Call for inputs to the report of the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders to the 64th Human Rights Council

Purpose: To provide inputs for an upcoming thematic report to the 64th session of the Human Rights Council on the mental health and psychosocial well-being of human rights defenders.

Background

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders invites States, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, human rights defenders, medical and mental health professionals, academics, United Nations entities, regional organizations, donors, and other relevant stakeholders to provide inputs for an upcoming thematic report to the 64^th session of the Human Rights Council on the mental health and psychosocial well-being of human rights defenders.

Human rights defenders play a vital role in promoting and protecting human rights, fundamental freedoms, democratic values, environmental protection, and social justice. In carrying out their work, defenders are frequently exposed to a range of pressures and risks, including threats, harassment, intimidation, surveillance, criminalization, arbitrary detention, reprisals, online abuse, displacement, and violence. These experiences may have significant consequences for their mental health and psychosocial well-being.

The report aims to examine the challenges faced by human rights defenders in maintaining their mental health and well-being, identify barriers to accessing adequate support, and highlight promising practices and measures that can help create enabling environments in which defenders can safely and sustainably carry out their work.

Call for submissions

The Special Rapporteur welcomes contributions from all regions and encourages submissions reflecting the experiences of defenders working in diverse contexts, including women human rights defenders, Indigenous defenders, environmental and land rights defenders, LGBTIQ+ defenders, journalists, lawyers, trade unionists, youth defenders, defenders with disabilities, and defenders operating in situations of conflict, occupation, humanitarian crises, or authoritarian settings.

Please feel free to provide inputs to any of the questions and to share this call for submissions with anyone who may be interested in contributing. You do not need to answer all the questions.

Inputs can be sent by email, in Word or PDF file to hrc-sr-defenders@un.org in English, French and Spanish and should not exceed 2500 words.
Email subject line: Call for Inputs – Mental health and psychosocial well-being of human rights defenders

The deadline for submissions is 5 September 2026.

Stakeholders are invited to address any of the following issues. Submissions do not need to answer all questions.

I. Understanding the mental health and psychosocial well-being impacts of defending human rights -individual and collective-

1. What are the principal factors affecting the mental health and psychosocial well-being of human rights defenders in your context?
2. How do threats, intimidation, surveillance, criminalization, arbitrary detention, reprisals, or other forms of violence affect defenders’ mental health and well-being?
3. How do cumulative and long-term exposures to stress, trauma, burnout, moral injury, grief, social isolation, territory loss, access to justice and reparation barriers and others or secondary trauma manifest among defenders?
4. Are there particular manifestations of mental health impacts faced by certain groups of defenders? Do you have information of particular forms of stress affecting defenders such as climate anxiety?
5. How do physical and mental health impacts affect defenders’ ability to carry out their work, support affected communities, engage in advocacy, participate in public life, and sustain their human rights work over time? Please provide examples.

II. Structural and contextual factors

1. How do legal, political, social, economic, cultural, or security conditions contribute to mental health challenges for defenders?
2. How do discrimination and intersecting forms of marginalization affect defenders’ psychosocial well-being?
3. What role do digital technologies, online harassment, disinformation campaigns, criminalization, SLAPPs and surveillance play in affecting defenders’ physical and mental health?
4. Do you think that physical and psychological harm is used as part of broader strategies to restrict civic space, discourage human rights advocacy or undermine community mobilization? Please provide examples.
5. To what extent is physical and psychological violence directed not only at individual human rights defenders, but also at generating a chilling effect that weakens collective action, disrupts communities, discourages participation in public life, and undermines human rights movements?

III. Access to support and care

1. What barriers prevent human rights defenders from accessing adequate, mental health or psychosocial support services?
2. Are such services available, accessible, affordable, culturally appropriate, trauma-informed, and confidential?
3. What specific challenges exist in accessing support for defenders in rural areas, Indigenous Peoples, afrodescendent people, people with disabilities, conflict settings, exile, detention, or displacement?
4. How do concerns regarding stigma, confidentiality, security, or trust affect help-seeking behaviour?

IV. Organizational and community responses

1. What measures have civil society organizations, networks, collectives, Indigenous Peoples, women´s organizations or institutions adopted to support the well-being of defenders?
2. What promised practices exist regarding organizational care, collective care, peer support, workload management, security planning, or well-being policies?
3. How can donor practices better support the mental health and psychosocial well-being of defenders?

V. State responsibilities and protection frameworks

1. What policies, laws, programmes, or institutional mechanisms have been developed to protect and support the mental health and well-being of human rights defenders?
2. How have these measures incorporated gender-responsive, intersectional and other differentiated approaches to address the specific needs of different groups of defenders?
3. What challenges has the State faced in implementing these measures, and what promising practices or lessons learned can be shared?
4. Have protection programmes or national human rights institutions integrated mental health and psychosocial support into their work with defenders?
5. What measures should States adopt to prevent and address physical and psychological harm affecting human rights defenders and their work?

VI. Medical, clinical, and research perspectives

1. What qualitative and quantitative evidence exists regarding the mental health impacts associated with human rights work?
2. What lessons can be drawn from clinical practice, research, or public health approaches concerning trauma, resilience, recovery, and psychosocial support for defenders?
3. What gaps remain in research, data collection, and service provision?

VII. Recommendations

1. What concrete recommendations would you propose for:

• States;
• International and regional organizations;
• National human rights institutions;
• Civil society organizations;
• Donors and philanthropic actors;
• Mental health professionals and service providers;
• The United Nations system

Types of contributions sought

The Special Rapporteur welcomes:

• Written submissions.
• Research studies and data.
• Case studies and documented experiences.
• Evaluations of programmes and interventions.
• Policy documents, laws, and regulations.
• Academic publications.
• Good practices and lessons learned.
• Testimonies and lived experiences, including anonymous submissions where necessary for safety reasons.

Confidentiality and protection

Contributors are encouraged to carefully assess potential security risks before sharing information.

Unless specifically requested otherwise and provided they are in line with UN norms and standards, submissions may be posted on the webpage of the mandate at the OHCHR website and may be referenced in the reports

The Special Rapporteur particularly welcomes submissions that prioritize the safety, dignity, and informed consent of human rights defenders whose experiences are described.

Please also let us know if there are any other issues, specific questions or recommendations that you would like the Special Rapporteur to look into or raise with a particular authority while in the country.

OHCHR