Defending human rights remains a dangerous activity. Indeed, during my six years as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders I have seen the space available for human rights defenders visibly shrink.

Defending human rights remains a dangerous activity. Indeed, during my six years as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders I have seen the space available for human rights defenders visibly shrink.

I believe that this disturbing development is a direct threat to the promotion and protection of all human rights. The intimidation and silencing of defenders robs society of the voice of accountability, and undermines democracy and the rule of law.

Throughout my mandate I have tried to raise awareness about the great risks and challenges that defenders face due to their work. These risks and challenges include intimidation, harassment, surveillance, stigmatisation, restrictions, criminalisation, threats, including death threats, attacks, ill-treatment in detention, torture, sexual violence, enforced disappearances, and killings. In many situations, the family members of defenders are also targeted.

Some groups are particularly vulnerable to these risks, including journalists, lawyers, trade unionists, student activists, environmental activists and those who work to promote women’s rights and the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex persons.

Women human rights defenders - including those working on women's rights, gender issues, and rights related to sexual orientation and gender identity - face stigmatisation and attack for challenging stereotypes and patriarchal norms. In this sense, religious groups and leaders, communities, families, and the media are key actors in creating and consolidating a safe and enabling environment for defenders.

My experience over the past six years has convinced me that the protection of women human rights defenders requires commitment to the eradication of structural and systemic violence and discrimination, as well as deliberate efforts to put in place gender-specific, targeted protection measures to make the environment in which they operate safer, more enabling and supporting. I was pleased to see this concern responded to with the adoption of a resolution dedicated to the protection of women human rights defenders at the General Assembly in November last year. This initiative is timely and of utmost importance, both in its acknowledgement of the important role of women human rights defenders, and with the specific protection measures that it highlights to enable women human rights defenders to carry out their work safely and without fear of reprisals or repercussions of any sort.

Likewise, the landmark resolution on the protection of human rights defenders adopted by the Human Rights Council in March 2013 provides significant guidance on creating a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders and ensuring that their valuable work is not criminalised or restricted.

The important norms developed at the international level must be effectively implemented on the ground. States have the primary responsibility to provide a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders to claim and defend all human rights for all. However the acts of non-State actors, some of them mentioned above, must also be taken into account. In this regard, I would like to point to the increased incidents of attacks by both State officials and private security forces against people and communities opposing development projects.

States must create a conducive legal, institutional and administrative framework that ensures that human rights defenders can operate in a safe and enabling environment. I would like to urge all States to implement legislations that explicitly guarantee the rights contained in the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. This would be a crucial contribution to the creation of an enabling environment and would give these rights legitimacy. In this regard, I commend the good practice of Mexico in adopting a law and creating a protection mechanism for human rights defenders and strongly encourage other States to emulate this practice.

Access to justice and ending impunity are also crucial to an enabling environment. The failure of States to promptly and thoroughly investigate violations against human rights defenders could be seen as condoning these acts. Therefore, ending impunity is an essential condition for ensuring the protection and safety of defenders.

I remain gravely concerned about cases of defenders who are intimidated and face acts of reprisals for engaging or for trying to engage with the United Nations, its mechanisms and representatives in the field of human rights, and international and regional human rights bodies. I have publicly condemned these acts as unacceptable and I find them deeply disturbing. Access to and communication with the international human rights system is a right enshrined in the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and other international instruments. It is essential that both States and the United Nations take a strong stance on this issue, including by developing specific laws, policies and mechanisms to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated response to end intimidation and reprisals.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge and warmly thank human rights defenders worldwide for their continuous work in promoting and protecting human rights. Your courageous work is truly admirable and inspiring.

Margaret Sekaggya is the outgoing Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders