Human rights are being violated on a global scale, across every continent, in both self-proclaimed modern ‘democratic first-world’ nations and so-called ‘third-world’ countries.
These violations take many forms, from unnecessary medical procedures performed on infants and children to societal manipulation during crises, atrocities in violent conflicts, and more subtle but pervasive abuses in between.
This ongoing assault on human rights isn’t confined to the battlefield. While international conflicts demand urgent attention, equally significant are the hidden, individual-level violations such as the breach of physical integrity. These injustices deserve the same focus and immediate legal action.
Consider the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal on gender equality and its observance of Zero-Tolerance Day for Female Genital Mutilation. While these initiatives exist in theory, male genital mutilation remains a largely overlooked issue. This practice, regardless of its cultural, religious, or debunked medical justifications, fractures the vital creative and existential energy of boys and men, akin to a shattered kaleidoscope. It stems from an ancient mechanism of social control rooted in power, religion, and profit, which stands in direct conflict with logic and common sense.
Despite decades of advocacy by figures such as Dr. Ronald Goldman, male circumcision continues to violate fundamental rights. It infringes on the right to physical integrity (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3), the right to health (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 12), children’s rights (Convention on the Rights of the Child, Articles 19 and 24), and protections against torture and degrading treatment (Convention Against Torture, Articles 1 and 16), among others.
Prominent filmmakers like Alejandro González Iñárritu and Alfonso Cuarón have addressed human rights themes in their works, often exploring displacement, social tension, and migration. Films such as Babel, Children of Men, and Roma reveal the human cost of these issues without overt preaching, relying instead on storytelling to expose the socio-political challenges.
In Amores Perros and Biutiful, Iñárritu delves into class divides and the lives of undocumented immigrants, while his recent projects highlight the resilience of indigenous cultures against capitalist exploitation. Similarly, Arturo Santana’s upcoming film Edén Subvertido examines the legacy of Mexican social reformer Ricardo Flores Magón.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer explores ethical and human rights dilemmas tied to technological progress, particularly the creation of the atomic bomb. Meanwhile, Terrence Malick’s poetic approach in The Thin Red Line contemplates the philosophical and spiritual consequences of war. Though differing in style, these filmmakers use visual storytelling to provoke thought about human rights issues.
Fictional depictions of these struggles resonate deeply, but real-life journalists and photographers covering human rights abuses face significant dangers. Whether documenting workers’ rights or environmental exploitation, they often risk their lives, despite international protections like the Geneva Conventions and UN resolutions. These safeguards too frequently exist only on paper.
Human rights are universal, transcending divisions of ethnicity, class, or gender. Yet humanity remains trapped in cycles of collective thought, speech, and action that perpetuate inequality and injustice. Stripping away the veneer of religion reveals that we share much more in common than we realize. However, the collective mindset has yet to fully embrace this truth, stalling meaningful progress.
Bodily modification and neurological manipulation as tools of social control must be abolished. Practices like circumcision, which date back to ancient Egypt, need to be reevaluated and rejected. As female genital mutilation has been criminalized, it’s time to recognize and outlaw the equally harmful practice of male genital mutilation.
For society to progress, leadership grounded in compassion and diplomacy is essential—leadership that prioritizes human rights over profit and outdated power structures. In Belgium alone, 25,000 boys annually suffer irreparable harm from these unnecessary procedures, despite broad agreement among political parties on the need for change.
Advocates like Ronald Goldman and the late Belgian philosopher Etienne Vermeersch, along with numerous neurologists, philosophers, and human rights experts, have long campaigned against this practice. Yet despite their efforts, meaningful action remains elusive. Vermeersch poignantly described circumcision as “an irreversible procedure on the body without allowing individuals to decide for themselves. It is an assault on human integrity and amounts to deliberate infliction of harm.”
What defines us is not the challenges we face but how we transform them into sources of strength and creativity. By turning our experiences into meaningful action, we can become catalysts for change—both within ourselves and in society.