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In 1948 the United Nations set forth a proclamation that guarantees the inalienable rights that we all possess simply for being human. This document, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
“…codifies various fundamental human rights, including the right to life, the right to non-discrimination, the right to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to judicial remedies. Further, the United Nations has specifically deemed freedom from domestic violence to be a fundamental human right.”
Freedom From Domestic Violence as a Fundamental Human Right
The University of Texas School of Law Human Rights Clinic in Association with the Domestic Violence Clinic, the Legislative Lawyering Clinic, and the Austin/Travis County Family Violence Task Force
While lawmakers in the United States have set forth proclamations during Domestic Violence Awareness Month acknowledging that the freedom from domestic violence is a fundamental human right, to date there is no stand alone federal act that addresses this very issue. It is my firm belief that the lack of tangible action on the subject is what keeps our nation from moving forward to the realization of a country where there truly is liberty, dignity and justice for all. If, as a nation we have adopted The Declaration of Human Rights and uphold its core values, then we must protect every person’s right to be free from domestic violence:
“Not only is the right to life violated by acts of domestic violence, but often such acts involve cruel and degrading treatment, not only in the form of physical abuse, but also through withholding of financial access, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. Such treatment violates various other basic human rights. For instance, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment has drawn a parallel between domestic violence and acts of torture. The report emphasized the element of powerlessness, which is present in both domestic violence and torture. The Special Rapporteur defined powerlessness as “the intention to keep the victim in a permanent state of fear based on unpredictable violence by seeking to reduce the person to submission and destroy his/her capacity for resistance and autonomy . . .”
(Ibid)
Domestic violence cases require particular care and attention due to the fact that abuse occurs within the home, children are often involved, and abusers have easy access to victims. This issue has not been sufficiently addressed to adequately protect victims of abuse here in the United States. A special national council or task force should be set up to focus specifically on these types of violations of basic human rights.
Furthermore, the invasion of unwanted pornography in the home promotes an environment of objectification, masculine dominance and hostility. This has a detrimental effect on the emotional and psychological well being of domestic partners and falls under the prohibitions of Article 3 against “Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment.”
While no one can stop the proliferation of pornography, every person who does not want it in their home should have the right to be free of it, as it fuels violent emotions and promotes violent control over women:
“Pornography contributes to violence against women by normalizing male dominance, fostering feelings of aggression in a sexual context, and creating a tool of abuse in intimate partner relationships.”
Emily Gutierrez:Pornography and Violence Against Women Emory Undergraduate Research Journal, Spring 2013
As Mary Anne Layden, Phd, Director of the Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program Center for Cognitive Therapy Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania points out:
“Many psychologists call internet pornography the new “crack cocaine” when you note the combination of the power of pornography with the ready, 24/7 of pornography on any computer, much of it free, accessible in the privacy and anonymity of the home. ….Pornographic depictions of the sexuality of women and children distort the truth about desires of women and children, and legitimizes men’s sense of entitlement, and use of force, violence, and degrading acts by the male actors.”
Layden, Mary Anne (2017) [online] “Pornography and Violence: A New Look at Research”
Center for Cognitive Therapy Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania
If we cannot feasibly regulate the incessant flow of internet pornography, we should at least be able to be free of it in our own homes. Ones’ right to be free from degradation trumps any other persons’ right to participate in an activity that promotes anothers' degradation, domination or humiliation.
Further bolstering this argument is Article 4 in PART II of the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions relating to the protection of victims of non-international armed conflict.
This article states that:
“All persons who do not take a direct part or who have ceased to take part in hostilities … are entitled to respect for their person, honor and convictions and….the following acts… shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever:
….Violence to the life, health and physical or mental well-being of persons.”.
International Committee of the Red Cross (2004) [online] “Basic Rules of the Geneva Conventions and Their Additional Protocols, Section 5, Sanctions” (2015)
Additionally, under the category of ‘Sanctions’ in the provisions to Protocol I of the Conventions is a listing of grave breaches of international law which constitute war crimes. As stated:
“These articles lay before the conscience of the world the list of especially grave violations of the Conventions and the Protocol which, were they to remain unpunished, would signify the degradation of human values and regression of the entire concept of humanity.
These grave breaches are those involving any of the following acts:… willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment… willfully causing suffering or serious injury to body or health, any willful omission seriously endangering the physical or mental health or integrity of a person in the power of a (hostile) party.”
(Ibid)
If the above actions are heinous to the international community, why is it not similarly heinous that the physical and mental health of so many women is willfully endangered every day in this country within the confines of their homes? Furthermore, Article 13 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War states that:
“…prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity.”
Article 14 also includes the entitlement:
“…to respect for their persons and their honor. Women shall be treated with all the regard due to their sex and shall in all cases benefit by treatment as favorable as that granted to men.”
Therefore, it follows that the fundamental human right to be free from domestic violence should also include the following:
"The right to be free from verbal abuse, (inclusive of but not limited to name calling, insulting, threats or intimidation) financial control and manipulation, public humiliation, degradation of personal dignity, the unwanted presence or use of pornography in the home, and emotional or mental cruelty of any kind."
These rights, if not upheld, constitute grave breaches of the international human rights standards that refer to any individual in the power or control of another, and must be addressed and firmly enforced. It is my sincerest hope that policy in the United States will soon reflect these values that we, as signatories to the Geneva Conventions, purport to uphold.
