Why nonviolent activists take the risks that they do
In light of the International Day of Non-Violence, PBI UK’s Samantha-Rose Parvin looks at the threats facing nonviolent human rights defenders, and why they do it
Nonviolence has become part of the fabric of activism and has been used as a powerful tool for social and political change all over the world throughout history. Peaceful resistance takes many forms; including protest, mass noncooperation or mobilisation, education, lobbying, and persuasive debate.
Prominent figures have utilised nonviolent tools to dissent - from Martin Luther King to the Suffragettes, Rosa Parks to César Chávez. As I write this, activists are deploying nonviolent methods all over the world - Indigineous peoples in Guatemala, environmental movements in London, and schoolgirls in Iran.
Today, groups and communities the world over continue to take peaceful action to speak out against injustice, and it’s become an established technique to create change. Nonviolence is used widely in modern society and, as a result, it’s something most of us have encountered in one form or another. Perhaps your train was cancelled due to industrial action, or a road was blocked by environmental activists. Maybe you’ve taken to the streets yourself to protest against a decision made by those in power.
Perhaps less familiar to many of us is the role that nonviolence continues to play in speaking out against oppressive systems and grave human rights violations elsewhere in the world. In these cases, people stand for justice, for their rights, their land, and for the protection of their communities. In many cases, speaking out carries great risk.
With the impact of nonviolent campaigns often taking time to be realised, activists require great patience and resilience. What’s more, speaking out can carry great risk, and can even be lethal. Nonviolent activists on the ground are working patiently and effectively to make change in their communities, but they need protection and they need support, which is what Peace Brigades International (PBI) is working to provide them with.
When nonviolence is confronted with violence
Last year alone, at least 358 human rights activists were killed globally. In Kenya last year, Elizabeth Ibrahim Ekaru was killed over a land dispute. Ekaru was a prominent gender and climate change activist, as well an advocate for the land rights of Indigenous women.
Groups have expressed concern over the rate of femicide in Kenya and the challenges women human rights defenders there face, yet these defenders continue to stand up to injustice. Women environmental activists have received death threats while seeking justice for the victims of air pollution in in Owino Ohuru Slums in Mombasa. PBI continues to accompany human rights defenders in the search for justice for Ekaru and others whose lives have been taken while they stood for the rights of many, ensuring they can continue their vital work in spite of the risk.
Honduras is one of the deadliest places in the world to be an activist, with hundreds of defenders attacked every year. In spite of this danger, the setbacks, the threats, and even criminilisation of peaceful activity, human rights defenders in Honduras tirelessly continue to speak out. PBI is working with groups there who defend and empower their communities. Inspirational groups are tirelessly defending land rights, women’s rights, LGTBQ+ rights, and access to a safe and clean environment. One defender told us that ‘violence has been normalised, discrimination has been normalised, all kinds of actions that harm others have been normalised. So, we have to break them down in order to rebuild’. After years of repression, these defenders maintain unwavering hope and remarkable resolve as they fight for their communities’ human rights.
Nonviolence - a proven way of making lasting change
Not only is nonviolence a powerful, principled way of defending rights, research suggests that it’s more effective than resisting with violence. Research suggests that, even when campaigns aren’t immediately successful, nonviolent campaigns often result in more sustained socio-political change than violent campaigns do.
Though inspiring, it’s important to remember the real dangers nonviolence can pose to many. And it’s important that our global movement grows to denounce the violence, threats, harassment, and arrest that nonviolent activists face around the world, while resisting any rollback of rights at home.
There is still much to be done. In the face of persistent violence and intimidation, human rights defenders across the world need urgent support. PBI is the only organisation that supports threatened human rights defenders in the way we do, by defending the defenders who peacefully stand up for human rights. In 2021, PBI supported over 1,700 activists who worked to support over 200,000 people globally in the defence of human rights. We know things can change, and we know that this work is vital. We stand with nonviolent human rights defenders and work to ensure their voices are heard.
