Help the peaceful protestors protecting human rights

Protect the protest

From Iran and China to Cuba and Sri Lanka, the last 12 months has seen people across the globe stand up for their right to peaceful protest. We’ve witnessed iconic acts of defiance, including Afghan women taking to the streets to protest Taliban rule and Iranian women cutting their hair in protest against the country’s abusive laws.

Almost without exception, this wave of mass protest has been met with obstructive, repressive and often violent responses by state authorities.

The escalating global threat to the right to protest is one of the key human right battlegrounds of our time. Over recent decades, issues including climate breakdown, growing inequality and threats to livelihoods, systemic racism and gender-based violence have made collective action ever more essential. They have given rise to some of the biggest protest mobilizations seen for decades.

Across the globe, governments of every stripe have responded by implementing an expanding array of repressive measures. Protesters around the world are facing a potent mix of legal pushbacks; excessive use of force; the expansion of unlawful mass and targeted surveillance; internet shutdowns and online censorship; and abuse and stigmatization.