All human beings have rights, although not everyone is able to enjoy these freedoms or apply basic human rights to themselves. For others the opposite is true where they can only apply these rights to themselves and refuse to accept them in others. When one person is unable to deal with life in an assertive way it affects every life & relationship that person touches & can even be passed on from one generation to the next.
In order to address this issue it is important to know what your rights are as a human being so that you can assert yourself in ways that enable you to be heard & give you a clearer focus for dealing with life in assertive ways.
My Rights
I have the right to…
- be treated with respect, regardless of my age, race, disability, gender, class, culture or financial status
- be treated as an independent person regardless of any roles I may assume in my life (parent, employee, manager, official representative etc)
- state my own needs & set my own priorities
- say “yes”, “no”, “I don’t know”, “I don’t understand”, or to say nothing at all
- express my feelings & say how I feel
- be treated as an intelligent, capable & equal human being
- make decisions that may not meet the approval of others
- make mistakes & change my mind about a decision
- be different from other people in my behaviour, feelings, ideas, values, needs, tastes & opinions
- decline responsibility for other people’s problems
- be involved in decisions made by others (family, work, health etc) when those decisions affect me
- question & confront any person, system or custom that oppresses others
- enjoy my life without being dependent on others for approval
Remember: –
Someone whose rights are consistently violated is passive
Someone who consistently violates the rights of others is aggressive
Someone who is able to maintain the rights of both parties is assertive