Dr. Jeanette Rowley (vegan) - Human Rights are Animal Rights, Part 1 of 2

Dr. Jeanette Rowley has said: “A society that respects veganism and accommodates vegans cannot sustain and has to address entrenched prejudice against nonhuman animals.” With a strong socio-legal background, Dr. Rowley has garnered worldwide recognition as a leading authority on veganism, human rights, animal rights, and the law.

In 2012, she founded the International Vegan Rights Alliance (IVRA), now known as the International Rights Network (IRN), to propagate anti-speciesism. Dr. Rowley has generated vast international interest and motivation in addressing the very important subject of veganism, which corresponds to the human right to eliminate all kinds of suffering, including that of an animal. Inspired by the concept of “otherness” in philosophy developed by Emmanuel Levinas, Dr. Rowley strongly advocates for capitalizing on the vegans in the UK having the protection of human rights and equality law to encourage massive shifts in law and policy – regulations much needed to free our animal friends from arbitrary abuse. The International Vegan Rights Alliance serves as a launchpad for vegan rights and animal rights.

“The right to freedom of conscience is applicable to vegan convictions and this is represented in our equality law.” The freedom of conscience human right gives a person the freedom to have a thought, point of view, or even consider a fact that can be totally independent of other people’s opinion or viewpoint. In the book “Critical Perspectives on Veganism,” Dr Rowley wrote “Human Rights are Animal Rigts.” “We need to understand that the mission of modern human rights is to emancipate from suffering; that is the idea behind modern human rights.”

“So, my argument is that, if human rights are about suffering, and it protects vegans, then it must reorientate to also protect animals as well, from suffering.” “The basic rule that we should really acknowledge is that we all suffer. The community of species, beings on this planet suffers, and that's what's really important. Protective rights are about emancipating from suffering, and on that ground, animals, other animals, are equal beneficiaries.”