International Women Human Rights Defenders Day

 On this International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, we will explore the hardships human rights defenders encounter, the necessity to have an intersectional outlook on the issue of protecting human rights defenders, and what the United Nations recommend civil society does to improve the situation. 

The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders was adopted in 1998 and established a list of obligations States had towards human rights defenders. A human rights defender is anyone who works for the protection of human rights. They can be journalists, lawyers, human rights professionals, advocates, volunteers. They do not have to do that work full time to be recognized as such. 

Due to the sensitive nature of their work, and as they challenge the exercise of State and societal power by exposing human rights violations, human rights defenders are particularly vulnerable. As such, many of them are killed, kidnapped, criminalized and arrested, targeted online and physically by the State or by non-state actors. Between 2017-2018, the United Nations was able to confirm the murder of 431 human rights defenders in 41 countries. But, because human rights defenders fear for their lives and are largely unaware of the international conventions put in place to protect them, the violence they experience goes largely unreported and unpunished.

As such, impunity has become the norm, which creates an additional barrier to the work of human rights defenders. Injustice becomes rampant and human rights violations persist. 

The Declaration on Human Rights Defenders not being legally-binding is a major contributor to the issue of impunity. To date, only nine countries have legislations that aim at protecting human rights defenders: Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Honduras, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guatemala, and Peru. But the implementation of those laws has been limited and piecemeal. 

Canada does not have legislation on the matter, but has put in place policies to support the work of human rights defenders which follows the country’s commitment to the multilateral, rules-based international order and diplomacy.

Another difficulty to the work of human rights defenders is its intersectionality. Human rights defenders focus their efforts and activism on the plight of targeted minority groups, mainly ethnic and sexual minorities, as well as women. Because they fight for the right of marginalized groups, groups whose existence can be outlawed (e.g., LGBTQ+ individuals), human rights defenders are all the more vulnerable. And the violence they experience is determined by the types of rights they defend. 

Women human rights defenders face specific unique types of barriers: misogynistic attacks; gender-based violence; restricted access to public life, to protection, and to justice; and a lack of resources and support for women’s organizations. The Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights also mentioned how traditional gender roles impair the work of women human rights defenders, as they are expected to carry on unpaid emotional and household labour within their own private life. 

The rise of populism and extremism around the globe adds difficulty and risk to the work of women human rights defenders. And as impunity persists, we can expect further setbacks and increased violence targeting human rights defenders. 

Being in Canada, the work of human rights defenders seems far away, leaving open the question of what there is to do to support and protect them. In July 2019, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders issued in his report recommendations for civil society and academic institutions. They were: (1) identifying the obstacles to human rights defenders’ work and remove them; (2) monitoring and reporting impunity; (3) conducting research on the violence and impunity human rights defenders face; and (4) creating spaces to reflect on the situation of human rights defenders and make recommendations. 

These recommendations can be difficult to make, as not all civil organizations may have the resources to conduct such work. But building linkages between civil societies, sharing information and putting in place discussion fora can help diffuse resources and alleviate costs. The digital age makes it easier to connect with human rights organizations across the globe, and to raise awareness. The internet can help in the organization of campaigns that can lead to the government paying attention and trigger diplomatic channels. 

Human rights defenders are at the frontlines of the fight for a more just and fair society, and there are ways for Canadians to support them.