World map on legislative protection of human rights defenders

Human rights defenders do vital work in advancing the enjoyment of all human rights by their communities. The right to defend human rights needs to be protected, which is why ISHR advocates for the strengthening of legal frameworks at the national level, including through the implementation of laws that recognise the rights of defenders and establish strong and concrete protections for them and their work. 

As part of this mission, we developed an interactive map that collates national efforts around the world to protect human rights defenders. This includes laws, policies, protection mechanisms and guidelines for the protection of defenders, among others. 

The map is intended to complement existing resources on human rights defenders’ protection, while also providing an analysis on how protective and respectful of the rights of defenders these instruments are. For each instrument, we have prepared a short summary of its legal status, a general summary of the key elements as well as a more detailed comparison table vs our Model Law for the recognition and protection of Human Rights Defenders, which provides authoritative guidance to States on how to implement the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders at the national level.

We hope that activists, policymakers and other stakeholders find our interactive map a useful tool in their efforts to foster progress in legal protections for human rights defenders.

Visit the interactive map