Page 113 - Human Rights

Faculty of Nursing
Adult care Nursing Department

Limited evidence suggests that such teaching is scarce.

However, a number of existing human rights conventions and declarations call for the education
of health personnel – something which has yet to be adequately addressed.

3.5.1 International obligations regarding human rights education

Through ratifying international human rights treaties, such as the 1979 Convention on the

Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and agreeing to international
Programmed for Action, such as the Beijing Platform for Action, governments have committed

themselves to ensuring that nurse training includes “comprehensive, gender sensitive courses on

woman’s health and human rights ”thus “enabling health-care workers to detect and manage the

health consequences of gender-based violence”.

Furthermore, the Plan of Action prepared by the 2nd UN Regional Seminar on Traditional

Practices affecting the Health of Women, 4-8 July 1994, recommended that governments provide

courses on the health impact of female genital mutilation and other traditional practices in the
training programmers for medical and paramedical personnel.

International human rights law – specifically the UN Convention against Torture – also obliges

governments to ensure that education on torture is included in the training of health

professionals, including nurses, whose work frequently brings them into contact with people who

have been detained against their will and who may thus be at risk of human rights abuses.

Education on this theme should also take into account that virtually any health professional may

find themselves working with a patient who has been tortured or otherwise ill-treated.

However, in 2001, of the 140 States who had ratified the UN Convention against Torture, only

Denmark is known to have made human rights education provision for nursing students.

109 Academic Year 2025/2026