Human Rights when choosing a destination

Are Human Rights a decisive factor when choosing a destination?

What human rights concern you the most? (children, women, workers, ideology, LGTBI…). How many countries have you visited that are not a democracy? Have you visited countries with poverty and/or child prostitution? (Did you see it? Did you bring help?). Have you seen unfair situations up close? Do you inform yourself about this before visiting a country? And does it then condition your itinerary or activities there? Muslim countries, do they reject you? (all, some,…) Why? (role of women, machismo, clothing, radicalism,...) Would you refuse to know in depth a country of the Maghreb, or of the Middle East, due to the social effects of its religion? Should visiting dictatorships be avoided? (just a few?). Do you know the labor conditions of migrants in the Gulf Countries or in Asia? Do you think there is coherence in mass tourism? Do you pay to take photos? Do you think that a tourist boycott of a repressive country, or one that does not respect human rights, would be useful? Do you consider that responsible tourism can be a transforming social actor?

I respect different opinions on this topic, there is no perfect answer, but here we have come to reflect.

Unfortunately, there are many countries that do not have/fulfill/respect human rights. Many trips have been changing my way of understanding life, they have stripped me of prejudices. Although on a trip sometimes you can't help but see unfair or unpleasant situations, you learn from everything.

The best thing is always to try to understand the situation without judging, talking to locals and trying to empathize and admire what such different cultures can teach us, this also makes me understand how used we are to the West being the only prism with which to see the world, and that our absolute truths are the ones that we must impose on other cultures, as if we were right in everything that is good and evil, the answer is no.

When I travel I try to open my mind, and for a few years now I have tried to be well informed about where I am going, something I like to read is Amnesty International's annual report, an annual document that reflects the situation regarding human rights in the world, in each country, the progress, setbacks... and reasons for concern documented by Amnesty International, as well as its recommendations to governments and other entities.

https://www.amnesty.org/es/documents/pol10/4870/2022/es/

But friend or friend, traveling responsibly is something you MUST DO. And you don't have to take any courses either, this is very common sense, for example, supporting the local economy, being respectful of the locals and their culture, not polluting, in the sense of garbage of course but also in the human sense, I will give you an example of an experience that I will never forget.

We were in Nosy Komba, Madagascar, the Sakalava village of Ampangorina, full of local craft shops and workshops but perhaps too focused on tourism, if you can say that. There were many children on the beach who came to talk to us, to sell us things and some of them asked for money in exchange for a photo. We had heard this before but it always squeaks, and it's very sad, of course we ignore that proposal.

Well, we were traveling on this kind of excursion with a French couple, we were on the way to the ship, and they came from behind, I remember that I turned around because they stayed with the children, and suddenly I saw how that couple hit a child of about 8 years a bill of 10,000 ariarys (about 2 euros and something) in exchange for a photo.

I COULDN'T STAND IT AND I WENT TO CALL THEM'S ATTENTION, paying for that is very irresponsible.

I could not believe it, how can one be so irresponsible, and have such a lack of sensitivity, from now on that child every time he sees "a white" he will know that he can ask for money for a photograph, as if it were a monkey of fair.

Anyway, I think it is clear that there are other ways to contribute to its economy that is not in such a cold and insensitive way.

You have to travel to enrich yourself and learn with the 5 senses connecting with other realities even if they are hard. It is the authentic, intense, unusual or different experiences that make me admire, freak out and want to discover more.

Leave things the same (or if you can better) than you found them.