How to talk about rights

Rights are seen as zero sum – seen in competition, instead of mutually beneficial

When rights are seen as in competition, they become a limited resource to be divided: between winners and losers, worthy and unworthy.

This way of thinking makes it harder for people to see rights as a collective benefit – and narrows the space for rights-based initiatives.

If rights are seen as zero sum, our efforts to defend or improve them will always be thought to be at someone else’s expense.

Right are seen as for other people – and not as enablers and protections we all share

When rights are seen as belonging only to others, their universality is obscured.

Without careful framing, this can increase resentment towards ‘undeserving’ groups, seen as seeking special considerations at the expense of ordinary people.

Rights are seen as irrelevant to everyday life

When rights are divorced from everyday experiences, it’s hard for people to see them as meaningful or relevant.

Rights become, at best, vague abstractions and, at worst, seen as disruptions to ordinary public life.

Rights are communicated in contradictory ways

Without clear and consistent definition, people are more likely to draw on widespread misconceptions to fill gaps in their understanding – or to draw on things that are more visible and immediate, like a disruptive protest or a high-profile case of rights violation.

Rights are presented as passive – and preventing harm

Communications focused only on negative rights obscure the ways in which rights actively enable and improve our everyday lives.

When combined with graphic stories of rights violations, rights are presented as preventing harm first and foremost – and failing to do so.

Focus on what we collectively have to gain

Connect respecting and upholding rights with what we gain in our communities – and as a society.

How to do it:

• talk about what rights make possible for individuals and communities
• explain, don’t just assert, how we all benefit when rights are upheld. Use words like ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ to widen perspective and activate collective thinking: ‘our workplaces’, ‘our families’
• put rights in the context of larger social endeavours – and successes

Name and explain connections to our everyday lives

Connect rights to our everyday lives: from our education and healthcare to our homes and employment.

How to do it:

• talk explicitly about how rights have shaped, and continue to shape, our lives
• share a range of examples that reflect everyday connections and concerns
• share personal, everyday stories to illustrate wider legal principles

Emphasise that rights are ‘made real’ through people and institutions

How to do it:

• name the laws, acts and conventions that outline our rights – but also the people and institutions that legislate or repeal them. Use the active voice to reinforce agency and responsibility
• avoid talking about threats to our rights without explaining how these have arisen, who is impacted, and first and foremost, who is responsible: ‘government is choosing to’, ‘police are failing to’, ‘some landlords are’
• explain how rights are, in practice, dependent on the knowledge, support and resources available to us

Use ‘fairness for our common good’ and ‘public service’ frames as routes into universality

When talking about universal rights: appeal to the public’s shared belief in fairness for our common good – and the importance of public service.

How to do it:

• position universal rights in service to the public – and as serving shared needs. Use terms like “our justice system” and “our right to fair treatment” to remind people that rights serve us all
• start with a collective (where possible), then get specific
• avoid appeals to British values or national identity – use people-first language instead. Talk about the rights of people seeking a home, people who want to live free from danger, people who want to stay with loved ones