Human Rights Terms

verb to expel or banish someone from a country

• The government may deport individuals who have violated immigration laws.
• They're going to deport him back to his home country.
• They're gonna kick him out and deport him.
• His negative attitude was like a weight he needed to deport from his life.

verb to confine or restrict someone's freedom by putting them in prison

• The judge decided to imprison the criminal for ten years.
• They're going to imprison that guy for a long time.
• They're gonna throw him in the slammer for a while.
• Her guilt imprisoned her mind, preventing her from moving forward.

verb to confine or restrain someone in a prison or place of detention

adjective confined or restrained in a prison or place of detention

• The criminal was imprisoned for his involvement in the robbery.
• They imprisoned him for stealing from the store.
• The cops locked him up for the night, he was imprisoned in the county jail.
• Her fear of failure imprisoned her in a cycle of self-doubt.

noun the act of putting someone in prison

• The judge sentenced him to five years of imprisonment for his crimes.
• He's facing a long stretch of imprisonment if he's found guilty.
• If you get caught, you'll end up doing some serious bird for that crime.
• Her fear of failure was like a self-imposed imprisonment holding her back from taking risks.

noun a prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control

• The government's policies have been criticized for perpetuating oppression against minority groups.
• It's not right how they're treating people, it's like they're just adding to the oppression.
• The system is straight up oppressing us, it's not fair at all.
• The weight of oppression felt like a heavy burden on their shoulders, suffocating their spirits.

verb to oppress or harass with ill-treatment, especially because of race, religion, or beliefs

• Many religious minorities have been persecuted throughout history.
• She felt persecuted by her boss for speaking out against unfair treatment.
• The new kid in school was constantly persecuted by the bullies.
• The artist felt persecuted by the critics who never seemed to appreciate his work.

noun a person who is confined in prison

adjective relating to or characteristic of a prisoner

• The prisoner was escorted back to their cell after the court hearing.
• I heard the prisoner got caught trying to escape last night.
• The prisoner was locked up in the slammer for the night.
• She felt like a prisoner in her own home, unable to leave due to the bad weather.

verb to advocate or defend a particular cause or person

preposition to express support or defend someone or something

• It is important to speak up for those who cannot advocate for themselves.
• Hey, don't be afraid to speak up for your rights!
• Yo, you gotta speak up for your peeps, man.
• The painting seems to speak up for the artist's inner turmoil.

noun the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with

adjective tolerant

• Tolerance is an important value that promotes harmony and understanding among diverse groups.
• We all need to have a little more tolerance for each other's differences.
• Dude, you gotta have some tolerance for my bad jokes!
• The machine has a tolerance of +/- 0.5mm for accurate measurements.

verb to support or maintain, especially in a legal or moral sense

• It is the duty of the judge to uphold the law and ensure justice is served.
• I always try to uphold my responsibilities as a good citizen.
• We gotta uphold our end of the bargain if we want to keep the deal going.
• The pillars of society uphold the values that hold our community together.

noun a type of speech that promotes hatred, discrimination, or violence towards a particular group or individual

• The government has implemented strict laws against hate speech to protect marginalized communities.
• Posting hate speech online can get you banned from social media platforms.
• Spreading hate speech is just not cool, dude.
• Hate speech is like a poison that spreads negativity and division in society.