area by joining the United Nations Association of the National Capitol Area (UNA-NCA) Human Rights Committee and help make a difference in your community. You can also participate in our project, #MappingForward from Violence Against Women. Contact us today.

This post was written by H. Hill, Chair of the UNA-NCA Human Rights Committee, as part of an ongoing series focused on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.