Human Rights Defenders

Six female human rights defenders you should know

Samah Hadid is a global human rights activist from Australia and a member of WLUML's Council. You can follow her work @samahhadid.

As a human rights activist, I know too well the unwavering determination needed to defend the rights of society's most vulnerable and marginalised.

For many activists and human rights defenders, especially women, this struggle for freedom often comes with persecution, imprisonment, exile and political attacks.

Western Sahara: Police beating of human rights defender Ms Aminatou Haidar.

On 1 November 2012, human rights defender Ms Aminatou Haidar was physically and verbally attacked and threatened with a knife by Moroccan police in El Ayoun in a four hour long assault that left her car damaged. Aminatou Haidar is a renowned human rights defender and the Chairperson of the Collectif des Défenseurs Sahraouis des Droits de l'Homme – CODESA(Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders). Her human rights work focuses on advocating for the rights of the Sahrawi people and the independence of the Western Sahara.