Human rights is one of the three foundational principles of social work ethics and social work is described as a human rights profession. Human Rights Day (10 December) is a good moment for me to ask myself: what does being part of a human rights profession actually mean?
It’s about dignity
The first line of the UN Declaration of Human Rights says that everyone is ‘born equal in dignity and rights.’ Respect for each person’s dignity is at the root of human rights social work. Dignity is upheld when we are alongside people, listening, respecting and acting with them based on their views and wishes.
As a social worker in direct practice, this included not making assumptions about someone based on how they appeared but relating to the essence of the person and building a plan with them that worked for them. This often meant putting my preferences and views aside, something that I will be working on for my whole life. It also meant arguing for what someone wanted and needed, even when this didn’t fit neatly into policy and process.
In the work I do now, I try to hold people’s voices at the heart of everything I do, to have the respect to step aside and listen to experts by experience, and to campaign as an ally for policies that empower people to thrive and build lives of dignity.
It’s about equity
Research in Practice say that the human rights approach counters the idea of a ‘hierarchy of humanity.’ We see this hierarchy trying, and often succeeding, to emerge in every society. Some people are pushed aside and, at worst, treated as less than human. Whatever my role has been in social work, I have found myself with the opportunity to challenge or to uphold heirarchies of power.
As a social worker, I relied on colleagues, mentors, research and experience to try to understand the barriers that exclude people and to break these down. Increasingly, the leadership of experts by experience has given me insight and highlighted the tools that can attack these barriers. Recently, I was involved in a project to promote equity by using intersectionality to counter oppression and discrimination. The insights from Suryia and Clenton and the tools we developed in the project have given a new impetus to my commitment to anti-oppressive practice. I now try to incorporate intersectionality into all of my work as a foundational approach to ensuring everyone can realise their rights.
It’s about the everyday
Human rights sound grand. However they are upheld in everyday spaces. My colleague, Jo Fox, gave me a tea towel with the UN Declaration on it. I use it to dry my coffee mug in the office. Everything we do as social workers is about day-to-day life. Lives of hope and dignity aren’t forged in the institutions of international rights, though they can be protected there. They are made in the home, in the community and in the interactions between people.
As a social worker, it always astounded me how intimately we can engage in people’s lives. I worked in a hospice, a hospital, a care home and a community team. I witnessed people’s relationships, life changes, worries, hopes and even their deaths. Social workers often see people at times of struggle. At these times, choice and control are essential to upholding the dignity of human agency. We can provide advice, reassurance, guidance to gain rights, and amplify voice and challenge actions that trample on people’s wishes. As I work now to support practice improvement, I try to focus in on what happens in those moments when we encounter people and what will make these be moments of positive change.
Recognising the dignity of gloriously ordinary lives is also a recognition of the dignity of social work’s role. It is a role of respect, relationships and rights. It is truly a human rights profession.
Graphic design of quotes by Jools Watson