Meet six women defending human rights

In our new video series Defending rights six brave women human rights defenders share their stories and tell about their work towards justice and equality.

María Teresa tells how she was sentenced to 40 years in prison in El Salvador due to miscarriage. Now she is fighting to free other women sentenced in prison for miscarriage or abortion. Kenyan Njeri Gateru is fighting for LGBTQ+ rights in a country where homosexual relationships are criminalized with up to 14 years in prison. Lawyer Irina Birjukova defends people who have been arbitrarily arrested or tortured in Russian prisons.

Human rights defenders often face threats because of their work. Memory Bandera works to protect human rights defenders whose life is in danger. Nedal Al-Salman works for Bahrain Center for Human Rights, which is the only independent human rights organization in the whole country. Phyllis Omido is fighting for a clean environment in Kenya. Thanks to her organization a toxic metal refinery was closed down.

The Defending rights videos were produced together with Amnesty International Finland and partly the Finnish Ecumenical Council.