State of Women Human Rights Defenders 2026

The past decades have seen a global pushback on gender equality and a backlash against democracy. V-Dem Institute’s Democracy report 2025 shows that autocracies now outnumber democracies. Civic space for organisations is shrinking, with almost 3 in 4 of the world’s population living in countries defined as repressed or closed (Civicus Monitor 2025).

The State of Women Human Rights Defenders 2026 highlights how the stifling of activism manifests itself and impact feminist organisations and women human rights defenders. Activists are obstructed every step of the way, through administrative burdens, constant surveillance, criminalisation and smear campaigns.

Many respondents explain that most of the harassment comes from their own government, with 1 in 5 activists reporting being less outspoken. Still, almost 60% of the respondents say they do not let harassment affect their work.

The report shows that this year, funding cuts were particularly dire, as more than half of respondents indicate it as the main challenge that hinders their work. The US decision to extend the ‘Mexico City Policy’ represented a crucial catalyst, as many countries followed and reduced development aid. For already underfunded women’s rights organisations, these cuts are especially damaging, leaving them without the resources needed to ensure staff safety or invest in essential protection measures. At the same time, a growing distrust in international justice mechanisms, caused by impunity and double standards in global accountability, demotivates activists and deepens their sense of abandonment by the international community.

When asked how the shrinking civic space manifested itself, the respondents mention, beside funding cuts, increased bureaucratisation, legal restrictions and criminalisation of activists’ work. 53% of the respondents say that the shrinking civic space is due to their government fearing political change and the power of civil society, while 32% of respondents believe this trend is due to their government becoming more authoritarian.

“When the Taliban returned to power, they criminalised human rights and civil and media activities. Now we’re subjected to sexual violence, imprisonment, and even torture. Space for activism isn’t just restricted, it’s completely closed.” – Activist from Afghanistan

“They call outspoken women ‘whores’ and claim feminist activists destroy families and society. And of course they accuse us of importing things from the West. It’s such an old playbook.” – Activist from Syria

Harassment is the most common form of attack against women’s rights and queer rights activists, 44% of respondents say they experience it. In addition, 1 in 3 interviewed activists say their family members were threatened too, in sub-Saharan Africa this number is higher (46%). A large number of activists report being under surveillance and consequently deciding to keep a low profile and hiding personal identity markers, reducing their public visibility.

“It’s devastating when they target your children. I received threats saying they would take my son, so I was afraid to send him to school. It deeply affected my mental health. They threaten your closest family members to silence you.” – Activist from Eastern DR Congo

1 in 3 respondents says they are subject to smear campaigns and false accusations. 31% say they notice increasing administrative and bureaucratic burdens, and 1 in 4 says they face public institutions withholding information, a significant increase since the last survey.

Reports of sexual attacks on women during demonstrations are widespread, and incidents involving the online sharing of activists’ intimate images have also emerged. In Serbia and Georgia, image-based sexual abuse, sexist insults and threats of sexual violence are strategic tools of political control. With AI, it has become increasingly easy to create fake content. Activists worry about the consequences of AI, including fake videos and images of activists saying and doing things they never actually said or did. Still, much of all this harassment goes unpunished. 17% of activists receive death threats, most of whom live and work in Afghanistan, and 41 out of the total 795 respondents have survived an actual murder attempt.

“A few years ago, I got more than a hundred death threats in 24 hours, just because I’d painted over pro-war graffiti in a children’s playground.” – Activist from Serbia

It is fundamental to ensure that international organisations and states resist authoritarian pushback and consistently use agreed gender equality terminology in negotiations, communication and policy frameworks.

This includes multiyear core funding, simplified reporting, dedicated resources for digital, psychosocial and physical security, safe networks and emergency rapid response mechanisms such as evacuation, relocation and legal or medical aid.

Mandate consultations, remove participation barriers, codesign interventions with local actors and ensure accessible formats, documentation and inclusive decision-making processes.

Key steps towards this are the prohibition of legal harassment, the integration of WHRD protection into justice and security reforms, the strengthening of rule of law and media freedom programmes and the guarantees that rapid response support is accessible to women as well as to their children.