5.0 HUMAN RIGHTS IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Every single day there are reports of human rights violations in the newspapers and on TV. It may be the disabled, homosexuals or refugees being discriminated against in Norway or it may be news from abroad about wars and atrocities against women and children. It could be about want or hunger, or the building of walls meant to separate people. You may be thinking that all this stuff about human rights is difficult - that it is about politics and the wider world - and that therefore there is not much you can do about it in your day-to-day life. You are both right and wrong.

You are right to think that human rights are a complicated legal field. On the other hand, the most important message is that all people are of equal value and that no one should be discriminated against because of their gender, skin colour, nationality, religion or some other characteristic. Many people believe that this is easy to understand because it agrees with what most of us think about justice and about right and wrong.

Norway is a multicultural society, like most other countries in the world. Its society consists of many types of people with different cultural and national backgrounds, religious affiliations and sexual orientations. One of the most important challenges is to find a collective way of living with each other with respect for our differences. Increasing respect for human rights can help to achieve this goal. It is therefore important that all people, young and old, know what human rights are. In discussions in school, wider society and with your family, you have the right to speak out when you experience unfairness or see people being discriminated against. Human rights are therefore something you can use every day. Simply speaking out makes a big difference.