Leaving the Work – The Ultimate Self-Care?

Earlier I posted about the importance of self-care for those us working in human rights advocacy.

The topic I  address today goes beyond sustaining those who engage in human rights advocacy, whether that advocacy is through writing, representation, policy work or other service.  Having engaged in human rights training for judges, advocates, lawyers and other professionals I have encountered a serious problem for many whom I have met.  Advocates struggle when they believe it might be time to change their work.  Few of us  are having the discussion about recognizing when it is time to leave human rights work.  Some have  expressed feeling guilty about a desire to change fields. 

We are, by and large, a hopeful, happy and effective community.

Yet, each individual must decide what the scope and length of her work will be.   While challenging, human rights work is rewarding. How satisfying it has been over the past few years to see dramatically increased awareness and understanding of human rights in the U.S.

Emotional exhaustion can creep in, however, despite our best efforts at self-care.  For example,  those  working with immigrant juvenile detainees particularly in border states, deal with sadness on a daily basis. One journalist has described the detention centers as “having the feel of livestock areas at state fairs.” Not only do those providing direct services observe disturbing living conditions, but they work with the knowledge that if their efforts fail, children may return to extremely dangerous conditions in their home nations. Many others work in equally distressing environments. 

While most of us may not advocate in such extreme environments, every level of human rights work comes with difficult and disturbing realities.  Secondary work on human rights violations can be traumatic.  For example, just reading about human rights violations can take its toll if not managed properly. 

We must give ourselves permission to change what we do.  Change might mean leaving direct representation for policy work or leaving human rights work altogether.  Our first obligation is to our own  happiness and good emotional health.  Knowing when to leave is not always easy. Sometimes we must consciously make space in order to assess our emotions and intuition. Sometimes we are near collapse before acknowledging the stress and sadness that are companions to human rights violations.  For some, their contribution may extend over a lifetime.  For others it may be for a year or less.  For example, what students learn from a human rights externship or clinic, or from a week spent assisting those who live in poverty, cannot be measured.  Students leave the experiences with new perspectives, in itself a valuable cultural contribution. 

We are an exciting and thoughtful community.  One important role we can play is to give each other permission to stop the work.  We provide a valuable service to the community when we honor all who engage in human rights work, without time as a measurement.