The Necessity and Insufficiency of Human Rights

Correa and Thomas both observe the indispensability and insufficiency of human rights. They appreciate the necessity of human rights whilst reminding us to remain critical of them. Human rights rely on a false sense of universality, without which they would not be able to exist. Yet this universality leads to an inability to factor in cultural, individual and group differences.

A critical question in regards to human rights is: "who gets to make them and how can they avoid ethnocentrism?"

Nikki Sullivan explores the white optics behind the western view of 'female genital mutilation (FGM)'. Comparing this practice with cosmetic genital surgery in the west, ethnocentric bias in perspectives on morality become clear.

The above video brings to attention the issues that human rights are built around. Human rights are not fulfilled worldwide. It can be seen that the more injustices there are in the world, the more human rights are needed. In this sense, to an extent, human rights reflect the amount of injustice there is in the world.

Finally, Thomas leaves us with the question: "who counts as human?"

References:

Corrêa, S, Petchesky, R & Parker, R 2008, “On the indispensability and insufficiency of human rights” in Sexuality, Health and Human Rights, London and New York, Routledge, pp. 151-163.

Thomas, K 2006, “Afterword: Are Transgender Rights Inhuman Rights?” in P. Currah, R. M. Juang, S Price Minter (eds) Transgender Rights, University of Minnesota Press, pp. 310-326.

Sullivan, N 2007. ‘“The Price to Pay for our Common Good”: Genital Modification and the Somatechnologies of Cultural (In)Difference’, Social Semiotics, 17:3, pp. 395-409.