What Are Civil Rights

What are Civil Rights? Civil rights refer to a body of personal freedoms or liberties that are nonnegotiable and will not infringed upon by the issuing government agency. In accordance, civil rights are those that all human beings are entitled to, regardless of codification. Civil rights are a series of liberties that are primarily comprised of matters that will affect an individual’s ability to lead a happy life as part of a functioning community; civil rights encompass such freedoms that will free an individual from the constraints of discrimination, intrusions imposed by other individuals, organizations or government agencies and unwarranted persecutions. In a general sense, civil rights will protect the ability of an individual to live a free, yet lawful lifestyle, shaped by choices and individual expression. That being said, identifying such rights may be complex, for the delivery of civil rights will vary from country to country and jurisdiction to jurisdiction. At its core; however, the most basic of civil rights maintain a uniformity that is recognized throughout the developed world. For example, the freedom to identify with a religious group of choice, protection from discrimination based on gender, religious belief, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or political ideology and the freedom of speech are examples of common iterations of civil rights. As stated before, civil rights will vary based on country; some nations will place a higher value on certain rights and not every country will possess a formal lawful description of civil rights and to whom they are awarded to. That being said, there is a widely accepted standard for civil rights, which is expressed in the Universal Declaration of human rights. This formal document, which was adopted by the United Nations, states that all individuals are recipients of such undeniable liberties. Purpose of Civil Rights: By acknowledging and delivering civil rights, individuals within a society maintain freedom from persecution by their governing bodies and peers; such a characteristic protects individuals from unreasonable government infringement on personal decisions that mold individuality. For example, the right to freedom of speech enables an individual or group of individuals to hold protests against decisions made by their underlying governments. In these instances, if the protests are non-violent, the government body does not possess the ability to threaten such a formation or to persecute any individual for speaking his or her mind in regards to the issues at hand. Violations of Civil Rights: Although legislation mandates that civil rights may not be infringed, throughout history, there have been multiple cases were civil rights have been impeded based on discriminatory practices. In an effort to dissuade such heinous acts, many developed nations have adopted such rights into their body of laws. For example, in the United States, the Bill of Rights was included in the country’s constitution to formally express the natural rights, which are fortified and unwavering, for every citizen of the country to utilize.

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