1. Structuring Human Rights and Leveraging Inclusion
Sanchita Hosali
12 July 2017 1

2. About BIHR
The British Institute of Human Rights is an independent charity committed to bringing human rights to life across the UK.
KNOW what human rights are
USE human rights in everyday life
PROTECT human rights to respect and progress our human rights systems.

3. Quick think: Human rights
Turn to your neighbour and take one minute to discuss what the term “human rights” makes you think?
Icebreaker: After 5 mins collect up and do a short discussion.

4. Values: the starting point (but not the end!)
RESPECT
FAIRNESS
DIGNITY
EQUALITY
PARTICIPATION
EVERYONE (universal)
FREEDOM
AUTONOMY

5. Human rights – more than values
“provide a legal framework for service providers to abide by and empower service users to demand that they are treated with dignity” Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights
“are basic rights to humane dignified treatment and things I should have access to simply because I am a human being” Mental health service user
Values are important – the flag for thinking about human rights But human rights are more than values
“are a set of recognisable principles on which public authorities can base their everyday work” Healthcare worker

6. The Human Rights Act in 2 mins
YouTube: The British Institute of Human Rights
Video: The Human Rights Acts in 2 mins

7. HUMAN RIGHTS ACT: making the theory an everyday reality
FOUNDATION LAW: All UK laws should be compatible with the human rights in the Human Rights Act
LEGAL DUTY: Public authorities must respect the rights in their actions
LOCAL JUSTICE: Any person can ask UK courts and tribunals to look at whether their human rights have been risked or breached by a public authority 1 2 3

8. Explain these are the rights
Check-in on any questions

9. BIHR’s work with services: preventing poor practice
“I was able to use human rights arguments to get appropriate care for a person who was relapsing in our service. There was a delay in getting him transferred to an appropriate setting due to a disagreement between two Trusts about funding. I was able to point out the delay caused by this disagreement meant that he was being left in circumstances that were degrading. We used human rights arguments to get the matter resolved urgently.”
Paul Holden, Operations Manager, St. Martin of Tours Housing Association, Partner on BIHR’s Delivering Compassionate Care project

10. Putting human rights at the heart of health and social care
Project with 7 service providers – mix of health and care services and types of providers
The model
Staff leads to champion a human rights approach with tailored support
Staff team sessions to share
Identify the key difficult issues and develop human rights approach to these
Co-produce resources to sustain the learning and to support other services

11. Spotlight: London partner
St Martin of Tours Housing Association provides mental healthcare and accommodation, supporting people who need help to maintain their independence or to step down from secure hospital wards or other institutions. With an increasing number of complex referrals and residents exhibiting behaviours of concern, St Martins applied to be a part of BIHR’s project ‘Delivering Compassionate Care: Connecting Human Rights to the Frontline’, to see if human rights could help change their philosophy of care.

12. Spotlight: London partner
Following training from BIHR on the rights of residents and staff to wellbeing and to live/work free from abuse (protected by Article 8 in the Human Rights Act), St Martins changed their approach to dealing with violent behaviour. They now record incidences of physical and/or verbal aggression more closely, assess people to ensure they are getting the right mental health support, work more closely with the police and talk about this as a human rights issues with residents and neighbours as a positive step to create a safe environment for well-being. As a result, violent incidences have been reduced by 50% and evictions are also down.

13. What our work shows
Human rights are universal – they belong to and connect everyone across staff, patients, the wider health and social care community
Provides an effective and non-confrontational value base for everyday practice
A human rights approach means recognising those whose voices may not be included and effectively empowering them to participate, with the accountability
This is having a positive impact on staff and patient relations, across and between staff teams, supporting culture change and an environment of positive challenge

14. Leveraging change: inclusion
Human rights are legal standards – this has been a powerful lever for staff to bring about change, it is not about “optional extras” but “must dos”
The focus on everyone locates the need for change in an inclusive language which also has scope to recognise and remedy experiences of exclusion
Many values and approaches are underpinned by human rights, but by explicitly referencing this you can draw on the power of human rights to transform (decisions, policy, relationships between people, organisational culture)

15. More information & resources
Visit:
Visit:

16. A FINAL THOUGHT
Where do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighbourhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world”