{"id":1162,"date":"2021-01-08T17:35:59","date_gmt":"2021-01-08T16:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/?p=1162"},"modified":"2021-02-26T22:25:26","modified_gmt":"2021-02-26T21:25:26","slug":"tattooing-letters-to-spread-the-message-of-human-rights-all-over-the-globe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/1162\/tattooing-letters-to-spread-the-message-of-human-rights-all-over-the-globe\/","title":{"rendered":"The message of human rights inked on your skin: \u201cThis tattoo truly ties into a greater cause\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
Human rights violations <\/strong>have been reinforced by the current COVID-19 crisis, with<\/strong> disturbing developments as a result. To keep the conversation about human rights alive, the aim of the Human Rights Foundation is t<\/strong>attooing the entire Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the skin of participants around the globe.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n In order to raise awareness on the topic of human rights, the Human Rights Tattoo foundation aims to encourage conversations in an inclusive and accessible way through their living work of art. The shocking reality and meaning of human rights suddenly struck founder and artist Sander van Bussel when his dear Kenyan friend, fellow artist and human rights activist Steven Nyash was murdered in 2012. Nyash committed himself to the rights of the residents in the neighbourhood Korogocho, one of the largest\u00a0slums in Nairobi. \u201cIt really hit me as I realized how much it matters where you are born and which privileges you carry. That was a massive reality check for me.\u201d In response to the murder of his friend and fellow artist, he wanted to outset positive and powerful action. \u201cThe idea soon occurred to me: as if a light bulb above my head lit up all of a sudden. The combination of human rights and tattoos seemed like a perfect fit, as a way of signing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, only this time with ink on your body.”<\/p>\n\n Small difference<\/strong> Reinforced violations<\/strong> Most translated document <\/strong> Seven decades later and the included rights continue to form the basis for all\u00a0international human rights law<\/a>. The UDHR document contains 30 articles setting out the rights and freedoms, which include the right to life, liberty and security, the right to freedom of movement, the right to a nationality, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the right to work, the right to rest and leisure, and the right to education. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights holds the Guinness World Record as the most translated document:<\/a> it has been translated into 370 languages and dialects.<\/p>\n\n
\nUsing human rights as a guideline in your work creates an opportunity for others to benefit from, Sander explains. \u201cThe Human Rights Tattoo foundation has grown into so much more than just an art project. This transcends my role as an artist because the artwork comes together by the community itself: by the tattoo artists who ink the letters, the organizations who set up events and of course the community members who carry a tattooed letter. Behind every tattoo is a truly special person.\u201d The 23-year-old Snigdha Bansal recently got a Human Rights Tattoo. She has been working as a journalist in India and currently lives in Amsterdam for her master studies. \u201cThe situation in my home country is getting worse: there are a lot of human rights violations. The office of Amnesty International in India even had to shut down<\/a>. This has brought a sense of helplessness upon me\u201d, Snigdha admits. Last year, UN experts have raised concerns<\/a> and called out for urgent action for the \u201calarming\u201d human rights situation in India. \u201cBack home I read about these injustices every day. As a journalist, you tend to become cynical about all the bad news. It becomes easy to think no real change is happening. However, an initiative like the Human Rights Tattoo project can create a small difference for a better world\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/378\/2021\/01\/thumbnail_4284-portrait.jpg” panorama=”off” credit=”Photograph: Sander van Bussel” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n
\nDisturbing developments in human rights violations have been reinforced by the current COVID-19 crisis, according to Youssef Rahman, senior officer political affairs for the Dutch branch of Amnesty International<\/a>, an independent non-governmental organization focused on human rights. \u201cCountries with repressive regimes, for example Egypt and China, use this situation to suppress even harder: human rights defenders are thrown into prison<\/a> without fair trial and citizen journalists reporting on the virus outbreak <\/a>are being jailed too.\u00a0However, it\u2019s not only happening in these two countries: you can actually see this trend expanding all over the world, even in western democracies to a lesser extent.\u201d\u00a0The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated the vulnerability of the least protected in society, the United Nations stated in their \u2018COVID-19 and Human Rights\u2019<\/em><\/a> report. The instability the pandemic provokes has intensified existing human rights concerns, such as discrimination against certain groups, hate speech, xenophobia, attacks and forced returns of refugees and asylum-seekers, mistreatment of migrants, and sexual and gender-based violence, which is affecting human rights protection in all continents.<\/p>\n
\nThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights consists of 6773 letters: 4370 letters have been tattooed so far. \u201cI choose the Universal Declaration because this document lays the foundation for all other international treaties and conventions in regard to human rights\u201d, Sander says. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/a> (UDHR) was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948, right after World War II. The goal was to share a common standard for fundamental human rights that marked out all the economic, social, political, cultural and civic rights for all human beings regardless of race, sex, colour, religion or other characteristics.<\/p>\n\n\u201cI choose the Universal Declaration because this document lays the foundation for all other international treaties and conventions in regard to human rights\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n