Glossary

Glossary 
Abuse
treat with cruelty or violence. To use something for a bad purpose or wrongly.

Advocate
somebody who publicly supports or says good things about something.

Afford
to have money enough to spare for. Also be able to buy — to be able to meet the cost of something.

Court
a place where law trials are held. Also a meeting of all the persons who are to seek justice in a law case, including the judge or judges, the lawyers, and jury.

Culture
the ideas, skills, arts, tools, and way of life of a certain group of people.

Declaration
a public statement; announcement.

Defend
to keep safe from harm or danger; guard; protect.

Democracy
government in which the people hold the ruling power, usually giving it over to representatives whom they elect to make the laws and run the government.

Detain
to keep from going; to keep for a while in custody; confine.

Difference
a way in which people or things are not alike.

Discriminate
to treat one person or group worse than others or better than others, usually because of prejudice about race, ethnic group, age group, religion, or gender.

Duty
something that a person should do because it is thought to be right, just, or moral.

Equal
having the same rights, ability, or opportunities as another.

Ethnic
having to do with a certain group, often from a specific area, that has the same culture.

Fair
just and honest; according to what is right. 

Free
not under the control of another; not a slave or not in prison. 

Freedom
the condition of being free; liberty; independence. Also the condition of being able to use or move about as desired.

Guilty
having done something wrong; being to blame for something. Also judged in court as a wrongdoer.

Human
having to do with or belonging to people in general.

Innocent
not guilty of some crime or sin; blameless.

International
having to do with two or more countries.

Law
all the rules that tell people what they must or must not do, made by the government of a city, state, nation, etc.

Nation
a group of people living together in a certain area under the same government; state; country. 

Nationality
the condition of belonging to a certain nation by having been born there or by having been made a citizen of it. Also a national group, especially of immigrants in their new country. 

Non-governmental
(NGO) not governmental. NGOs are groups that are not part of the government but usually work with the government to improve things in the world.

Prejudice
deciding something about someone, especially bad, before knowing them. Disliking someone without a good reason, especially disliking them because of what they look like, where they are from or what group they are a part of, without actually knowing anything about them.

Prison
a place where people are kept locked up. Also a building with cells for locking up people who have done crimes or people awaiting a trial.

Privacy
the state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by other people.

Rights
something you are allowed to be. Something you are allowed to do or receive; a freedom to do something.

Roosevelt, Eleanor
wife of former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She was in charge of the group that made the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Search warrant
a paper given by a court that gives people like the police permission to search someone's property.

Slavery
slave (a person owned by another person who has no freedom at all), a condition of being a slave; bondage.

Social security
a governmental system that provides benefits to retired persons, the unemployed, and the disabled. Also any government system that provides money assistance to people with inadequate or no income.

Tolerance
the accepting of the differing views of other people and fairness toward the people who hold these different views.

Torture
the act of greatly hurting someone on purpose, as a punishment or to cause the person to confess to something.

Trade union
An organized group of workers in a trade (a skilled job, typically one requiring skills and special training), group of trades, or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interest.

Trial
the act of hearing a case in a law court to decide whether a claim or charge is true. Also a formal examination of evidence by a judge, typically before a jury, in order to decide guilt in a case.

United
joined together in one; combined. Also joined together for a common purpose, or by common feelings.

Universal
of, for, or by all people; concerning everyone.

Wage
money paid to an employee for work done.