Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / HumanRightsIssues

Go To

1An index of tropes relating to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights human rights]] -- violations of them, or struggles for them.
2----
3!!Tropes
4[[index]]
5* AmputativeSentencing: Punishing someone for an offense by dismembering them, which many would consider gratuitously harsh.
6* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Forcing someone to get married with questionable or no consent, or denying them the right of a divorce out of a bad marriage, is illegal in most contemporary societies.
7* ArtisticLicenseChildLaborLaws: Kids are shown working despite being too young to work in real life.
8* ColdBloodedTorture: A violation of human rights in which a person is subjected to physical or mental pain by another. This is illegal under international law as well as under the laws of most nations.
9* ChildSoldiers: When a military organization places children in combat situations which they are too young to handle. Often these children are forced to fight against their will, [[ShellShockedVeteran and many suffer mental trauma long after the fact]].
10* CultureJustifiesAnything: Every human being has human rights as an individual - rights that are not nullified by the concept of cultural rights. This dissonance is what makes "Culture Justifies Anything" a trope.
11* DeathMeansHumanity: A non-human being has its personhood recognized upon death.
12* {{Dehumanization}}: Where a certain group has their humanity ignored to make them easier to oppress.
13* DomesticAbuse: Violence against a spouse or partner, child, parent, etc. Sometimes, it's treated less as a crime and more as a private spat, or even "justified".
14* FantasticGhetto: The segregation of another species just for looking too different.
15* FantasticRacism: Issues of racism and similar conflicts handled through fictional races of (non-)human people as a metaphor.
16* FantasticUnderclass: A group forced into the poorest and most despised level of a fictional society due to racial prejudice, an oppressive caste system, or punishment under a brutal legal system.
17* FictionalGenevaConventions: Humans restricting the use of some acts of magical or futuristic warfare due to being in violation of human rights.
18* FinalSolution: Genocide — the deliberate mass-murder in whole or in part of an entire ethnic, cultural, national, or religious group — is often considered the ultimate violation of human rights.
19* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: The idea that abortion is unethical is a hotly debated issue in the modern world. The groups that support legalized abortion argue that it is the right of a woman to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, while the groups that oppose legalized abortion argue that the practice violates the child's right to life. Both groups believe that they are the ones defending human rights.
20* HonorRelatedAbuse: Violence against a (usually female) family member as a means of restoring the family's "honor".
21* HumanResources: Extracting a certain resource from a human body or recycling them as one -- a clear violation of their rights if it is done while they are alive, or if they are killed for it.
22* HumanTraffickers: Criminals who deny any rights their victims have by buying and selling them as slaves.
23* HumansKillWantonly: Humanity defined by its disregard for human rights.
24* InhumanableAlienRights: Humans denying aliens or magical creatures the same rights they enjoy, based on them being something else than human.
25* ISurrenderSuckers: The crime of perfidy, which is pretending to have a surrender or truce in order to make a surprise attack.
26* KarmicRape: The idea that someone "deserves" to be raped. Supporters of international human rights reject this notion, and press for laws that protect criminals from PrisonRape.
27* LivingIsMoreThanSurviving: There are things beyond basic human needs that make a life, among them being, well, their rights.
28* MadeASlave: Capturing people with the sole intention of turning them into private property for the sake of forcing them to work without pay, as well as selling them for profit (known as chattel slavery), is illegal in all countries.
29* MandatoryMotherhood: You must [[BabyFactory produce offspring]], whether you want to or not.
30* MaritalRapeLicense: A human rights violation in which someone rapes their spouse. It is still accepted and even legal in some places.
31* MightMakesRight: The idea that the desires of a perceived strong or triumphant party supersede the rights of everyone else.
32* OldManMarryingAChild: Violates the right of the child, as the child is too young to consent to sexual activity. Since these marriages are often arranged by the child's parents, the child also loses the right to choose their own spouse.
33* PoliceBrutality: When the police engage in far more physical force than is absolutely necessary to deal with suspected criminals or law-abiding citizens, then they may be violating numerous civil/human rights that they are supposed to respect per the rule of law.
34* PoweredByAForsakenChild: A weapon, machine, or other product requires someone to suffer in order to function.
35* PrideParade: Marching for LGBT rights and to celebrate sexual/gender diversity.
36* PrisonRape: A rampant human rights abuse common in the prisons of both fiction and real life. Oftentimes it is [[BlackComedyRape joked about in media]], [[DirtyCop purposely ignored by prison guards]], [[KarmicRape or otherwise treated as something prisoners deserve]]. While there have been some efforts to prevent this, progress is slow.
37* PublicExecution: Someone is executed in front of many spectators, either to subject the condemned to public humiliation (which may be considered cruel and unusual punishment) or to suppress dissent among the populace through a public display of punishment.
38* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Due to the immense and long-lasting suffering rape causes to the victim, it is considered a severe violation of human rights and is illegal in almost all nations.
39* RapePillageAndBurn: When soldiers murder civilians, sexually assault civilians, destroy property, steal property, or otherwise harm the defenseless. Often called "sacking" or "raiding", in modern times this is a crime punishable by imprisonment or death.
40* RapePortrayedAsRedemption: Use of rape as a punishment.
41* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: When part of a country's population rises up against the established government with the hopes of radically changing it, and when said uprising is willing to violate human rights in order to achieve its goals. Even revolutions are subject to international laws, and should be held to basic ethical standards like anyone else.
42* SapientFurTrade: When people are killed, usually on a race-wide scale, because their dead bodies provide useful raw materials.
43* SinkTheLifeBoats: When soldiers go out of their way to kill the surviving crew of a destroyed vehicle who are no longer a threat, a human rights violation.
44* SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: As slavery reduces human beings to property and is associated with multiple other atrocities, it is seen as an extreme violation of human rights.
45* SuperHumanTrafficking: HumanTrafficking, but with super-powered people.
46* Totally18: Human rights policies defining "child" as "anyone younger than 18" is one of the underlying reasons for why this trope (with 18 being the exact number) has become so universal over the last few decades.
47* TraumaticCSection: The once-common practice of cutting open pregnant civilian women, the idea being that you're killing ''two'' enemies at once. This is now forbidden by international law.
48* VanHelsingHateCrimes: Unjustified violence against innocent people who just happen to be considered "monsters".
49* WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency: Abstaining from violating human rights seen as something special rather than a requirement.
50* WarCrimeSubvertsHeroism: Human rights violations during war, often due to the absence of international laws or due to said laws being ignored.
51* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: How to define the "human" aspect of "human rights"?
52* TheWomenAreSafeWithUs: When soldiers refuse to sexually assault female civilians or [=POWs=], or when their officers forbid them to. This has become mandatory by international laws.
53* WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide: When a genocide is ignored, forgotten, covered up, or treated as justified. This results in the victims of genocide being deprived of justice, dignity, and often forgotten. It also makes it easier for future genocides to occur.
54* WouldNotShootACivilian: When soldiers refuse to harm non-combatants, or when their officers forbid them to. This is is, of course, mandatory by international laws, as well as by the laws of most modern nations.
55* ZombieAdvocate: Fighting for the rights of non-human beings.
56[[/index]]

Top