Human rights are regarded as rights that are automatically given to any one person solely on the fact that they are human, regardless of that person's social class, ethnicity, age or gender. Every person on Earth is entitled to them. These rights include, the rights to food, housing, health and education. Even though these rights seem necessary to live a fulfilling life, most are not guaranteed. There are international laws that protect these rights like the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural rights (ICESCR), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and agreements from the International Labour Organization (ILO). Although these laws are meant to ensure human rights are being obeyed, there are still countless violations that occur. In order for these policies to be enforced, strong community organizations must monitor and ensure that the individual people are given these rights. As Cardenas says, "Human rights violations do not just happen. They reflect particular choices made by specific individuals." .
Exclusionary ideologies are very prominent in violations of human rights. The idea of labeling people as "others" can also have a dehumanizing effects which in turn can lead to their human rights being violated. People label each other based on race, religion, political affiliation, etc. By labeling them as someone other than someone like them, they feel justified when violations occur. There are also assumptions made by society that can help rationalize the issue. These assumptions include animosity, "evil" and cultural, as explained by Cardenas. The animosity assumption is the thought that competing groups cause social conflicts which in turn leads to both groups violating each other's rights. The "evil" assumption is the notion that all human beings are evil. Since this evilness is innate, then the violations made from one human being to another cannot ever be done away with.
