Social injustice is a global problem. It occurs in all countries and regions of the world. It is expressed in different ways and with different levels of severity, and generates social and political conflicts that can lead to wars, genocides or revolutions.
The only way to fight social injustice is through political action coherent and consistent to attack its causes and achieve social justice.
Below, we show you some examples of social injustice in the world against which we must, as citizens exercising our rights, claim, protest and fight.
See also Social justice.
Discrimination
Discrimination is the segregation of a person or a group of people based on their skin color, religious belief, ethnic origin, political ideology, gender, sexual inclination, physical disability, among others.
Situations of discrimination involve situations in which a person or group is systematically denied access to education, work, health services, political participation, among other things. Discrimination generates situations of inequality.
See more about Discrimination.
Inequality
Inequality is a consequence of social injustice. It generates situations in which a privileged group controls, monopolizes or limits access to education, work, services, health care or opportunities of different kinds.
See more about Inequality.
Gender violence
Gender violence is characterized by being directed towards a person or a group of people due to their sex. In our traditionally sexist societies, gender violence affects women above all.
Situations of gender violence are assaults, rapes, forced prostitution, employment discrimination, physical and sexual violence, castration, human trafficking, harassment and sexual harassment.
It can occur in any area of life, home or public, work or school, and negatively affects the social, physical and psychological well-being of the person who suffers from it.
See more about Gender Violence.
human trafficking
Human trafficking refers to the trafficking or trade of human beings. It is considered an illegal practice and punishable internationally. It is carried out, above all, by organized global crime.
Generally, human trafficking is for labor, mental, and reproductive slavery; for sexual exploitation or forced labor; for organ extraction or any other form of slavery that goes against the will, well-being and rights of the person. Millions of people a year are victims of trafficking around the world.
Labor exploitation
Labor exploitation involves the violation at different levels (and in very different ways) of workers’ rights.
Workers who suffer abuse, mistreatment or threats from their employer suffer labor exploitation; that they receive an amount less than fair in payment; who find themselves in situations similar or equal to slavery.
See also Examples of social justice that will make you smile.
Persecution of minorities
The persecution of people or groups of people belonging to minorities (ethnic, sexual, religious, etc.) constitutes a social injustice, since it represents a violation of people’s individual freedoms.
This type of behavior is typical of dictatorships or totalitarianisms, such as Nazism in Germany, the Castro regime in Cuba, or communism in the Soviet Union. Situations such as persecution, torture, forced labor, discrimination, segregation, mistreatment or stigmatization are examples of social injustice.
See also Social injustice.
military use of children
Children used for military or war activities represent a form of extreme social injustice. Children recruited at an early age are forced to participate, either as combatants or in support work, such as messengers or lookouts, in wars. In the most serious cases they are used as human shields.
This is a practice with dire consequences: it can leave physical consequences, such as mutilations, malnutrition or illnesses, as well as psychological or moral consequences.
Human rights violation
The State must respect, protect and guarantee the human rights of its citizens. However, when it fails to comply deliberately or not, whether due to carelessness or omission, it generates worrying situations of social injustice.
In this sense, the forced eviction of people from their homes, hunger, water pollution, an insufficient salary to lead a dignified life, the denial of fundamental rights such as access to information, basic services or health care; the segregation of individuals or minorities, generating exclusion at school or work, among many other things.
See also: