Human rights as a moral issue: lessons for moral educators from human rights work

Recent history has seen an increasing trend toward "crossing over" between contexts and cultures. As individuals and groups learn more about each othe r, opportunities arise to create stronger resources for respecting and prot ecting human rights. One such possible "crossing over" is between the field of moral education and the ideals and techniques of human rights work. Whi le moral education and human rights work share many ideas and methods, area s of difference provide points to strengthen moral education. The foundatio n of human rights work is the international documents and laws of human rig hts that aim to protect rights that are considered universal across context s. Human rights work, however, also attempts to recognise personal historie s and how the application of rights may differ across contexts. Human right s activities in Latin America provide examples of how human rights work can create contexts that respect the universals of human rights. A discussion of violations against women and children in the United States provides two contexts for considering how the lessons of human rights work in Latin Amer ica can be applied in the US. Suggestions as to how to include lessons from human rights work in moral education programmes are provided.