Advice on Career Paths in Human Rights and International Law

If you are thinking about getting involved in human rights and international legal issues, here are some things to reflect on and consider.

Understand that the World is in Crisis

Right now, there are overlapping and cascading human rights crises that are getting worse. There are the threats posed by climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental destruction, which will negatively impact all of our human rights this century.

Separately, there are the human rights impacts associated with the breakdown of the international rule of law. This breakdown is producing a world of international anarchy and grave rights abuses at horrific scales. 

Everything that we are seeing today, including all of the devastating moments that we live and experience in real time on our phones, reflects a world in an increasingly downward spiral on several fronts. This is a time when the world needs genuine human rights defenders more than ever.

Reject the Double Standards and Weaponization of Human Rights

Too often, the language of human rights is used to criticize governments that are the “enemy of the day” while ignoring human rights abuses domestically. But it is domestically where we have the most control. Rather than using human rights as a kind of propaganda to castigate a foreign enemy, the best way to approach and utilize human rights is as a framework to help us improve our own societies and to seek accountability over those who abuse their power. In our personal lives, it is very easy to criticize others, but difficult to see our own flaws, and even more difficult to address such personal flaws. But that is where true personal growth takes place. That is where the real betterment takes place. The same is true for human collectives. Therefore, it is essential to reject the weaponization of human rights and the “double standards” that apply when we ignore the human rights abuses taking place at home.

Trust What You See

You may very well see human rights issues or human rights abuses that no one sees. The world is changing dramatically in so many ways. The climate system is rapidly warming. Technology is more and more a Pandora’s Box. We are now living in an extinction event. People who have practiced in the human rights space for many years may simply not have the capacity to see the new kinds of human rights issues—and abuses—that are emerging in real time.

You have to trust what you see because you might see things that no one else is seeing.

Be Brave

As a mid-career lawyer now diving into the issue of planetary threats, I have never been more concerned about the future than I am today. The scale of the challenges facing humanity in the coming decades is sometimes beyond measure. On the issue of climate change, for example, dramatic social and cultural changes are needed in the Global North to drastically reduce emissions and build net-negative societies that can start to draw down carbon. We need to remake our social orders practically from scratch and start to regenerate nature, protect the public health, and promote the equal rights and dignity for all. I am up for this kind of challenge, but I am not sure where to begin this kind of advocacy. I am not sure whether our societies are healthy enough to manifest these kinds of broad social changes.

But I am reminded that there is no choice but to be brave and to figure out a way. I am reminded of the thousands of human rights defenders who have been killed over the years for trying to protect their land, their environment, and their dignity from exploitation. I am reminded every day of my privilege to be able to speak out, to write, to publish this short piece, and to call attention to the dangers that lie ahead and the need for positive social change. Human rights is not about glory, or achievement, or some kind of award or medal. Human rights, at heart, is about cultivating a bravery and a courage that can act as a little light in dark times. Sometimes, even a little light can be enough.

Act in Solidarity

Look for ways to cooperate with others. Find allies and build alliances. Cultivate a rich network of colleagues who share your values. Lift each other up. Listen. When it is appropriate to lead, act like a leader. When it is important to follow and to let others lead, act in a manner that upholds the voices that are leading.

I don’t know what the future holds, but I know with 1000% certainty that the people I am with will make all the difference. Build community wherever you can. Speak honestly and truthfully. Be willing to learn. Imagine a world that is in harmony with nature, where all people can live a life a dignity, where governments act in the interests of the common good and the general will, and where international disputes are resolved through peaceful means.