UN Special Rapporteur Survey on the Situation of Women Human Rights Defenders

The Situation of Women Human Rights Defenders

A Survey by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders Michel Forst

You are invited by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mr. Michel Forst, to share information on women human rights defenders.

Women human rights defenders are women who “promote and… strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels” through peaceful means (Article 1, 5, 12 and 13 Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms). Because of their work, women human rights defenders often face risks and suffer violations of their rights, including gender specific ones. The data collected through this survey will inform the report of the UN Special Rapporteur, which will focus on the situation of women human rights defenders and will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2019. The report will be made publicly available at the OHCHR website and on the website of the Special Rapporteur. For more information on this report, see the related Concept Note also provided for your convenience in English, French and Spanish, on the abovementioned OHCHR website. This survey will take around 25 minutes or more to complete, depending on the level of detail you wish to provide. There are six main questions in this survey. Your responses will be held confidentially and they will not be attributed to you unless you give us permission to do so. This survey is prepared by the mandate of the Special Rapporteur with technical support from the Centre for Applied Human Rights of the University of York. States, international and regional organizations, National Human Rights Institutions and civil society are requested to submit their responses as a Word or PDF file from their official email address to defenders@ohchr.org. For this purpose, a downloadable version of the questionnaire is available in English, French and Spanish, on the abovementioned OHCHR’s website. Civil society stakeholders can and are encouraged to submit this form online. The survey will be open until 28 September 2018.