Who Defends the Defenders?
Environmental and human rights defenders play a critical role in combating ecosystem degradation and mitigating climate change. They serve as central members of their communities, organizing others to fight injustices and abuses. Environmental defenders are the first line of defense in places where the biome is under pressure from legal and illegal actors and the environment is threatened.
However, due to their advocacy, many fear retaliation – sometimes from within their communities. They worry for their friends, family members, and other defenders, and with good reason. In 2023, at least 196 environmental defenders were murdered for their work, according to the non-governmental organization Global Witness. Despite this clear and present danger, legal protections for environmental defenders are still in their infancy. Few countries have laws explicitly protecting environmental defenders, and even fewer have enacted government-run programs to ensure defenders receive necessary protections.
In this context, women defenders play a paramount, though often invisible, role. As primary caregivers, they frequently care for their families and homes and bear the brunt of environmental changes to their natural habitat. They often lead agroforestry projects, artisanal mining endeavors, and other subsistence activities harmoniously with nature. Their role as guardians of their communities also leads them to spearhead advocacy efforts and protests to defend the biome.
Social and gender roles threaten women environmental defenders’ safety. As their activist work contradicts societal expectations, many perpetrators of violence against women defenders are acquaintances. Furthermore, their leadership is contested and silenced, and they often feel lonely and invisible. Beyond these impacts, they routinely suffer forms of sexual violence in retaliation for their active protagonism.
This report examines the existing protection programs in the Amazon Basin, highlighting their gender and intersectional approaches and detailing best practices to keep defenders safe. It also analyzes other protection programs in the Americas, reviews relevant literature, and explores key international normative frameworks. The report concludes with a list of best practices for governments looking to enact new protection programs.
Learn more about the topic on the project’s land page Defenders of the Amazon, no Guia de Proteção a Defensoras de Direitos Humanos e Meio Ambiente na Amazônia and in the report Challenges and Recommendations for the Amazon Through the Voices of Women Defenders of Human Rights and Environment.
