The Protection Of Human Rights By Businesses

The rapid development of modern technology has a close relationship with business at the current stage. “All men are created equal”, wrote Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. This sentence is inspirational and disclosed what people desire. Therefore, businesses should participate actively in the development of human rights, and they should care and prevent the abuse of human rights through the operating process. This paper prefers to show two problems of abusing human rights through the operating process. Then this essay will discuss about the one-to-one solution as well.

At last, there is an appeal to businesses for to protecting human rights. Human rights are a vital right which are necessary for everyone. Businesses can enhance their reputation and motivate their employees for protecting human rights. On the other hand, the protection of human rights can promote social harmony and reduce crime so that it can make world become a better place.

Problem 1

Businesses have difficulty with the transparency in their supply chains, which means it is difficult to prevent the abuse of human rights from raw material suppliers. The transparency of supply chain is beneficial to solve the problems of information asymmetry caused by multiple agents and product quality difficult to control. The supply chain with transparent information is a positive demand for the government, businesses and the public. It is convenient for the government to supervise illegal behaviors, easy for enterprises to manage product quality, and the public to fully understand and rest assured about products.

In April 2013, an accident at a factory in Bangladesh killed more than 1,100 garment workers and injured many more. Many businesses and consumers have begun to face up to the issue of supply chain transparency, and international scrutiny of supply chains has increased because of the accident. In another example, the news reported recent human rights violations at Australian 7-eleven retail chains and the fresh food supply chain. It is difficult for businesses to control transparency in their supply chains so that it can prevent human rights abuses. The above example says human rights abuses led to unnecessary and heart-wrenching accidents. In fact, the transparency of supply chain can not only protect human rights and prevent accidents, but also cater to the needs of consumers, reduce the difficulty of management and improve the efficiency of groups. Therefore, it is necessary for businesses to solve the problem of supply chain transparency.

Solution 1

For the primary supplier, the businesses should try their best to establish a good relationship and mutual trust. In addition, information can be Shared to gain trust in certain situations. There is still unknown area for the businesses to the supplier above Tier 2. To address this potential human rights violation, businesses can look for large suppliers with similar ideas and intentions in sustainable performance and risk management. The primary supplier is closely related to the company, and the business behavior of the company will only affect the primary supplier as usual. In other words, it's easier for companies to spot potential problems with tier 1 suppliers. Compared to the primary supplier, the secondary or above supplier is hard to be exposed to by the company. Like suppliers of fresh food, this is an industry where human rights risk management processes are easier to develop than other industries. Even if the industry finds it difficult to make policy commitments to human rights, it is more likely to develop responsible procurement policies. This example concerns the issue of food safety, and the government should pay great attention to it because the people take food for granted. According to the human rights council, the government can also establish some protection policies in order to avoid human rights violations.

Problem 2

In the early days of capitalist development, child labor was prevalent in society which brought an indelible disaster to child labor. Through the long struggle of the working class and the progress of social civilization, the number of child labor gradually decreased. But that doesn't mean no, some businesses still hire the underage workers and they closed their eyes to this kind of violation. Seven-year-olds are still working in dangerous conditions in the democratic republic of Congo, according to Amnesty International. They do not have any protective equipment to mine cobalt and are sometimes beaten violently by security guards hired by the business. Child labor is also a part of the child population, but the conditions and development environment for child labor is very poor. Their rights to subsistence, development and protection have been exploited, even without human rights at all.