BOONE, N.C. — From the rampant violence and sexual abuse of women to the crimes against humanity committed by dictators, human rights violations are occurring worldwide.
International human rights advocates remained tenacious, inciting massive protests and public condemnation to bring consequences to those who strip humans of their most basic rights. But sadly, our efforts to stop them have not been enough.
Here are some of worst human rights violations of all time.
1. Child Slavery in the LRA
For 18 years, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) guerrillas of northern Uganda has been kidnapping boys to train them as soldiers and girls to turn them into sexual slaves of the commanders. In 2002, as many as 20,000 children were controlled by the LRA.
Source: Softpedia
Photo: TCN
2. Forced sterilization for disabled underage girls
The involuntary sterilization of disabled underage girls in Australia is still lawful in 2014.
Source: AlterNet
Photo: Women’s Health Zone
3. Forced vaginal examinations of Afghan women
In Afghanistan, invasive vaginal examinations are forced on women to test “virginity” every time a girl is arrested on a morality charge.
Source: AlterNet
Photo: Brookings
4. Uganda’s “Anti-Gay Bill”
Uganda has recently signed into law a bill that toughens penalties against individuals who are gay and defines homosexual acts as crimes punishable by life in prison.
Source and Photo: Aljazeera
5. Child Labour During the Industrial Revolution
During the Industrial Revolutions children as young as six worked up to 19 hours a day for little or no pay in horrid, dangerous conditions.
Source: Child Labour in Factories
Photo: Child Labour WebQuest
6. Slavery in The United States
After being brought to the American colonies, Africans were stripped of human rights, enslaved, brutally treated and considered lesser than their fellow human beings for centuries.
Source: Ferris State University
Photo: Daily Mail
7. The Holocaust
The Holocaust is among the most systematic and well-known violations of human rights in recorded history. Adolf Hitler’s plan to “cleanse the world” denied humanity to Jews, homosexuals, communists, Slavs and more.
Source: Penn State
Photo: Liberty News
8. Modern Sex Trafficking
The international sex trade remains a huge problem around the world and may involve upward of 27 million people. The sale of the women’s and girls’ bodies is a result of gender inequality and is viewed as acceptable by many countries.
Source: Soroptimist
Photo: Tampa Bay Scene
9. Taliban Crimes in Afghanistan
The Taliban has been in power in Afghanistan on and off since 1996. The Taliban has maintained its presence in Afghanistan by use of vast concentration camps, enslaving the female population and conducting campaigns of extermination against the Hazara minority.
Source: Slate
Photo: National Review
10. Jim Crow Laws in the U.S. South
The discrimination and violation of African-Americans’ human rights did not end after slavery was abolished. From separate bathrooms and schools to belittlement and judgement of individuals based on their skin color, African-Americans were stripped of their rights in America until 1964.
Source: Encyclopedia Britannica
Photo: We Sleep In Tents
Feature Photo: National Endowment for the Humanities