Marian is an unsung human rights champion.
Her job is not glamorous—the opposite in fact—but it’s one of thousands that helps to ensure that fair housing is a right in the state of Illinois. As manager of the Fair Housing Division of her state’s Department of Human Rights, she assists with community outreach and educational programs that bring outside groups and other state agencies together to work towards statewide equality in housing.
The mission of the IDHR is simple: "to secure for all individuals within the State of Illinois, freedom from unlawful discrimination and to establish and promote equal opportunity and affirmative action as the policy of this state for all its residents." But this is a heavy task, and given the dissimilarities between states in the way they enforce human rights protections and the lack of federal-state coordination, it’s not always as smooth as it should be.
Day to day, Marian and her colleagues train landlords, tenants, home buyers, university administrators, employers, community organizations, and local governments. They host panels, discussions, and of course, events commemorating International Human Rights Day and the United Nations’ International Day of Peace.
Good things are happening at the federal level, she says. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) works non-stop to train state human rights workers on the same issues that those workers focus on in their own community trainings.
The support is there it seems, yet discrimination in housing, schools, and the workplace continues. IDHR’s role in curbing discrimination in large part rests in educating and training individuals, and creating a dialogue around issues of diversity, conflict resolution, and sexual harassment.
Earlier this year, the State Department asked local state human rights agencies—like Marian’s—to help prepare its report to the United Nations on whether or not the U.S. is effectively advancing and enforcing human rights standards as laid out in various UN treaties. The Human Rights at Home Campaign applauded this outreach, but there continues to be a glaring lack of federal human rights infrastructure. Marian and her fellow staff need more funding, better communication, and more manpower to engage more fully with the federal government in the human rights reporting and implementation efforts.
The Human Rights at Home Campaign is urging President Obama to issue an executive order creating a federal inter-agency working group on human rights. The IDHR and other state agencies do incredible work—but we can amplify it and ensure that every American understands the importance of human rights enforcement at home. The reality remains the same--federal action on this matter is urgently needed.