I feel compelled to start with a disclaimer, as this blog post is largely a reflection piece attempting to tie together loose ends of my thinking over the past few weeks. Being at home with young children, I have had some uninterrupted moments to think during the height of our social distancing restrictions, but not a lot of sustained time for refining my thoughts through research and writing. So, for this blog post, I am embracing the idea of “OpenThinking.”
In addition, between the time of writing and posting, the killing of George Floyd has sadly shone (once again) a much-needed spotlight on the persistent issue of systemic and individual anti-Black (and anti-Indigenous) racism and discriminatory treatment by state officials in the United States and Canada. This problem has remained unaddressed for far too long. Some of the themes I touch on below are clearly relevant to this issue, including the need for a societal-wide commitment to combating inequality and inequity, as well as a societal-wide commitment to recognizing the importance of fundamental rights (such as the right to life, freedom from discrimination, freedom of expression, and socio-economic rights).
Over the past few weeks, I have been thinking about freedom, equality, and gratitude.
To start with the last, the pandemic-related public health emergency restrictions have provided me with time to pause and consider the many reasons I have to be grateful. I am grateful that none of my loved ones have been sick. I do not have to worry about losing my income. My academic program is sufficiently flexible that I have been able to remain somewhat productive despite the challenges of being largely contained to home with my children. I live in an area with easy access to walkable spaces and nature to help the time pass and to help keep me and my children healthier both physically and mentally. I live in Canada, where our government has the means to implement programs to support some people who are adversely affected by the pandemic. More specifically, I live in Nova Scotia, which, aside from the heartbreaking death toll at the Northwood long-term care home and troubling disparate effects based on demographics, has so far largely been spared the worst health effects of the pandemic. I have a safe home in which to “socially isolate.”
This leads to equality. I have a distinct privilege of not having to worry about whether my rights are respected or whether I will be able to meet my needs and those of my children during these uncertain times. Unfortunately, this is not true for many others, as this privilege and underlying rights are not enjoyed equally—whether locally, nationally, or globally. This was, of course, true before the pandemic; however, in recent weeks, headline after headline has underscored that inequality renders individuals more economically and physically vulnerable to public health crises. The pandemic could result in an estimated half a billion people becoming impoverished. This is a staggering figure, which represents the undoing of thirty years of development efforts.
The frailty of human rights protections has also been reinforced through reports about rights being violated (usually those of already marginalized populations) around the world. Human rights are, of course, not unlimited. In certain circumstances—particularly times of emergency—rights and freedoms may be lawfully restricted. Sadly, however, some governments have been disproportionately restricting or disregarding human rights during this pandemic. To highlight only a few examples, in the Philippines, people—including children—who violate social distancing restrictions have been arrested and subjected to forced exposure to the hot sun as punishment or confined with others in dog cages. In New York City, it has been reported that over 80% of individuals arrested for violating social distancing rules are Black or Hispanic. In Kenya, people have been quarantined without the ability to socially distance effectively and in conditions reportedly marked by a lack of bedding, food, water, and sanitation supplies.
The health effects of the pandemic are also being felt unequally, with the burden falling the heaviest on people who are already marginalized. In Nova Scotia and across Canada, a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases are occurring with residents of long-term care homes. In the United States (and possibly Canada, but data is yet readily available) COVID-19 has been disproportionately fatal to Black populations. This fact highlights some of the systemic inequalities facing Black people, other minorities (including Indigenous peoples), and individuals with lower incomes: unequal access to healthcare results in a higher incidence of sickness, while delays seeking medical treatment due to cost and/or limited access, and discriminatory treatment in the level of care may contribute to worse health outcomes. It also underscores the reality that Black and Indigenous peoples (as well as other marginalized individuals) have unequal access to less crowded living conditions and an unequal ability to work from home, which lead to a greater risk of exposure to disease, including the coronavirus. As a result of these inequities, people have become sick and some have died when this may have been prevented, which leaves their loved ones grappling with the knowledge that they may have died unnecessarily and with less dignity than they deserved.
Freedom, inequality, and socio-economic human rights
This leads to my thoughts on our concept of “freedom,” which was spurred in part by two recent related articles in the New York Times. One explores the gaps in employment income and benefits between fast-food workers in the United States and Denmark (where fast food workers are unionized, earn the equivalent of US$22 per hour, and enjoy benefits including a pension plan, paid sick time, and six weeks of vacation). This article led the other to question, in the context of the pandemic, “what it really means to be free.” As the author, James Bennett, argues, “[p]articularly now, during this pandemic, I think people like me who are lucky to have health care, housing and the benefits of a good education should be asking: If we’d never had any of these things, would we really consider ourselves free?” As the effects of the pandemic have underscored, despite their purported universality, human rights—and the freedoms flowing from them—are clearly not enjoyed equally.
