Introduction

This chapter examines the global context for the defence of human rights, highlighting key developments that shape the risks that human rights defenders face. It discusses scholarly critiques of the effectiveness and relevance of human rights activism. It provides an overview of the protection regime for human rights defenders and examines key debates: the meaning of protection; the definition of human rights defenders; the acceptability of risk and risk-taking in activism; and conceptualisations of (in)security. It then introduces the “Navigating Risk, Managing Security and Receiving Support” research project upon which this book is based and provides an overview of subsequent chapters.