S
Summary of Key Issues
(Useful publications can be found at: www.
N
mediatrust.org and www.societyofeditors.
and Recommendations for
I
O
co.uk).
T
Action
4 ‘Rebrand’ human rights
A
Opinion polls indicate that whilst people
D
overwhelmingly support basic human rights
1 Ensure equal participation in
E
N values, we need to do much more to make the
the human rights debate
Human Rights Act relevant to people’s everyday
M The perspectives of the most marginalised
lives.
M
communities are vital to the human rights debate
• Continue to monitor attitudes to human rights
O
– and yet their meaningful participation is often
in the UK: why do people feel negative or
made very difficult.
disengaged, and what can we do to engage
E
C
• Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS)
them?

R
stakeholders and funders should make
• Combine the functional message (explaining
D
more resources available to ensure much
why human rights matter to the person on the
N
wider participation during conferences and
street) with the ‘emotional’ message (engaging
consultations.

A
people’s hearts and minds).
• There is a need for workshops and
• Promote dialogue on social, cultural and
R
Y
information tools that give practical advice to
economic rights to engage the wider public
A
VCS organisations on how to campaign more
and counter the idea that human rights are
M
effectively and get the most out of conferences
only for minorities.
M
and consultations.
• Activists and advocates must present a strong
• Adding a social element to training can add
and unified vision of a human rights culture,
S
U
value to capacity building activities, drawing
whilst continuing the debate at conferences
people in to the human rights community.
like these.
2 Extend human rights into the
• Human rights education should be compulsory
in all British schools, in accordance with the
private sector
duty on the state to ‘promote’ human rights.
Mainstreaming human rights in the UK means
• The Government must demonstrate strong
engaging with all sectors of public life – and this
leadership in promoting the Human Rights Act,
includes business.
and not give out mixed messages.
• Use the Human Rights Act to ensure that the
private sector fulfils its obligations to protect 5
Use the arts to promote human
human rights – for example, in the case of
rights awareness
private sector care homes. The visual arts have a great history of promoting
• Examine the applicability of human rights to a humanistic perspective of others and have the
the private sector, and support the efforts of potential to reach a very wide audience.
the Joint Committee on Human Rights to do • Develop arts projects that engage with
so. under-represented issues, such as dementia
or parental child abuse. Ensure that people
3 Encourage the media to report
affected by these issues are able to participate.
positively on human rights
• Ensure that performances and publications are
Many delegates and speakers believed the
fully accessible to everyone.
media to be complicit in creating negative public
perceptions of human rights – so how do we
6 Campaign more effectively
address this? using human rights language
• The VCS should find ways to ‘package’ human • Frame campaigns using human rights language
rights stories to make them appealing to and keep them focussed on a specific issue
journalists and the newspapers that are usually with a clear aim and message.
hostile to the Human Rights Act. For example, • Use (or threaten to use) litigation in human
take public interest stories to papers such as rights campaigns, and make use of the
26 The Sun and the Daily Mail. legislative process by keeping an eye on
• Contest the media when it uses inappropriate relevant bills going through Parliament.
language, or reports on an issue unfairly. • Communicate human rights arguments in plain
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