This ties into my current research interest, socio-economic human rights. These rights include, among others, all the things noted by Bennett as being necessary to be “free:” access to health care, access to safe housing, and access to a good education.
As the Halifax United Way has tried to highlight in the context of the pandemic, housing is a human right and a lack of adequate access to safe housing renders people distinctly vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic. Together with the rights to adequate food and clothing, the right to housing is an integral part of the right to an adequate standard of living. While these and other socio-economic rights are often criticized as being too difficult to define, apply, and enforce, Canada has committed internationally to the progressive realization of socio-economic human rights for everyone in Canada. We are supposed to be doing the best we can (while recognizing the fact that resources are finite) and we are supposed to always be doing our best to improve. In addition, these rights are supposed to be enjoyed without discrimination.
Despite this commitment to the progressive realization of socio-economic human rights, for segments of the Canadian population, questions may be asked about whether governments in Canada are doing enough. In addition, although Canada has committed internationally to these rights, Canadian governments have failed to implement some of these rights at home through legislation. As such, Canadian residents do not have a clear legal basis to complain of violations of many of their socio-economic rights before Canadian courts—despite repeated calls by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights for Canada to provide the legal basis for our courts to hear these claims. People in Canada also cannot complain to the Committee that their socio-economic rights have been violated because Canada has failed to ratify a treaty that would allow them to do so.
Our current situation may be useful for shining a light on where we ought to be doing more. Are “we” as Canadians satisfied with the status quo? With people often being unable to legally enforce their rights? With health outcomes depending on someone’s ethnicity, where they live, or what their income level is? With the plight of elderly and disabled residents in many of our long-term care homes? With Indigenous communities (and others) living without access to clean drinking water and uncrowded and safe housing? With Indigenous and Black peoples overrepresented in prison populations and disproportionately subject to the use of force by the state? With systemic and individual racism adversely affecting portions of our population? With minimum wages in most instances not providing a living wage? With many people throughout Canada having no access to a safe and secure home? While I have needed to adjust to an inconvenient “new normal” during the pandemic where public restrooms are no longer open, what about people experiencing homelessness who have to deal with this issue every day—before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and after the pandemic subsides? Where is the dignity in needing to worry about and plan where you will use the bathroom?
A path forward?
Although my focus is often on where we ought to be doing better, I am an optimist at heart. I am hopeful that times of crisis may also present opportunities. In addition to learning valuable lessons about pandemic preparedness and the effect of inequity on health outcomes, we can hopefully learn from our current situation lessons that may spur a commitment to strengthening our human rights at home. (And, ideally, we may also strengthen our commitment to contributing to equality of opportunity abroad.)
In my view, achieving the promises of international human rights requires a societal-wide commitment to realizing the full potential of human rights, which is rooted in respecting and prioritizing the dignity of all people. Such a commitment may help to influence public policymaking and, eventually, spur lasting positive changes.
This commitment is necessary because the law is an imperfect tool for achieving positive change. The influence of the law on social policy (and vice versa) is complex. However, a clear fact is that, although the law may (sometimes) be a valuable tool for standard setting and lawsuits can (sometimes) force positive changes, enforcing rights through legal means is often only available to a privileged few. Even when our courts have the jurisdiction to hear a claim, access to justice and the legal system is beyond the means of many individuals because lawsuits are expensive, time consuming, and emotionally draining. In addition, enforcing rights through legal means first requires at least a perceived violation of rights. As such, a strong argument may be made that, in order to realize the promise underlying international human rights—including socio-economic rights—we need to focus on implementing preventative measures rather than relying on reactive measures like lawsuits. In the long run, preventative, forward-looking social policies could be less costly than being satisfied with the status quo or waiting for legal challenges to effect change.
I believe that a society is the sum of its parts. How we interact with each other on a day-to-day basis matters and, without a sufficient commitment to change, the status quo will persist. It could be that the progressive realization of what we are capable of as a society may be most effectively achieved through a “trickle-up” approach from individuals to policymakers. This requires everyone—particularly those who have the privilege of not worrying about enjoying their rights—to prioritize compassion, dignity, equality, equity and the realization of fundamental rights for all.
Photos courtesy of United Way Halifax
