“I’m a person who is not well known yet, get me out of here – Who should I ask?”

Another way of asking that question is: What steps do I need to take if I am unhappy with the decisions a UK company, charity, individual or the government makes?

Now that the United Kingdom is not part of Europe we have no recourse to send cases to the European Court of Human Rights. If I have a problem with any UK company, charity, individual or the government itself what should I do?

Here is a list of available organizations and their role:

• Local Authority
• Councillor
• Member of Parliament
• Charities Regulator
• Government Departments – UCAS, Citizens Advice, Companies House etc
• Police – Local Police Authority, Chief Constable/Commissioner
• United Nations Organization – and dependant departments (for example UNHCR. OHCHR)
• World Health Organization – and departments, country committees

This list is in no way exhaustive, but you will be able to get directions to further help from any one of the above.

The principle of this site is to enable you through support articles to Learn about stigma, Educate others and how to use what you learn to Change your life. In any crisis the first steps or questions we need to ask are: What is happening? Why is it happening? Who is my first contact in the organization I have a dispute with? Why am I unhappy with the treatment I am experiencing?

We have a couple of supporting articles to help you to start answering these questions:

“What is this site all about?” and “Harassment, Discrimination and Stigma“

The first and best way to resolve any disagreement with any party is to establish the facts and to say how you feel. Statements like “I feel…” and “We need to…” can do more to resolve the problem than “Why don’t you… or “I keep telling you…”

The first two statements are calming or assertive. The second two are aggressive or passive aggressive. Any sentence that assumes the other person wants to help you is already going to be accepted.

You can choose to put your first interaction in writing if it makes you feel more comfortable. It also makes the other party more relaxed and you will more likely get a favourable response. The most important aspect of this approach is that 99 percent of the time a positive conclusion is found.

When you receive a reply verbal or written, you can decide to accept the response. A favourable reply will only come from someone who is assertive. Any other person will react negatively to your invitation. Because you start with an assertive stand you are highly likely to have an assertive response.

In my experience a negative response, or an acceptance that is not honoured would be the last time you communicate with that person. This is where you need to make your position stronger.

You must choose out of the list above the most suitable but lowest level body to send your next letter. Do not phone or email. The most important job the official you contact has is to find out your full complaint and to slow down the complaint procedure. There is a practical reason for this. To alleviate the stress on their department, to allow you time to calm down, to try to avoid placing any restrictions on the other party.

The following steps with the governing body are the most used and most effective:

1. Write to governing body and await their reply
2. Receive letter stating they will contact your adversary
3. They will also tell you to wait for a reply from your adversary
4. You will get a letter from your adversary – probably an excuse
5. Write to the governing body saying you do not accept the offer and state you will go higher
6. Your next letter will be to a government official – councillor or MP
7. You have no control of the process from now – you must accept the officials answer.

There are two more options. 1. To speak to a solicitor and if you do not have legal aid your only option is to 2. become an activist. We do not offer any advice for activating civil rights movements. However here are some suggested websites you can visit:

http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/edumat/hreduseries/hereandnow/Part-5/8_udhr-abbr.htm
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/pages/home.aspx
https://www.un.org/en/sections/what-we-do/protect-human-rights/index.html

15 Jan – On reflection, there are certain reasons why Stigma RTS would advise seeking reparation through the United Nations if there is no support through country level organization. These would be stigma due to mental or emotional abuse. We have some articles on our website that discuss what the United Nations has done in the past for certain issues. We will update these next month.

Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions logo source: (https://www.humanrightslogo.net/sites/default/files/streets_0.jpg) – 14 Jan 2021