A person waves a flag during the European LGBTQ pride march in Belgrade, Serbia, September 17, 2022.

Supporting Defenders for Democratic Change

Freedom House supports and assists frontline activists, human rights defenders, political prisoners, journalists, and others who are working to protect and defend the fundamental rights that are the lifeblood of democracy.

Freedom of speech and expression. A free and independent press. Freedom to practice, or not practice, the religion of your choice. Freedom to peaceably assemble and protest. Freedom to petition the government. These fundamental freedoms and human rights are inherent to and protected by strong democracies.

Freedom House is a leading provider of emergency assistance to human rights defenders globally. Since 2007, we have supported tens of thousands of activists and victims of human rights abuses (and their families) across 150 countries. Freedom House and our partners provide resources for relocation, legal representation, trial monitoring, technical equipment, medical and living expenses, and other essential services. We strengthen these brave individuals’ ability to fight corruption, monitor and document human rights abuses, and demand equal rights—especially for at-risk communities. Often this work is being done in very challenging environments, including within countries run by autocratic leaders.

Freedom House conducts targeted campaigns for the release of activists from prison so they can continue their work—including in exile—to bring democratic change to their countries. In 2022, Freedom House unveiled Free Them All, a project focused on securing releases for political prisoners as well as tracking and researching cases of political imprisonment worldwide. Since 2020, Freedom House has contributed to the release of hundreds of political prisoners, particularly in Latin America.

Free Them All: The Fred Hiatt Program to Free Political Prisoners

Free Them All: The Fred Hiatt Program to Free Political Prisoners is a Freedom House project intended to help free political prisoners and push back against the jailing of activists as a tool of repression. Located around the globe, the stories of these artists, journalists, and activists illustrate the significant pressures and harms that human rights defenders and pro-democracy activists face in reprisal for their work and why they need our support. The initiative is named in honor of pathbreaking American journalist and former Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt.

Learn More About Free Them All

Explore Free Them All: The Fred Hiatt Program to Free Political Prisoners , which examines restrictions on the liberty of human rights defenders and prodemocracy activists, and includes profiles of emblematic cases worldwide. The initiative is named in honor of pathbreaking American journalist and former Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt.

Learn More

Protecting Human Rights

Democracy depends on everyone having equal rights under the law and being free from discrimination. If the rights and freedoms of one group are violated or denied without consequence, then the rights of all are in danger as well.

Hundreds of Colombian social leaders and rights defenders from different communities including afro descendants, indigenous, and campesinos take part in a May Day march to denounce violence against human rights defenders in Bogotá on May 1, 2019. Photo: RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty Images — Hundreds of Colombian social leaders and rights defenders from different communities including afro descendants, indigenous, and campesinos take part in a May Day march to denounce violence against human rights defenders in Bogotá on May 1, 2019. (Photo: Raul Arboleda, AFP/Getty Images)

Freedom House supports frontline activists in their efforts to defend and expand fundamental rights. These activists play an instrumental role in protecting human rights defenders, documenting the abuses they endure, and holding abusers to account. We provide emergency assistance to activists who come under threat and work with them to broaden public support for upholding human rights and expanding equality.

Spotlight: Freedom House Programs

Members of Afghanistan's Powerful Women Movement, take part in a protest in Kabul on May 10, 2022. - About a dozen women chanting "burqa is not my hijab" protested in the Afghan capital on May 10 against the Taliban's order for women to cover fully in public, including their faces.

Afghanistan Human Rights Coordination Mechanism

The AHRCM is a coalition that assesses and addresses the needs of Afghan human rights defenders and brings partners together to advocate for full respect for the human rights of all in Afghanistan.

Residential building in Ukraine shelled by Russian forces

Emergency Assistance Programs

Freedom House provides critical, often lifesaving, support to human rights defenders, civil society organizations, and survivors of severe religious persecution in some of the world’s most repressive and conflict-ridden environments. Learn more about our emergency assistance programs.

