What are civil rights designed to protect?

Civil rights are fundamentally designed to safeguard individual freedoms and ensure that all people have equal protection under the law, particularly from government discrimination and infringement. This includes protecting individuals from unjust treatment based on characteristics such as race, gender, religion, or disability. The focus of civil rights is on upholding personal liberty and the right to participate fully in society without fear of discrimination.

While property rights, corporate regulations, and voting rights are all important concepts in the realm of law and policy, they do not encompass the broader scope of civil rights. Property rights pertain specifically to ownership and use of property, corporate regulations govern businesses and their practices, and voting rights are a significant aspect of civil rights but do not represent their entirety.

Thus, the correct answer highlights the overarching purpose of civil rights to ensure that individuals can exercise their freedoms and be protected from governmental abuses.