Examples of violations of economic, social and cultural rights

 

 

According to  UN High Commissioner  on Human Rights, a violation of economic, social and cultural rights occurs when a State fails in its obligations to ensure that they are enjoyed without discrimination or in its obligation to respect, protect and fulfill them. Often a violation of one of the rights is linked to a violation of other rights.

 

A few examples of violations of economic, social and cultural rights include:

• Forcibly evicting people from their homes (the right to adequate housing)

• Contaminating water, for example, with waste from State-owned facilities (the right to health)

• Failure to ensure a minimum wage sufficient for a decent living (rights at work)

• Failure to prevent starvation in all areas and communities in the country (freedom from hunger)

• Denying access to information and services related to sexual and reproductive health (the right to health)

• Systematically segregating children with disabilities from mainstream schools (the right to education)

• Failure to prevent employers from discriminating in recruitment (based on sex, disability, race, political opinion, social origin, HIV status, etc.) (The right to work)

• Failure to prohibit public and private entities from destroying or contaminating food and its source, such as arable land and water (the right to food)

• Failure to provide for a reasonable limitation of working hours in the public and private sector (rights at work)

• Banning the use of minority or indigenous languages (the right to participate in cultural life)

• Denying social assistance to people because of their status (e.g., people without a fixed domicile, asylum-seekers) (the right to social security)

• Failure to ensure maternity leave for working mothers (protection of and assistance to the family)

• Arbitrary and illegal disconnection of water for personal and domestic use (the right to water).