By Débora Leão, Civic Space Research Officer at CIVICUS and Marianna Belalba Barreto, Civic Space Cluster Lead at CIVICUS
2019 was a year of collective action, and although the repression of civic space activism continues to rise, human rights defenders, activists, and civil society continue to operate, adapt, and resist. There are many success stories of human rights defenders who continue their work despite mounting restrictions, and it is important to recognise, celebrate, and learn from those stories and to work to bring these narratives to the surface of public attention to inspire us all. This article will look at a few cases of valuable achievements resulting from defenders’ work. In addition, the article will provide an overview of key restrictions and trends and what they can tell us about how civic space affects human rights defenders around the world and particularly in the Americas through the lens of the data collected over the course of 2019 by the CIVICUS Monitor.
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