On March 30, 2021, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken released the 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. It covered Worker Rights including forced and child labor, as well as discrimination in workplaces with respect to employment and occupation. 

Due to the pandemic, leaders were forced to make many decisions addressing budgets, employee burnout, and wellness; many of which were in the unforeseeable future. Governments around the world used the pandemic crisis as an excuse to restrict rights, and others used transparency and free press to protect their citizens. 

Written in the Preface, Blinken noted that “women and children faced heightened risk[s] as the prevalence of gender-based and domestic violence increased due to lockdowns and the loss of traditional social protections. Other marginalized populations, including older persons, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQI+ persons, experienced particular vulnerability.”

It is not just gender or homophobia-based violence that is an issue. Through imprisonment, torture, and even more, Chinese authority figures committed genocide against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic minority groups. Wars in the Middle East have driven people to starvation, preventing millions from exercising their basic rights. These and other unchecked human rights abuses have caused damage to the basic rights that everyone is entitled to. 

To be facing these issues in 2020 is depressing, but to have millions of people around the world not being able to access and exercise their basic rights is detrimental to society as a whole. As is written in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is crucial that world leaders around the world strive to better the situation in their country, and that they use every opportunity to foster a peaceful and just world. 

“Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, therefore, everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person.”