Woodhull Marks Human Rights Day: Championing Personal Liberty Through Human Rights
Today, Woodhull Freedom Foundation commemorates Human Rights Day, which is observed globally every year on December 10. This day is a recognition of the inalienable rights everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It is an opportunity to reflect on the human rights contained within the UDHR and to recommit ourselves to the critical work of ensuring their equal enjoyment by all, because as Article 1 declares, “All human beings are born free and equal”. As an organization this is also a day in which we recommit ourselves every year to engaging with the human rights framework to defend and protect the basic truth that sexual freedom is a human right.
The mission of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation is to “affirm sexual freedom as a fundamental human right.” We believe that all people should be able to express their sexuality, to be autonomous in decisions regarding their own body, and to enjoy sexual dignity, privacy, and consensual sexual expression without societal or governmental interference, coercion or stigmatization. Woodhull’s values reflect the 30 human rights outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The specific Articles that Woodhull is especially aligned with are Article 2, Article 6, Article 7, Article 12, Article 16, Article 18, Article 19, Article 22, Article 23, Article 25, Article 28, and Article 29. These Articles are briefly summarized below, the Articles’ full text is contained in our page on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
- Article 2: Everyone regardless of race, color, sex, language, religion, politics, or where they were born is equally entitled to all rights and freedoms
- Article 6: Everyone has the right to be recognized before the law
- Article 7: Everyone is equal before the law and entitled to its protections without discrimination
- Article 12: Everyone has the right to privacy
- Article 16: Everyone has the right to marry and have a family
- Article 18: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion
- Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Article 22: Everyone has the right to social security
- Article 23: Everyone has the right to work including free choice of employment, equal pay for equal work, protection against unemployment, and the right to form and join trade unions
- Article 25: Everyone has the right to a standard of living that provides for their and their family’s health and well-being, including the right to social services in case of unemployment, disability, sickness or other circumstances
- Article 28: Everyone has the right to a social and international order that allows for their rights and freedoms in the UDHR to be fully realized
- Article 29: We all must ensure each other’s equal enjoyment and protection of their rights and freedoms
In the year ahead, Woodhull will continue to utilize the human rights outlined in the UDHR to defend and protect all people’s right to sexual freedom. We do this because we recognize the importance of defending and protecting human rights to ensure we live in a fair, free, and just society in which all people’s worth and dignity is not only recognized but celebrated. We also engage with the human rights framework because it connects our work defending sexual freedom in the United States to communities across the world who also utilize this framework to defend and protect the rights of those within their communities. Woodhull specifically utilizes the human rights framework to defend sexual freedom through our:
- Human Rights Commissions which investigate, promote, and protect human rights and have so far addressed issues related to entrapment and harassment, and the right to freedom of sexual expression
- Censorship Series which brings together free speech experts and activists discussing the threats of censorship to human rights and democracy
- Fighting unjust laws in the courts, including FOSTA and Age Verification laws, which infringe on people’s right to privacy and freedom of expression and specifically limit sex workers’ right to work
- Fact Checked by Woodhull which addresses pressing issues related to sexual freedom to ensure the public has accurate and rigorously researched information so they can effectively participate in the process of defending and protecting human rights for all
- Spokes Hub Virtual Peer Learning Academy where people involved in the sex trades can share critical knowledge and expertise to build a large network of advocates who are trained to effectively defend and protect the rights of all people involved in this field of work
- Policy Position Statements where we provide our analysis and position on critical policies related to sexual freedom and human rights being considered by legislative bodies at the local, state, federal, and international levels