Global Analysis 2024/25
Front Line Defenders has launched its Global Analysis 2024/25 on the situation of human rights defenders (HRDs) at risk around the world, an in-depth annual publication detailing the variety of risks, threats and attacks faced by HRDs around the world.
The Global Analysis gives a panorama of the threats faced by HRDs in all regions of the world. Despite an increasingly hostile world with expanded threats to their work, human rights defenders (HRDs) everywhere demonstrated a remarkable level of resilience and determination as they resisted a global rollback on human rights.
Download the full Global Analysis 2024/25
At least 324 HRDs killed in 32 countries
The report also reveals statistics gathered and verified by the HRD Memorial – which Front Line Defenders coordinates – documenting the killings of at least 324 HRDs in 32 countries in 2024. HRDs working on land rights, citizen’s rights and Indigenous peoples’ rights each made up almost a fifth of the total, and the countries with the highest number of killings documented were Colombia (157), Mexico (32), Guatemala (29), Palestine (22) and Brazil (15).
Wide-ranging risks to HRDs
Arbitrary arrest/detention was the most commonly reported violation against HRDs around the world, followed by threats/other harassment, legal action, death threats and surveillance (see pp. 14-20 for a more detailed breakdown, including by region). Women HRDs reported slightly higher levels of threats/other harassment compared to their male counterparts, while trans and non gender-conforming HRDs reported this as the most common violation they faced overall.
Criminalisation of HRDs remained rife with 107 charges filed in 75 cases. The most commonly cited charges were linked to defamation (23.4%); national security (19.6%); other criminal charges (12.1%); public order offences (11.2%); and terrorism-related charges (11.2%). In every region, governments and non-state actors turned to the judicial system to disrupt, stymie, stigmatise, bankrupt and imprison HRDs, regardless of the human rights they were defending. Counter-terrorism legislation and “Foreign Agent” laws were among those weaponised for use against HRDs.
Globally, the five most targeted areas of human rights defence were: women’s rights (12%); LGBTIQ+ rights (9%); human rights violations in conflict (7%); human rights movements (6%); and environmental rights (6%). When considered together, environmental, Indigenous and land rights defenders accounted for 15% of the documented violations. (Regional breakdowns are available in the report.)
The statistics in the Global Analysis are derived from Front Line Defenders’ casework and approved grant applications between 1 January and 31 December 2024. The statistics are based on 2,068 reported violations across 105 countries. Front Line Defenders documents multiple violations per case or grant, as this is the reality of the situation for human rights defenders. For more details on how these and the HRD Memorial data are gathered, please refer to the Methodology section at the end of the report.
