International Policy on Human Rights
Human rights include the universal right to a standard
of living adequate for the health and well-being of individuals
and their families. These rights transcend civil and political
customs and parallel values in the NASW Code of Ethics. However,
the profession does not fully use human rights as a criterion with
which to evaluate social work policies, practice, research, and
program priorities.
NASW should promote U.S. ratification of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and critical United Nations treaties
such as the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In fact,
social workers must be especially vigilant about human rights violations
related to children’s rights and exploitation such as child labor,
child prostitution, and other crimes of abuse. Finally, recognizing
that social workers who advocate human rights can become the subjects
of reprisal, NASW should ensure that social workers who are threatened
are fully supported by the profession.
The appalling prevalence of wars, genocide, ethnic
cleansing; discrimination and social exclusion, gender inequality,
battering, rape, and the sale of women; sweatshops, child labor,
and enslavement; and the suppression of human rights, demonstrates
that the struggle for human rights must remain a high priority
for the social work profession in the 21st century.
