Outputs

UNESCO Chair Publications

Short Term Action Plan for Universities as Sites of Protection

Africa Human Rights Hub Report 2023

Working Papers

Working Paper No.1 | February 2023 | Paul Gready and Emma Jackson

Universities as Sites of Activism and Protection

Working Paper No.2 | June 2023 | Tsui, Fung 徐風 and Yu, Shui 余水

Activism in the Face of Repression: UK Universities as Allies for Hong Kong Activist Students and Academics

Working Paper No.3 | May 2024 | Eric Hoddy, John Gray, Nelson José Rivas Araque, Elena Levina, Bondita Mrina, Johncation Muhindo, Victoria Nolasco, Christopher Opio, Kudzaiishe Seti, Azza Soliman, Prosper Tirindindi, Natalia Zviagina

Human Rights Leadership: An Action Research Project

Working Paper No.4 | September 2024 | Stephen Langford

Climate Change Activisms by Academics: Opportunities, Strategies and Risks

Working Paper No.5 | October 2024 | Camila Teixeira

Youth, Protests and the Polycrisis

Working Paper No.6 | September 2025 | Leonardo Filippini (Director), Ángeles Ramallo, Martín Sigal, Andrea Schuster and María Inés Ponce Balestri

Teaching Human Rights at the University of Buenos Aires School of Law

La Enseñanza de Derechos Humanos en la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Buenos Aires

Working Paper No.7 | March 2026 | Wouter Vandenhole

Universities as Emerging Human Rights Duty-Bearers: Balancing Institutional Human Rights Responsibility with Academic Freedom

Working Paper No.8 | May 2026 | Lucy Martin

Addressing the Protection Gap: Five Alternative Frameworks from the Urgent Action Sister Funds

Policy Briefs

Policy Brief No.1 | July 2023 | Paul Gready, Fiona Anciano, Boitumelo Papane and Aaron Mushengyezi

Conceptualising Protection: Universities as Sites of Protection

Policy Brief No.2 | September 2023 | Paul Gready and Emma Jackson

Universities as Sites of Activism and Protection

Policy Brief No.3 | June 2024 | Eric Hoddy and John Gray

Human Rights Leadership

Human Rights Defender Hub Publications

  • The Barcelona Guidelines are based on research findings from the Wellbeing of Defenders project and discussions between coordinators, wellbeing service providers, and researchers from around the world at an international retreat in Barcelona in June 2019 (hence the name, The Barcelona Guidelines).

    The Guidelines are available in English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, and Russian.

  • This report by Patricia Bartely, published by the Martin Roth Initiative, highlights research findings from a project conducted by Hub staff Martin Jones, Alice Nah and Patricia Bartley that maps the growing practice of temporary international relocation initiatives globally, and the complexities and challenges of running such programmes.

    Read the report

  • Human rights defenders continue to face arrest, and experience attacks, threats and repression during the Covid-19 pandemic and yet a report by Dr Piergiuseppe Parisi from the Hub and Amnesty International UK found 94 per cent of human rights defenders interviewed received little support from the UK government in response to attacks.

    Read the report

  • The International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) commissioned the Hub to undertake a study on how a Network could meaningfully contribute to the implementation of the Human Rights Defender Declaration in diverse national contexts. The findings are presented in this report on the Desirability and Feasibility of a Global Network of ‘Human Rights Defenders Focal Points’.

    Read the study

  • Dr Alice Nah’s edited book Protecting Human Rights Defenders at Risk draws on the experiences of 407 human rights defenders from Indonesia, Egypt, Kenya, Mexico and Colombia. It assesses the construction, operation and effects of the international protection regime for human rights defenders and proposes ways in which the protection of human rights defenders at risk should be reimagined and practised.

    More information on the book

Working Papers

  • Working Paper 1 | July 2015 | Lucy Harding

    The working paper sets out a number of ways humanitarian and development actors could benefit from the approaches to protection developed by the human rights community, and vice versa.

  • Working paper 2 | October 2017 | Maik Müller and Clemencia Correa

    This working paper presents some of the findings of a case study on the benefits of integrating a psycho-social perspective in human rights and protection work.

  • Working paper 3 | January 2018 | Polina Malkova

    Aiming to advance the understanding of the term ‘HRD’, this working paper discusses the criterion of professionalisation within human rights practice.

  • Working paper 4 | March 2018 | Katie McQuaid

    This working paper challenges the pervasive invisibility and marginalisation of refugee defenders through foregrounding the voice of one of a number of HRDs forced to flee persecution for their human rights work in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and seek protection under Uganda’s refugee regime

  • Working paper 5 | April 2018 | Sylvain Lefebvre

    This working paper is interested in the peacebuilding strategies used by human rights defenders in Colombia. In particular, it looks at those strategies used by three peasant communities to establish control over their territory.

  • Working paper 6 | February 2019 | Irina Ichim

    The working paper suggests that, in repeatedly attending trainings and requesting more of the same, grassroots defenders prioritise the small material rewards associated with these trainings over the acquisition of knowledge that is their intended result, thus subverting the agenda of protection organisations and donors

  • Working paper 7 | March 2019 | Janika Spannagel

    Focusing on the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, this working paper explores new data to answer the controversially discussed question of whether or not communications generally make a difference in the situations of individual defenders.

