Journalist and activist Narges Mohammadi’s decades-long defence of rights and freedoms in Iran has been met with cruel treatment by the Iranian regime. Currently in Evin Prison, she remains one of the country’s most hounded human rights defenders: in January, after being in jail for 12 years, she was sentenced to a further 15 months.

And yet even behind bars, Mohammadi is one of the clearest Iranian voices we hear. Today, her role as Vice President of the Defenders of Human Rights Center makes her a powerful voice in the Woman, Life, Freedom movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Jhina Amini in 2022. In 2023, Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize: a ringing endorsement and beacon of hope for women in Iran – and around the globe.

‘The global support and recognition of my human rights advocacy makes me more resolved, more responsible, more passionate and more hopeful. I also hope this recognition makes Iranians protesting for change stronger and more organised. Victory is near.’
– Narges Mohammadi

(speaking to The New York Times) 

Brazilian Indigenous activist Sônia Guajajara has faced harassment, threats, and even a defamation lawsuit from former President Jair Bolsonaro, under whom destruction of the Amazon reached a 15-year high. For the greedy companies and politicians who profited from this destruction, the rainforest Guajajara and so many others called home was simply a way to line their pockets.

In response, Guajajara and other Indigenous activists – part of a long legacy of people who have preserved the rainforest for over 15,000 years – led the movement to protect their home. Their summer of unprecedented protests achieved results: at 2021’s UN Climate Change Conference, governments and donors pledged $1.7 billion to Indigenous peoples, as part of a commitment to reversing deforestation. And in October 2022, a record 186 Indigenous candidates ran in Brazil’s general elections – 40% more than in the previous elections – and 2 were elected to Congress.

In 2023, the trailblazing Guajajara became the country’s first Minister for Indigenous Peoples, amplifying their voices on the national and global stage. Her rise from poverty, via protest, to becoming one of Brazil’s most formidable politicians – despite the best efforts of powerful agribusiness and Bolsonaro’s assaults on Amazon defenders – is an inspiration to us all.

‘The struggle of Indigenous peoples is a struggle for the future of humanity.’

– Sônia Guajajara

In Belarus, authoritarian Alexander Lukashenko and his government branded Nasta Lojka – human rights defender, educator, and a founding member of the rights organisation Human Constanta – a criminal and a terrorist. Lojka was targeted for preparing a human rights report on state-sponsored persecution of anarchists and leftists in Belarus.

She has been forced to ‘confess’ to her ‘crimes’ of ‘incitement of racial, national, religious or other social enmity or discord’ on video and denied access to her lawyer. After months of arbitrary detention, she was handed down a 7-year jail sentence under the country’s ‘anti-extremism’ laws – the very legislation the government has used to target the many people Lojka had spoken up for, including stateless communities.

One of Lojka’s many interrogators told her: ‘You will be forgotten.’ He couldn’t have been more wrong. To communities working for a free, democratic Belarus, Lojka – who was awarded Human Rights Defender of the Year 2022 – is a hero. 5 Special Rapporteurs have championed her case at the UN, and ARTICLE 19 and our partners continue to call for justice for her.

Even from prison, Nasta Lojka’s voice, and her work to educate Belarusians about how to raise theirs, continues to ring out loud and clear.

The Taliban’s rule over Afghanistan continues to take its toll on women’s and girls’ lives. What was it like when they took over in 2021, and what did it mean for women?

As part of ARTICLE 19’s podcast Silenced, Afghan journalist Zahra Joya talks about her media organisation, Rukhshana, and describes what it has been like to lead a remote team of women journalists in exile.

Despite the Taliban’s mounting crackdown on the women’s right to freedom of expression and the right to know, Joya’s dedication to report what matters to the women of Afghanistan is an incredible reminder of how one woman can make a difference.

In May 2023, Uganda passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act: the world’s harshest laws targeting LGBTQI+ communities. President Yoweri Museveni and senior government officials have used toxic rhetoric to ignite a nationwide hate campaign, sparking an uptick in homophobic violence.

Yet activist Clare Byarugaba remains steadfast. Despite the eye-watering risks, she continues to speak up for the rights of LGBTQI+ and marginalised communities and to call for the Constitutional Court to overturn the law. A champion of people’s right to be who they are, Byarugaba is a shining light for equality and free speech in Uganda.

Journalist Lydia Cacho has been investigating and documenting child abuse, violence against women, corruption, and trafficking in Mexico for over 25 years. In 2005, she was detained and tortured in retaliation for her investigations into a child pornography ring that implicated a network of politicians and businessmen.
Following her release, she took on some of the most powerful men in the country, becoming the first woman in Mexico to file a federal suit against senior public officials, including a governor, a district attorney, and a judge. In 2018, the UN Human Rights Council found that Mexico was responsible for the human rights violations against her.

The winner of the Courage in Journalism Award, Cacho continues to champion the rights of women and children. Her story is a powerful reminder of the need for a gendered approach to protecting journalists. Her incredible voice and drive are an inspiration to us all.

‘Journalists are their mirrors to the world, so that the world can see them and hear their stories. And that is why I cannot be silenced.’

– Lydia Cacho

At ARTICLE 19, we know that women journalists face uniquely gendered risks – from workplace harassment to online rape threats and physical attacks.

Find out more about Equally Safe: Towards a Feminist Approach to the Safety of Journalists – research, case studies, practical guidelines, and advocacy tools to help civil society, journalists, researchers, and policy makers to apply an intersectional feminist approach in their work.