Human Rights and Human Wrongs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Corporal punishment

Being sent to the headmaster for a caning - or being rapped on the knuckles by a teacher - was once the way many educators maintained discipline in schools in England; and in some families the same sort of corporal punishment was dished out at home by dad. Progressive schools in most western countries had abandoned this practice by the 1960s or earlier. From the 1960s and 1970s onwards there was increasing talk of 'children's rights' in an increasingly absolute sense, which included freedom from physical punishment. (On the whole, earlier discussion of children's rights had been confined to the obligations of caregivers).

In 1979 Sweden became the first country to ban physical punishment in the home. Some other countries have followed, despite claims that this undermines the family.

However, in the majority of countries in the world, the use of physical punishment, especially in the home, remains legal.

Answer: Homosexuality

Having one's right to exist without persecution - entitled to the same respect and equality as everyone else - was not entirely enough for homosexuals who still suffered from covert discrimination and legal constraints in some western countries. Hence the Gay Rights Movement of the 1960s and the overt celebration of all things gay. Marriage equality took much longer to be acceptable to society, but when a Roman Catholic country like the Republic of Ireland voted for marriage equality in 2015 the Gay Rights Movement won a decided victory!

That said, in many countries, homosexual activities can be punished, in some cases even by death. (At the end of 2015 there were at least 75 countries where homosexual acts between consenting adults in private was illegal).

Answer: Irreconcilable differences

Detective agencies once had a thriving business following straying partners and presenting evidence of adultery - the main grounds for divorce; and sometimes murders (disguised as accidents) were committed in order to satisfy the 'till death do us part' marriage vow. So, in 1969, when California enacted America's first no-fault divorce law with 'irreconcilable differences' as the sole grounds, most of the rest of the western world quickly followed if it had not already done so.

Answer: Australia

In 1962, the Menzies Government made the necessary changes to enable all Aboriginal Australians to vote in federal elections, and the various states then made similar changes for state elections (Queensland was the last state to do so, in 1965). Up until then, Australia considered its indigenous people as fauna having no more 'rights' than a kangaroo! It is believed that this discriminatory situation was reversed by virtue of Australia's massive post-WW2 migrant population which voted overwhelmingly to 'right' this 'wrong' that older Australians had accepted without question.

Answer: Shipload of Jews arriving off the coast of North America

The St. Louis left Hamburg in 1939 carrying 908 Jewish refugees seeking asylum from Nazi persecution. Cuba refused them entry - so did the USA and Canada - forcing the ship to return to Europe where the refugees were accepted by various countries and an estimated 709 survived the Holocaust. Following the war, the plight of displaced persons was so dire that in 1947 the International Refugee Organization (IRO) was founded to take over from the 1944 United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.

In 1949, The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was also founded. It was only intended to operate for three years, but its 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees remains in force, as does the UNHCR. The Convention was very specific about who qualifies as an asylum seeker and where asylum must be claimed (the first country of safety) - but over the years these qualifications have lapsed to the point where economic refugees may also consider it to be their 'human right' not only to claim asylum but also to do so in the country of their choice.

Answer: Tobacco

A spike in lung cancer deaths after the Second World War caused the US Surgeon General to declare a war on smoking, promoting the ideal of a tobacco-free world by 2000. Considering the many other carcinogens that civilians and service personnel faced before, during and after the war - particularly atomic bomb fallout - it was unfortunate that tobacco was deemed to be the sole cause of lung cancer because quitters often became addicted to other far more dangerous drugs, and lung cancer deaths persist despite all the money and energy invested over the years in eradicating smoking. Lung cancer occurs naturally in wild animals (as do all types of cancer) and, in fact, Dolly the cloned sheep, died from it. So, while the premise for making smoking a 'human wrong' may have been rather unsound, nobody can deny that the world smells nicer without so many smokers in it!

Answer: A trial period before a paid placement

Apprentices may feel that they are 'slaves' because of the pittance they are paid, but they are under contract to learn on the job and after receiving their qualifications they can earn big money. Similarly, interns may feel they are being treated as slaves, and while it is true that they are mostly unpaid, they understand from the start that a prestigious employer is giving them a chance to learn from the best in their desired profession. Overtime is something that paid employees either do for extra money or as part of their job's requirements. On the other hand, an unpaid trial period before a paid placement is used by rogue employers to get work done for free without any intention of giving the worker a paid position at the end of the trial - which may be prolonged weeks past the normal few days - and it is slave labour, a 'human wrong'.

Answer: Sexual abuse of children

The reasons why this largely stayed hidden for so long are unclear. Presumably with a view to avoiding adverse publicity, some churches dealt with the matter internally - for example, by sending the abuser abroad, as if it were simply a disciplinary matter.

The widespread public association of sexual abuse with homosexuality may have also made many reluctant to take allegations seriously as, if they were true, they were just too shocking. Parents seemed to have had complete confidence in those in whom they placed the care of their children; and there may also have been an assumption that children are untruthful.

Answer: Assisted suicide

Most people have heard of the respected Swiss assisted suicide organisation, Dignitas, and know that the Dutch are very progressive on assisted suicide, as well as other controversial social issues, but the medical, religious and legal professions in other countries remain adamant that assisted suicide is not something that they can permit - especially the notion of 'suicide on demand' for people who are physically well but considered to be mentally ill for wanting to end their lives.

To avoid misunderstanding it should be stressed that in both Switzerland and the Netherlands there are safeguards in place and assisted death is generally only available for the terminally ill and/or those suffering from uncontrollable and irremediable pain.

Answer: The birth control pill

When the birth control pill was approved for use by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1960, it revolutionised the lives of millions of women. They stopped worrying about unwanted pregnancies; they were more employable because bosses stopped worrying about their female employees becoming pregnant (necessitating having to fire them and find someone else); and, because their fate was no longer being tied to the kitchen sink, barefoot and pregnant, they widened their horizons and entered many professions formerly denied to them.