Three Questions: Talking about Human Rights in Our Lives



Objective(s) & Context

  1. Build increased trust within the group.

  2. Connect personal experiences to the idea of human dignity and human rights.

 

Our human dignity can be upheld and violated in our daily lives and we each have the capacity to violate or uphold another person’s human dignity.

 

The denial or affirmation of our human dignity is often based on our relative power or privilege of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, age, educational level, disability, etc.

 

Human rights are ethically and morally based in respect of every person’s human dignity.

 

Duration

50 minutes or more

 

Group Size

10

* More could be added, but additional time would need to be allocated to the exercise

 

Age Group

10 +

 

Skills

Ability to correlate human rights to their lives and the lives of others, interpersonal communication skills

 

Format(s) & Technique(s)

Pairs and large group activity, conversation

 

Materials

Flip chart paper

Markers

Masking tape

Pens

 

Facilitation Tips

  • It is important to set a tone of mutual trust and respect before this activity by conducting an icebreaker activity, emphasizing ground rules before the exercise, and giving participants the option to pass.

  • The facilitator needs to have a strong idea of what human dignity means, as well as what a human dignity violation is. It is a good idea to have examples prepared.

  • Emphasizing the group’s collective responsibility to one another reinforces an atmosphere of trust and shared experience.

  • Stress the importance of confidentiality: what is shared in the group stays in the group and should not be discussed outside the group.

  • Talking about human rights violations may be challenging for participants, especially in a climate without trust. In some instances, this exercise can also trigger difficult memories or experiences for participants. It is important to come to the workshop prepared with resources should participants require them.

  • Encourage participants to draw from all their experiences, including “small” incidents. What matters is not the perceived gravity of a violation, but the way it made a participant feel.

 

Popular Education Prompts

  • Begin after an introduction exercise and an icebreaker activity that explores the concept of human dignity. For example, what images, words, would participants use to describe dignity or human dignity?

  • This exercise could be followed by adding new information about human rights and/or human dignity.

 

Leading the Activity: Steps to Take

Preparation:

  1. Be familiar with concepts like human dignity and human dignity violations.

  2. Prepare “three questions” for reference and write on the flip chart paper. Hang it in a place that is visible to the group.

 

Workshop:

  1. Assemble the group.

  2. Ask participants to find a partner, preferably someone they know. If there are an odd number of participants, form a group of three.

  3. Ask participants to consider the three questions on the flip chart and then share their answers with their partners (10 minutes). Questions could include:

  • Name a time when your human dignity was violated. Ask participants to share something that they are comfortable talking about in the group.

  • Name a time when you denied someone else his/her human dignity.

  • Name a time when your human dignity was upheld, or you upheld the human dignity of someone else.

  1. After everyone has had a chance to share with their partners, bring the large group back together in a circle.

  2. Ask each person to introduce herself and then share answers to one of the questions with the large group.

  3. Offer the option for participants to pass.

  4. For groups with more time, you may want to go around the circle three times, focusing on a different question each time.

  5. When people have finished, process the activity with the large group (10 minutes), by asking:

  • What did you notice during this exercise?

  • Did anything surprise you?

  • Are there particular groups of people whose human dignity are denied or upheld more than others? Why do you think this is?

  • What would make it possible to better protect human dignity in your life and in the lives of others?

  1. After the group has discussed these questions, review the following questions (10 minutes):

  • How do we violate or uphold other people’s human dignity?

  • How is our relative power or privilege (race, class, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, age, educational level, disability, etc.) related to our denial or affirmation of human dignity?

  • Are human rights ethically and morally based in upholding each person’s human dignity?

 

Debrief

  • Ask the group if they want to spend more time on any issue or topic raised in the workshop.

  • Do they have lingering questions?

  • Share resources related to human dignity. Is there any additional information that the group would like?

  • Is the group motivated to take action against human dignity violations? Why? How do they want to take action?

 

Success Indicators

  • Participants clearly correlate human rights to their lives and the lives of others.

 

 

Source: Andrea Canales, Go Girls