  • Working paper 8 | December 2019 | Emilie Flower

    This working paper responds to a request from the international development federation ActionAid to assist the organisation and its partners to identify concrete examples of push back against restrictions on civic and democratic space and make a contribution to the exploration of viable development alternatives that expand civic space.

  • Working paper 9 | May 2020 | Eric Hoddy and John Gray

    This working paper presents various leadership concepts, frameworks, historical lessons and strategic insights from the academic literature outside the field of human rights practice. This wider literature is vast, and the review presents that which seems most relevant and potentially useful to human rights defending.

  • Working paper 10 | April 2021| Rhiann Holloway

    This working paper analyses the work of contemporary disability artists in the United Kingdom and aims to demonstrate their ability to mobilise human rights for disabled people.

  • Working paper 11 | May 2021 | Protection International

    In this working paper Protection International present research undertaken with several rural communities in Latin America in opposition to extractive projects on, or near to, their land and territories. Applying tools of social network analysis they describe and interpret how the community members of several ad hoc early warning action committees communicate among themselves and with external actors during emergency events.

  • Working paper 12 | October 2021 | Wanjeri Nderu

    WHRDs in Kenya are constantly involved in defending human rights in fields such as gender-based violence, women’s and children’s rights and advocacy, land rights, democracy and governance, access to justice, police brutality, and extra-judicial executions. This working paper assesses the impact of this activism on the mental wellbeing of WHRDs and evaluates the effectiveness of existing support systems.

  • Working paper 13 | February 2022 | Tamsin Mitchell

    This working paper summarises a recent study offering a qualitative, comparative, bottom-up exploration of journalists’ responses to impunity for violence against journalists in two Latin American countries where this problem is particularly egregious, Mexico and Honduras.

    Also available in Spanish: En Busca de Protección, Justicia y Verdad: Respuestas de Periodistas Ante la Impunidad en México y Honduras

Policy Briefs

  • Policy Brief 1 | January 2017

    Human rights defenders at risk often find it difficult to talk about their mental and emotional wellbeing, even when they are concerned about it. Cultures of human rights practice tend to emphasise self-sacrifice, heroism, and martyrdom. These norms inhibit defenders from expressing their anxieties and seeking help.

    Available in English, عربى , español, Bahasa Indonesia , Kiswahili

  • Policy Brief 2 | March 2017

    Everyone has the right to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Those threatened and attacked for doing so must be protected by the state through mechanisms (laws, policies, and practices) that recognize the diversity of the risks they face and respond to their needs wherever they are in Indonesia.

    Available in English and Bahasa Indonesia.

  • Policy Brief 3 | August 2017

    The most valuable kinds of security training support defenders in: increasing rights awareness; conducting context analysis, stakeholder analysis, and risk assessment; developing security management practices; sharing experiences; building networks of support; reflecting on everyday practices related to security; and adopting a multidimensional understanding of security that includes mental and emotional wellbeing.

    Available in English ,عربى , español, Bahasa Indonesia , Kiswahili

  • Policy Brief 4 | April 2018

    Families and loved ones are central to the lives of human rights defenders. Drawing upon discussions with defenders from Colombia, Mexico, Egypt, Kenya and Indonesia, this brief discusses the complex ways in which families and loved ones are implicated in the security and protection of defenders at risk.

    Available in English عربى , español, Bahasa Indonesia , Kiswahili

  • Policy Brief 5 | October 2018

    The negative impacts of stigmatisation can be invisible, subtle, and long-lasting; they can result in more threats and attacks against defenders and the fragmentation of communities and movements. Countering the stigmatisation of HRDs is critical to their security and protection, as is the promotion of the legitimacy of their human rights practice.

    Available in English, عربى , español,Bahasa Indonesia, Kiswahili

  • Policy Brief 6 | November 2018

    Some women defenders experience higher levels of societal and institutional discrimination than others; some also experience sexism and discrimination within human rights movements. This policy brief examines how gender and intersectionality affects women defenders’ risks, the issues they face, and their experiences of security and protection.

    Available in English, عربى , español, Bahasa Indonesia, Kiswahili

  • Policy Brief 7 | October 2019

    This policy brief explores the findings from a first of its kind global study which mapped how human rights organisations are responding to the mental health and wellbeing needs of advocates. The study found that, generally, organisations have responded poorly and much more needs to be done at all levels — individual, organisational, and field-wide.

  • Policy Brief 8 | October 2019

    There is growing recognition that the wellbeing of defenders is key to the sustainability of their activism. Human rights defenders who work in insecure, difficult and dangerous contexts are at risk of experiencing burnout, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. At the same time, cultures of human rights practice tend to value bravery, commitment, sacrifice, and selflessness, which inhibit defenders from engaging in self-care. This policy brief, which accompanies the Barcelona Guidelines on Wellbeing and Temporary International Relocation of Human Rights Defenders at Risk, provides guidance based on our research on the issues faced by relocation coordinators, wellbeing support providers, and other protection actors as they provide support to defenders on relocation initiatives.

  • Policy Brief 9 | May 2020

    National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are not always equipped or designed to be effective and to comply with their mandate. They often function alongside other government bodies that are party to rights violations. Drawing on examples from Indonesia and Thailand, this policy brief identifies opportunities and vulnerabilities of NHRIs in protecting HRDs.

    Available in English, French, Spanish, Bahasa Indonesia and Thai