Biggest Human Rights Movements of the Decade (2010-2020)

By Inara Hossain

“To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity” (Nelson Mandela).

The United Nations describes human rights as; “the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work, education etc.” The UN believes that “human rights are rights inherited by all humans, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status”. Yet in the past and now in the present, we continue to deny humans their universal and inalienable human rights.

We as a contemporary, progressive society have a long way to go for every human to have their basic human rights granted and not violated, and throughout the years many brave men and women have stood up for their rights and the rights of others. As mentioned, we still have a long way to go but if more of us stand up for human rights we will have a more just and fair society. Pope Paul VI said “if you want peace, work for justice”. In those special times when multiple people come together and fight for their rights, we get a ‘human rights movement’.

So here are some of the biggest human rights movements of this decade (2010-2020). Note, these movements are not the only significant movements of their year, they are just some of the most notable.

2010:

Arab Spring protests:

https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/arab-spring

2011:

Arab Spring protests: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/topics/reference/arab-spring-cause/

2012:

Occupy movement:

https://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/16/us/occupy-wall-street-protest-movements/index.html

Everyone thought they were going to die so not as much happened:

https://www.history.com/topics/religion/december-21-2012

2013:

Black Lives Matter:

https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/

2014:

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge:

http://www.alsa.org/fight-als/ice-bucket-challenge.html

He for She:

https://www.heforshe.org/en/movement

2015:

Love Wins:

https://www.hrc.org/campaigns/stand-for-marriage1

I Stand With Ahmed: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/people-are-sharing-istandwithahmed-for-the-muslim-teen-arrested-for-bringing-a-clock-to-school-10503917.html

2016:

Stop Funding Hate:

https://stopfundinghate.info/

2017:

Women’s March:

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/womens-march

2018:

March For Our Lives: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2018/mar/24/march-for-our-lives-protest-gun-violence-washington

Me Too movement

https://metoomvmt.org/about/

2019:

Lebanon protests: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/11/lebanon-protests-explained/

Climate Strike: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2019/mar/15/climate-strikes-2019-live-latest-climate-change-global-warming

2020:

Anti Citizenship Amendment Bill protests in India: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/12/16/21024306/india-protests-muslim-citizenship-amendment-bill

So those were some of the biggest human rights movements of the decade. If you were interested in any of these movements you should check out the corresponding links to get some more information.