Our Basic Human Rights

When my therapist handed me this list, at age 33, it was a huge eye-opener for me. From reading these rights I could clearly see how brainwashed I was as a teen. If I would have been given this list when I was an adolescent, those 18 years of being trafficked could very well have been prevented.

I have the right to have these Basic Human Rights and to stand up for them.

1. I have the right to have my needs and feelings be as important as anyone else’s.

2. I have the right to experience and express my feelings, if I choose to do so, in a respectful way.

3. I have the right to not be responsible for the feelings of another.

4. I have the right to express my opinions if I choose to do so, in a respectful way.

5. I have the right to set my own priorities.

6. I have the right to establish independence if I choose to.

7. I have the right to decide how I spend my time.

8. I have the right to choose my own lifestyle so long as I do not violate the rights of others.

9. I have the right to change my lifestyle.

10. I have the right to change my behaviors

11. I have the right to change my values.

12. I have the right to change my mind.

13. I have the right to make honest mistakes and to admit those mistakes without feeling humiliated.

14. I have the right to self-fulfillment through my own talents and interests.

15. I have the right to grow as a person and to accept new challenges.

16. I have the right to choose with whom I spend my time and with whom I share my body.

17. I have the right to be treated with dignity and respect in all my relationships.

18. I have the right to be listened to respectfully.

19. I have the right to ask for what I want assertively.

20. I have the right to say “I don’t understand” or “I don’t know” without feeling or being humiliated.

21. I have the right to say “No,” and to set limits and boundaries without feeling guilty.

22. I have the right to set limits on how I will be treated in relationships.

23. I have the right to expect my boundaries to be respected.

24. I have the right to walk away from toxic or abusive relationships.

ken from http://pete-walker.com/humanBillofRights.htm