Gay men and women have been able to walk around Northern Ireland without fear of arrest since 1982.
And they have been able to join the armed forces since 2000 without being thrown into a military prison should their sexuality be discovered.
The Sunday Times would never have been able to reveal the thalidomide scandal had the ECHR not ruled in favour of freedom of expression in 1979.
The 1982 Interception of Communications Act put restrictions on the Old Bill listening into our phone calls without good reason.
And other rulings led to corporal punishment being outlawed in schools and stopped stepdads thrashing children with sticks.
That does not mean the ECHR should not be reformed, but that is a job for all its 46 member nations and an international conference should be convened to start doing it.
If we were to leave, we would have to decide to which core principles we object.
Surely no one wants to see the right to life, right to a fair trial and right to free speech abolished.
Which is why Reform and the Tories might have to take another look as foresight tends to get better headlines than hindsight.
Just ask Shabana Mahmood.