Defenders' stories

‘It’s important that those who work on [human rights] are able to not become frustrated when things don’t go our way. That we have the energy to carry on, to understand that we are a part of something bigger.’

'I really want to help build a future where Black women and girls can live and really thrive, not merely survive.'

'The credibility of the human rights system depends on whether it listens to those who are most affected by structural injustice.'

'Speaking up is not only an act of resistance, but it is also an act of care and love for our kin.'

'A revolution where you can’t dance is not my revolution,' Ecuadorian environmentalist Nathalia Bonilla told ISHR, arguing for an ‘environmentalism for the people'.

'When we feel the impact of the loss and damages of the environment that we belong to, that's the only source of our strength for doing our subsistence farming and produce food for the family,' says Cressida Kuala.

'I would like to see mining projects, small scale mining for example and hydro power projects or water works that are led by the community and are not proposed by big companies and foreign entities that enter our ancestral lands,' says Casselle Ton in an interview with ISHR.

‘Water is to protected. Water is not for sale. Water is to be defended.’

ISHR spoke with Gladys Mbuya, a lawyer by profession, a passionate human rights defender, and a peace crusader. Discover her story below!

'As Syrians, we have an opportunity for a democratic transition.'

'What we need first is peace. (...) The international community, the UN, has the ability to end what's happening in eastern RDC - what is happening today in the East is truly alarming.'

‘There is currently no law to protect human rights defenders in Madagascar. We need this law to pass. The army and the gendarmes must be trained to understand who we are so they can become our allies.'