Public Service Professionals as Human Rights Actors: Positioning the Social Worker

Abstract

Daily decisions taken by public service professionals such as social workers may directly impact their client’s rights, especially if they are working in a law and policy context that is questionable in human rights terms. This article takes a novel approach by exploring what human rights roles are attributed to public service professionals by United Nations (UN) Treaty Bodies and UN Special Rapporteurs. The analysis reveals that the narrow conceptualization of human rights roles offered by (interpretations of) international human rights law may in fact diminish the potential of public service professionals to make a real contribution to human rights realization.