Click here to print formatted PDF of this page

Social Injustice

Definition

Social injustice is when not all people within a society have equal access to the facilities, services or systems within that society.

Examples:

• Not having equal access to clean water
• Not having equal access to healthcare or education
• Not having an equal say in political issues
• Not having equal access to systems within society

Why the situation occurs?

This situation can occur due to two main reasons:

1. Poverty can mean that people are marginalised and therefore have less chance to influence decisions which form or shape their lives

2. Political systems within a society may mean that some people are less fairly treated than others, for example due to their ethnicity, gender or religion

How you can make a difference:

Tackle the issue – help young people to learn what social injustice is and about the myths they believe to be true. Educate them to be more tolerant and to understand diversity.

Support those who may have experienced social injustice and help to give them positive ways to tackle the issue.

Try to teach about empathy and to think of others before acting – our actions always have consequences.

Use the materials and tools provided to follow the process of:
1. Identify the problem
2. Develop Awareness and empathy
3. Take action
4. Measure the change

Resources and links:

The organization "One World Action" supports initiatives to combat poverty, social injustice, a lack of democracy and other related issues. Information on these subjects can be found at: http://www.oneworldaction.org

United Nations "CyberSchoolBus" website (English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian) for the UN global teaching and learning project: http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/index.html

Return to top of page

© World Organization of the Scout Movement - 2008

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike 2.5 License.