Using Human Rights in Real Life

Rebuilding your life after abuse is often very difficult and can involve facing challenges when meeting with or trying to access public services. Below you can read about how women used human rights in their interactions with public services, to create change in their lives.

Using the language of human rights can help give you confidence to stand up for your rights and have a better experience when interacting with public services.

People working in public services, called public officials, have a legal duty under the Human Rights Act to protect, respect and fulfil your human rights. You can read more about how this legal duty works here. This duty is really important in everyday situations because it means that you can:

Speak up because you have human rights which should be respected and protected.
Talk to your services about whether they are meeting their legal duty to respect and protect your human rights.
Work with services to find better solutions without the need to go to court or use a lawyer.