1. Defending the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment: a human rights framework

What are we talking about?

One size does NOT fit all. Imagine two defenders working on an environmental case related to a mining company polluting a river.

• Defender A: A male environmental lawyer living in the capital city supporting the case.
• Defender B: An Indigenous woman farmer living in a remote village where the mining company is located.

Do they face risks? Yes. Are the risks the same for both of them? No. Do they need differentiated measures of protection? Yes.

Who you are changes how you experience injustice. For example, your gender, ethnicity, age, job, and location overlap to create a unique profile of risk and power. Ignoring these differences leads to failed strategies. This is what we call intersectionality.

Source: Elaborated from the Gippsland Family Violence Alliance, "Intersectionality Critical Reflection Resources."

Intersectionality isn’t just theory; it’s about real attacks and real barriers. Here is how it plays out practically:

1. Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs): When a woman speaks up, she isn’t just attacked for what she says; she is attacked for who she is.

   • Bias: Society often expects women to stay home and care for families. When they lead protests, they are labelled 'bad mothers' or 'rebels'.
   • Risk: Beyond physical threats, they face gender-based violence, sexual harassment, and isolation from their own families.
   • Reality: They advocate for communities impacted by the mining company while advocating for their right to engage in advocacy activities when it’s expected they fulfil unpaid care work at home.

   A safety plan for a WHRD must address sexual harassment or gender violence and potentially childcare, as relevant to the specific person, or else it will fall short.

2. Indigenous & Afro-Descendant Communities: Communities defend their territories as a collective, defending their land is defending their very existence

   • Bias: Their traditional knowledge is often dismissed as 'unscientific'. In many countries, Indigenous Peoples are not even recognised.
   • Risk: They are disproportionately targeted because they live on the land which contains the resources big companies want. Perpetrators use racism to justify displacing them, knowing the world pays less attention when marginalised communities are hurt.
   • Reality: The attack is not just on their livelihood, it’s on their culture and ancestry.

   Your advocacy must highlight cultural survival, not just environmental damage. This makes the human rights violation undeniable.

3. Peasants & Rural Workers: Invisible and exposed peasant communities feed the world, yet they often lack legal land titles.

   • Bias: Seen as easily replaceable, not 'educated enough' or conducting 'simple' economic activities.
   • Risk: They face direct exposure to pesticides, contaminated water, and forced displacement. In some regions, armed groups force them to collaborate, trapping them between criminals and the State.
   • Reality: Without land tenure, they have little legal protection against eviction.

4. Age matters: Too Young or Too Old?

   • Youth: Young people are often dismissed as 'inexperienced' or 'naive'. Their passion is mocked, and they are excluded from decision-making spaces.
   • Elders: Sometimes ignored as 'out of touch', even though they hold the vital historical memory of the land.

   Don’t let ageism silence you. Use youth energy for mobilisation and elder wisdom for legal/historical arguments.

Intersectionality in practice

Let’s apply this lens to see why context is everything (examples below are not exhaustive).

A safety protocol or advocacy plan designed for the urban lawyer will not be enough to protect the rural youth leader. The principle of intersectionality forces us to ask: 'Who is this solution leaving behind?' When reporting abuses to the UN or local courts, explicitly state how race, gender, age or other factors influenced the attacks. This gives context to demonstrate the violations are systemic, not just isolated incidents.

Quizz to be displayed through typeform - Quiz! The Power Walk – How Many Times Have You Felt Discriminated? Salomé to ADD

Now that you have all the basics on environmental defence, let’s focus on the protection frameworks important for your work.