Albion Advocates

Guest writer Paria Anjum Rajput describes a human rights violation that has recently impacted her community in Pakistan.

It’s been 33 years since George W. Bush passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26th, 1990, and it still isn’t enough for disabled individuals trying to live their lives. The passing of the ADA was a major success on the legal front for disabled Americans but there are still many parts of our society that are in violation of the ADA, especially if you turn your focus to the workforce.

The fact that areas with typically healthy air quality are increasingly being damaged by air pollution reveals the spreading dangers of pollution and climate change threatening the human rights of all people.

Books do more than just reflect the issues that plague our society, they can help to promote human rights and move us toward a better world. Speculative fiction novels in particular can work to promote and protect rights in a variety of ways. 

Transgender people all over the United States are under attack. More than 700 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in dozens of state legislatures all over the United States this year. By denying transgender individuals their basic human dignity, inciting hate, and promoting legal discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals, supporters of anti-trans legislation are  promoting human rights violations.

Journalists who report on human rights violations face considerable risk. When they are targeted, press freedom itself is threatened. In honor of World Press Freedom Day, we remember journalists like Shireen Abu Akleh who have been killed protecting the freedom of opinion and information and call for the release of journalists who are unjustly imprisoned for their reporting.

Over one billion people suffer from mental illness worldwide. The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed that we are in the middle of a mental health crisis. It is more important than ever for workers to have a safe and healthy environment for work, yet our society struggles with mental health stigma and discrimination in the workforce. Learn how you can change that.

Advocacy is an important tool for holding hate groups accountable for their harmful actions. Grassroots organizing and community building are essential to creating a counter-narrative to the hate and extremism espoused by white supremacists and violent extremists. We must not let the attacks on our civil and human rights keep us from exercising them and we must recognize countering white supremacy is a responsibility for all of us.

The people of Ukraine are fighting everyday to protect their home. And while their strength and bravery are admirable this is not a battle they should have to fight alone. Now is not the time to forget the war. We must stay with Ukraine – every one of us.

Russia is targeting civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in Ukraine – violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. We must hold them accountable for these crimes and do our part to support human rights and democracy in Ukraine.