Human rights - Fred and Mabel's story

We were a partnership

Older couple new Fred and Mabel had been married for over 65 years. Fred was unable to walk on his own and relied on Mabel to help him move around. She was blind and used her husband as her eyes.

They were separated after Fred fell ill and was moved into a residential care home.Mabel asked to come with him but was told by the local authority that she did not fit the criteria. Speaking to the media, Mabel said, 'We have never been separated in all our years and for it to happen now, when we need each other so much, is so upsetting. I am lost without him: we were a partnership’.

A public campaign launched by the family, supported by the media and
various human rights experts and older people’s organisations, argued that the local authority had breached Fred and Mabel's human rights, specifically the right to respect for family life (Article 8).

The local authority agreed to reverse its decision and offered Mabel a subsidised place so that she could join her husband in the care home.

(Although this is a real life story, Fred and Mabel aren't their real names. This example is taken from 'The Human Rights Act - Changing Lives' where you can read other examples of how human rights can help ordinary people. See the link on the right hand side.)

Fast facts about human rights

they belong to everyone
they are based on principles of fairness, equality, dignity and respect
they are about how public authorities, including the Government, hospitals and social services must treat you
they prevent authorities from doing certain things to you, like treating you in a degrading way
they also sometimes force authorities to take certain actions, like taking steps to protect your life
they were first legally defined by international agreement after the horrors of the Second World War
since the Second World War there have been many different international human rights agreements
one of the most important human rights agreements is the European Convention on Human Rights.

With thanks to British Institute of Human Rights for the use of this information.

Can human rights help if I'm being discriminated against?

The Human Rights Act requires public service providers, such as GPs, job centres, social services, prisons and local authorities to respect people’s human rights. Human rights include things like the right to a family life, a fair trial and freedom from torture.

The Human Rights Act also gives you the right not be discriminated against. It includes its own list of what types of treatment count as discrimination. This includes treatment which is illegal under other laws that are specifically about discrimination. But it also covers other types of discrimination. For example, carers and homeless people have successfully used the Human Rights Act to complain about discrimination when trying to make use of their human rights.

However, the Human Rights Act doesn't cover discrimination in all situations: only those where you are trying to use one of your other human rights.

For example, one human right is the right to respect for private life. This includes the right to take part in local community life, for example, by doing voluntary work. So if a woman is told that she can’t volunteer in a local day centre because she is gay, that is discriminating against her in using her right to respect for her private life.

For more information on human rights see the links to other websites on the right hand side.