CONCERN FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31681, 17 May 1968, Page 2

CONCERN FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

New Zealand would be a wonderful country if it could truthfully be said it acknowledged the United Nations universal declaration of Human Rights and kept it to the letter, Mrs C. J. Ashley, president of the Christchurch branch of the National Council of Women said at the annual meeting.

“We are all well aware that 1968 is Human Rights Year. I wonder how many of us are really vitally concerned about this. Are we concerned enough to try in some small way to contribute with our thoughts, our ideas, and perhaps our experiences?” be said. “If the young were taught by both parents to respect their own body, so that they

could continue to live freely and in dignity, there would be very little illegitimacy,” said Mrs Ashley. This would be the result of thought not only for themselves, but also for the rights of the child which could be the result of promiscuous acts.

“Would we be worried about drunken drivers, petty thieves, vandalism, and a host of other sicknesses of our times? “We, in the N.C.W. are asked to study human rights, and we can only do this effectively if we realise that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights describes the family as being the natural and fundamental unit of society. “It seems to me that studying this with understanding and concern would help us to put our own house in order, and would be a very firm foundation for further study of human rights," said Mrs Ashley.