Human rights activists often face threats of violence, intimidation and imprisonment while campaigning against injustice. Women campaigning for their rights can face further challenges as they battle against gender stereotypes and opposition to their roles as leaders. To mark Human Rights Day on Wednesday, we hosted a live chat with three human rights defenders who answered your questions on their campaigning work and the challenges they face in uncovering abuses.
The panel
Dinara Yunus, Azerbaijan
Yunus is an independent human rights activist who has lived in exile in the Netherlands for the past five years. Her parents, Arif and Leyla Yunus, are prominent human rights defenders who are imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Leyla is founder and director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy. Leyla and Arif’s campaigning work included compiling and disseminating a list of political prisoners held in in Azerbaijan. Dinara is working on her parents’ case.
Christina ‘Tinay’ Palabay, Philippines
Palabay is the secretary general of Karapatan, a human rights organisation monitoring and documenting violations in the Philippines. She is also the convenor of Tanggol Bayi (Defend Women), an association of female human rights defenders in the country.
Alejandra Ancheita, Mexico
Ancheita is founder and executive director of the Mexico City-based ProDESC (project of economic, cultural and social rights). She is a lawyer and activist focusing on the rights of migrants, workers and indigenous communities. She has dedicated more than 15 years to protecting peoples’ land and labour rights in the face of increasing infringements from multinational mining and energy companies.
Highlights
Readers asked about the challenges the campaigners face, particularly from authorities wishing to quash any form of dissent:
Guardian contributor There is what is called a Public Assembly Law in the Philippines which gravely restricts , and at most times, criminalise the right to peaceably assemble/protest. This is a law passed since the period of the military dictatorship in the country, but it continues to exist to this day. There is also what is known as the Cybercrime Prevention Law which supports and widens the scope of the further criminalisation of "libel," meaning even posts in social media accounts can be penalised.
I would like to learn about the specific challenges that they face in their work. Do the human rights violations that they face impact them differently because they are women?
Guardian contributor Hi Hanah,
In the case of Mexico Women Human Rights Defender face different levels of challenges, some of them are related to the lack to access to justice, corruption and impunity. However some of the specif challenges that we have is he level of risk that is increasing for WHRD, for example In 2013 alone, the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders recorded 242 attacks, 95% of which have gone unpunished.
My question is, what's the most dangerous part of the work that you do? And what drives you to face up to that and keep going? Thanks!
Guardian contributor It's probably when I and my colleagues go to far-flung communities for factfinding and other missions, because access to communication tools (i.e. internet, mobile phones, etc) are minimal or none at all, and we are most vulnerable to violations of state security forces. What keeps me going? The sheer strength of women especially those at the grassroots communities to face the everyday challenges in their lives. I am humbled by their strength.
Readers also asked what was required for campaigners to affect change:
Guardian contributor What an important question. Any kind of support is always very important for this work, however the public recognition is an element that can support better our work, principally for WHRD that are working directly with communities affected by transnational corporations. In some cases the work of these specific defenders is affected by defamation campaigns that are trying to affect their reputation, the public recognition of our work can help to stop the damage.
Besides spreading awareness, what are the best ways for everyday folk to help out? My friends and I are still teens, and while we are filled with that stereotypical "do something!" spirit, it can be hard to figure out what.
Guardian contributor Getting together and forming collective efforts towards specific causes, in my view, are the best ways wherein everybody and anybody can help out. Online and most importantly, offline activism, is certainly fun, enlightening and meaningful!
You can read the full discussion in the comment thread below.
Excited to join this discussion tomorrow! Seeing how many anti protest laws are being implemented around the world, are there anti-protest laws in your countries? How have they affected your organizing?