Human Rights Support Mechanism

Freedom House worked with USAID and the PROGRESS consortium to provide technical assistance and support to partners in developing countries around the world in order to protect and promote human rights.

Woman walking in front of a protest "we are not going back"

Africa Programs

Freedom House partners with civil society and human rights defenders throughout Africa to advance respect for human rights, strengthen democratic governance, and fortify just rule of law.

Media Freedom

The ability of journalists to report independently on matters of public interest is a crucial indicator of democracy. Independent media can inform citizens of their leaders’ successes or failures, convey the people’s needs and desires to government bodies, and provide a platform for the open exchange of information and ideas. When media freedom is restricted, these vital functions break down, leading to poor decision-making and harmful outcomes for leaders and citizens alike.

Freedom House assesses media freedom in its annual and special reports. We support local efforts to defend freedom of expression and access to information, especially in countries where the media is most restricted. Freedom House assists embattled journalists, including those who investigate corruption and abuses of power.

Featured Media Freedom Resources

Reviving News Media in an Embattled Europe

In the face of economic hardship, legal attacks, smear campaigns, and harassment, a dynamic group of news organizations across the European Union are finding new ways to push back against the forces that are undermining them.

The China Media Bulletin

The China Media Bulletin is a monthly email newsletter that provides unique insight on censorship, media freedom, and internet freedom issues related to the People's Republic of China.

Moldova MEDIA-M Project

Freedom House has partnered with Internews in implementing the multiyear MEDIA-M project, funded by USAID and UK Aid Direct.

Religious Freedom

Freedom of worship and belief is an important element of democracy, contributing to social peace, encouraging full political participation, and strengthening diversity of opinion and belief more broadly.

Freedom House provides emergency assistance to religious freedom defenders, civil society organizations, and survivors of religious persecution in dozens of countries, helping people across multiple faiths. This includes resources for medical treatment, legal representation, prison visits, trial monitoring, dependent support, and temporary relocation. We also support local initiatives to promote tolerance and proactively address hostility toward religious minority groups and ongoing tensions between different faith communities.

People take part in an event in front of the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur in solidarity with the Uyghur community in China in 2019. The event commemorated the 10th anniversary of the riots in Urumqi that left nearly 200 people dead.

More on Religious Freedom

Learn more about how Freedom House supports religious freedom defenders, civil society organizations, and survivors of religious persecution worldwide.

Learn More

Freedom of Expression

Freedom of expression is a fundamental component of democracy, facilitating open debate, inclusion of diverse interests and perspectives, and the negotiation and compromise necessary for collaborative policy decisions. Efforts to suppress nonviolent expression, far from ensuring peace and stability, can allow unseen problems to fester and erupt in far more dangerous forms.

Featured Freedom of Expression Resources

A man holds up his chained wrists during a memorial on the one year anniversary of a government crackdown on a Mother's Day march. Managua, Nicaragua. 30 May 2019. Editorial credit: Alfredo Zuniga/AP/Shutterstock

Defending Latin American Human Rights

Read our 2022 report on the nature of the defense and protection of human rights defenders and prodemocracy civil society organizations in Latin America.

Advancing Fundamental Freedoms in Turkey

Freedom House seeks to empower civil society to contribute to the improvement of fundamental freedoms in Turkey and to advocate with national and international decision-makers to uphold the country’s human rights commitments.

Hong Kong Academic Freedom protest tshirt

The Internationalization of Universities and the Repression of Academic Freedom

Academic persecution is increasing around the world, and financial pressures on universities are presenting opportunities for authoritarian states to assert their influence across borders.

Freedom of Assembly

The right to assemble peacefully is a requirement for any open and self-governing society. While most countries’ constitutions promise freedom of assembly, far fewer governments uphold this basic right without excessive restrictions.

Protests around the globe serve as a reminder of the common desire for equality, justice, and freedom. Freedom House documents and analyzes these events extensively, from Beijing to Tehran to Caracas.