Category: minorities

How is minority health a human rights issue? What do we mean by marginalized minority populations? In this chapter, minority is used as an umbrella term to refer to marginalized ethnic, racial, cultural, and linguistic minorities as well as indigenous people. There is no internationally agreed-upon definition as to which groups constitute minorities or indigenous populations. This chapter will use these terms broadly, focusing on the marginalization of minorities and the…

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Table A: International Human Rights Instruments and Protected Rights and Fundamental Freedoms   UDHR ICCPR ICESCR CEDAW ICERD CRC Non-discrimination and Equality Art. 1, Art. 2 Art. 2(1), Art. 3 Art. 2(2), Art. 3 Art. 2, All Art. 2, Art. 5, All Art. 2 Health Art. 25   Art. 12 Art. 12 Art. 5(e)(iv) Art. 24 Expression & Information Art. 19 Art. 19(2)     Art. 5(d)(viii) Art. 12, Art.…

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Table 1: Minority Health and the Right to Non-Discrimination Examples of Human Rights Violations Housing policies force ethnic, minority communities into separate settlements that lack basic infrastructure and render inhabitants more vulnerable to illness and disease. Ethnic minority members are more likely to be evicted from their homes and left to fend for themselves on the street. Ethnic minority communities are expelled from their land and forced into settlements with inadequate…

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Table 2: Minority Health and the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health Examples of Human Rights Violations Doctors and health facilities are not located in or in close proximity to marginalized minority neighborhoods. Ethnic minority patients are refused treatment, given inferior care, or abused in public health facilities. Ethnic minority women lack access to maternal and reproductive health services. Social policies disproportionately exclude ethnic minority individuals from access to…

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Table 3: Minority Health and the Right to Expression and Information Examples of Human Rights Violations There are fewer health facilities in ethnic minority communities, and there is little attempt to provide them with basic health information. Ethnic minority women lack access to information on sexual and reproductive health. Data on minorities’ health is inadequate, hindering the development of policies to address the needs of these communities. Human Rights Standards Treaty Body…

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Table 4: Minority Health and the Right to Education Examples of Human Rights Violations Due to poor educational facilities in ethnic minority communities, illiteracy rates are high, and children are unable to access important health information. Ethnic minority children are channelled into “special schools,” which provide an inferior education and limit their access to health information. Human Rights Standards Treaty Body Interpretation ICCPR 19(2): Everyone shall have the right to…

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Table 5: Minority Health and the Right to Participate in Public Life Examples of Human Rights Violations  Ethnic minority members are unable to obtain citizenship papers and a health card, leaving them without access to social and health services. Labelled “child-like,” ethnic minority members have little say in policy decisions affecting their health and well-being. Ethnic minorities, particularly women, are unable to participate in public life and access needed social services.…

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Table 6: Minority Health and the Right to Bodily Integrity Examples of Human Rights Violations Ethnic minority children are disproportionately targeted by police officers and subjected to ill-treatment and abuse.• Ethnic minority women are coercively sterilized without their fully informed consent. Ethnic minority women and children are frequent victims of domestic violence due to extreme living conditions such as land dispossession, community isolation, high unemployment, poverty, and alcohol abuse. Due…

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Example 1: Justice for Roma women coercively sterilized in Central Europe Project Type: Advocacy/Litigation Organization European Roma Rights Centre Budapest, Hungary Email: office@errc.org Web: www.errc.org  The European Roma Rights Centre (A Roma Legal Advocacy Organization), Life Together (a Roma-Czech CBO), the League of Human Rights (a Czech NGO), the Group of Women Harmed by Forced Sterilization (a victims advocacy group), the Peacework Development Fund, the Counseling Center for Citizenship, Civil and Human…

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Example 2: Promoting the rights of Roma patients in the Macedonian health care system  Project: Advocacy Organizations Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality of Women (ESE) Skopje, Macedonia E-mail:  esem@esem.org.mk Website:   www.esem.org.mk Centre for Democratic Development and Initiatives (CDRIM) E-mail:  cdrim@mail.net.mk Humanitarian and Charitable Association of Roma (KHAM) Email:  kham@sonet.com.mk Roma Resource Center (RCC) Skopje, Macedonia E-mail:  info@rcc.org.mk Website:  http://www.rrc.org.mk/ Roma S.O.S. Prilep, Macedonia E-mail:  mail@romasosprlep.org Website:  www.romasosprilep.org/ The Association for Emancipation,…

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