Fearless in the defence of rights: Episode 2

In Episode 2, I talk to Naomi McAuliffe, Scotland Director of Amnesty International, to look at these issues on a national and international level.

This episode explores the international frameworks that could be used to protect human rights defenders; how we monitor human rights incidents or incidents against human rights defenders; and, what can be done nationally here in Scotland by bodies like the Scottish Human Rights Commission, our National Human Rights Institution.

The fearless podcast series is exploring what life is like for human rights defenders in Scotland: who they are, the challenges they face, and what we need in order to protect them and allow human rights defenders to flourish.

Over the past few months, I’ve been on a journey. I’ve been speaking to people across Scotland, from different sectors, different walks of life, people who I would describe as grassroots Human Rights Defenders but as I’ve experienced, they might not always refer to themselves as that. I’ve been doing this as part of the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme - I’ve been carrying out research into what Human Rights Defenders need to flourish in Scotland.

And I want to explore and share some of the themes that have come up again and again in those discussions.