Dr. William Paul Simmons is a Professor of Gender & Women's Studies and founder and executive committee member of the Human Rights Practice program at the University of Arizona.

Every day we turn away from human rights abuses. We walk past homeless people with nary a glance, or we give scant attention to yet another news story about the worst crimes committed near or far. It is impossible to respond to all human rights abuses, we must choose who to respond to and who to ignore. In this talk, Dr. Bill Simmons explores what he calls the “ignorances of human rights”. This includes those who turn away in good conscience, those who believe they are doing good but are harming the vulnerable, and those who willfully ignore contradictory evidence that suggests abuses are taking place. Drawing on examples from the Holocaust to the present day, he tells a cautionary tale about those who believe they are in the right and have turned away.