The Human Rights Approach to Life – Treat Everyone with Dignity and Respect

I am a great supporter of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) because it has been one of the main drivers behind the transformational changes in equality law over the past decade. Why this government and some of our media, want to replace it is a bit of a mystery bearing in mind it was the British in 1949/50 who were the main architects of the European Convention on Human Rights. 

The role of the ECHR is to provide a final court of appeal to all citizens of Europe if they believe that basic human rights are being violated by the state. In the UK however since the Human Rights Act 1998, most human rights issues are now dealt with in the UK courts with only about 10 cases each year actually being heard in Strasbourg. 

Whilst Human Rights law itself is quite complex and applies only to the way the state treats its citizens, the basic principle is simple and one which we should all try to live by in all our dealings with other people.  If we could, I believe that thousands of pages of legislation could be dispensed with. 

Treat Everyone with Dignity and Respect

That's it. Simple - but is it?  When I ask people on my workshops if they could live by this basic principle most immediately say yes... 

Until I emphasise the important word in that statement.  Everyone – murders, drug dealers, paedophiles, sex offenders, rapists, terrorists... 

“Ah – everyone except... ” I hear people say.  But we can’t do that. The principle of Human Rights has to apply everyone.

Who gets to decide on the exceptions? If the issue is a matter of national security, do we give someone the right to withdraw human rights from people in secret?  There can be no exceptions. 

After I changed gender I had a few minor problems with children in the area bringing their friends to “see the local trannie”.  And if I was nowhere to be seen they would shout, knock on the door, or throw stones to get my attention.  I put up with this for a few years and then in October 2008 things took a turn for the worse. 

First thing I noticed was a hole in a window where a stone had been thrown too hard. I ignored it, until the next week when another window was broken, so I called the police and reported this as a hate crime. Nothing was done and the next week things got even worse.

I thought at first it was a hail storm, till I opened the French windows and realised that a gang of about 20 kids were all throwing stones over my back fence.  And that was just the start.  Every night between 5 and 20 kids aged about 12 to 15 attacked my house from the rear and the front throwing stones, mud and abuse before disappearing into the dark back ally’s.

I called 999 no fewer than 11 times in the next two weeks and lived in constant stress.  All the windows, including the French windows were broken and I had had to board them up to prevent further damage.  Police were around my house every night in cars, on bikes and on foot, but the kids still evaded them. 

I had no idea who they were, because many of them were wearing hoodies and balaclavas to avoid being recognised.  I was terrified to leave the house at night in case they were able to get into my house and spray paint the interior, something I knew had been done to other gay and trans people in the city. 

Finally it reached a crescendo. They were riding past the front of my house on bikes hurling mud at the walls and windows and I lost it.  I grabbed a retractable washing line prop and went out to confront them – I was ready to take their heads off with heavy aluminium pole.

“Come on you little Bas****s,” I shouted.  All thought of treating them with dignity and respect was gone.  One young lad stood there, mud in hand.  “Come on then”, I yelled, then added “Why are you doing this to me?”

 “Well, are you a man or a woman?” came the reply.

I threw away my weapon and started to answer his question.  He dropped the mud he was holding and came forward and before I knew it he was joined by others, all firing questions as me.

Five minutes later I found myself on the green outside my house delivering a transgender awareness workshop to about 20 young people and as they removed their balaclavas I know it was all over. 

I spent about 10 minutes talking to them before the police arrived and they dispersed but I never had another problem after that.

It was over because I did "Treat Everyone with Dignity and Respect".

If I had hit one of them with that pole I would have been arrested and the problem with have escalated, with parents adding to the problem. 

Treating people with dignity and respect does not mean that we do not put people in prison or punish them for crimes or deport them to their country of origin; it means that when we do those things, we do it with dignity and respect, even when they have failed to treat others that way.

If you take this approach in all your dealings with people, especially colleagues at work, customers and service users, even our neighbors, you will never fall foul of equalities law and the world around us will be a much nicer place. 

Dignity and Respect Campaign

The driver behind all Equality and Diversity legislation is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights brought about in 1947 as a result of the condemnation of the atrocities by Nazi's against various minority groups.

The underlying principle of Human Rights legislation is to:

Treat Everyone with Dignity and Respect

How do you feel about that as a principle for life?

I ask this question often in workshops and seminars and generally the initial response for most people is positive.  We all want to be treated with dignity and respect so we all initially will feel that this is the right.  This is after all in harmony with the Golden Rule or Ethic of Reciprocity that appears in every major religion as far back was records exist although I like the version promoted by the Dignity andRespect Campaign  - “Treat others the way they want to be treated”.

The challenge comes when I ask people if they understand that this does mean everyone – that includes murders, paedophiles, sex offenders, rapists, terrorists...  When we say everyone, that’s what it means.  The moment you say everyone except... then who decides on the exceptions.

Who is going to have the power to decide whether you are entitled to dignity and respect and do you have the right to challenge them... can you see where this goes.

Treating everyone with dignity and respect does not mean condoning unacceptable behaviour or failing to punish people for transgressing our laws – but it does mean that we treat such people with dignity and respect in the way we punish them.

I was once the victim of a month long hate campaign by a group of children and young people aged from about 10 to 15. Every night my house was targeted with stones, mud and abuse. By the end of the month I had abandoned the human rights principles and I was ready to attack these kids with anything I could lay my hands on.

When I confronted them they backed off and began asking questions.  I put down the iron bar I was holding and started answering their questions. By the time we finished I had more than 20 young people engaged in an impromptu seminar on the grass outside my house.  The left better informed about transgender issues and there was never another incident.

If I had resorted to violence all I would have done was to have gotten myself into trouble and aggravated an already difficult situation.

Most discrimination and harassment arises out of ignorance – We are afraid of difference and react to information we have gained about those “other” people. That information is largely based on stereotypes promoted by the media and misinformation suggesting that certain people do not deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Researching this article I came across Dignity and Respect Campaign.  It’s a campaign I knew nothing about – largely because it has started in the USA in Pittsburgh, but I really like whey they are doing and have decided to see what we can do to promote the campaign her in the UK.

Watch this slide show featuring 30 Tips to highlight how you can incorporate acts of dignity and respect in everything you do created by the Center for Inclusion at UPMC.