ABSTRACT
Defenders of land and the environment are being killed, criminalised, attacked and threatened across the world as a result of the destruction, appropriation or invasion of territories, forests, waterways, lands and seas – having a profound effect on entire communities and movements. This chapter focuses on violence against environmental defenders, and how dimensions of power constrain and enable their resistance. The chapter draws on experiences, writings and interviews with defenders from Cambodia and Honduras, including reflections on the author’s experiences of frontline violence and resistance in Cambodia over a ten-year period. The author explores dynamics of fear and courage, the role of territory and place in strengthening the identity and power of defenders, and efforts to challenge the negative narratives that pave the way for violent attacks – and to create new narratives of solidarity and collective power. The life and assassination of Cambodian forest defender Chut Wutty is documented, as is the experience of Honduran indigenous leader Laura Zúñiga Cáceres, whose mother, Bertha Cáceres, was also assassinated.
