If you’ve ever caught a plane, you would have heard the cabin crew’s instructions to ‘put on your own oxygen mask before helping others’. It makes sense that, in a dangerous situation, you can do a better job of helping others if you also take care of yourself. 

This is why we run workshops around the world on various aspects of freedom of religion or belief, including training human rights defenders (HRDs) on trauma and self-care. These people experience the trauma of the context in which they live, alongside those whose rights they are defending, and have little or no time to take care of themselves. 

Your support is helping equip human rights defenders and others to recognise the signs of trauma and the importance of self-care, enabling them to create holistic solutions for victims in their communities. 

Last year we were training human rights defenders in the Africa and Middle East regions on how to deal sensitively with trauma victims whose rights they are defending, and at the same time how to be aware of any symptoms of anxiety, vicarious trauma or depression they may be experiencing themselves, and address them. 

The HRDs work in countries wracked by violence, with high levels of collective trauma. In the most difficult circumstances, these courageous people have decided to dedicate their lives to fighting for the rights of others – including the right to freedom of religion or belief. 

‘The importance of listening to our body and understanding what some symptoms mean and what causes them is priceless knowledge. Now I know what this means and how to react and what to do to improve my mental health. It was a new topic to me, and it completely changed my thinking in a very positive direction.’ – A participant in our training 

This new perspective means that they are able to care for the wellbeing of those whose rights they defend, while being the most effective they can be when representing them, having built their own resilience.  

‘This is the very first time we feel someone cares about us.'

Many participants told us how good it was to have training that considered their own wellbeing as human rights defenders, and how they might be impacted by the distressing nature of their work. Several said that this training was completely unique: 

‘This is the very first time we feel someone cares about us. We put our lives in danger, facing the government and the security services, and we never think about ourselves. This is the first time we stopped and thought about ourselves. Our mental health is really affected by the work we are doing.’ 

Positive, practical change 

When we followed up with the participants afterwards, they told us how what they’d learned was changing their work. Ibrahim* took on the case of some young men who had been arrested, and had had their heads forcibly shaved by police. 

Ibrahim told us, ‘I would have given no attention to this act [having their heads shaved] if I didn’t have the training. But as a trained lawyer on mental health issues, I was aware of the [psychological] damage this act caused them. I gave them enough time to express their anger and frustration – some of them cried even – and then advised them to meet a psychologist which I referred them to.’ 

Other participants admitted that they had in the past dismissed trauma victims who struggled to describe their ordeal in a coherent manner. Maria* said, ‘I didn’t think they were serious. I needed the information, and if they didn’t want to give it to me, I moved on.’ 

But after our training, Maria and others realised that their clients’ difficulty in relating events coherently is a symptom of genuine trauma; and they decided that in future they would plan to interview their clients in several sessions. Multiple sessions would give the victims time to talk about the impact their experiences had had on them, as well as to pass on the facts of the case to enable their lawyer to do the legal work.

Fighting the tide of forced conversions in Pakistan 

We have been hard at work on a training project tailored to the specific issues in Pakistan. 

Cases involving the abduction, forced conversion and forced marriage of Christian and Hindu girls have increased in recent years, particularly in Punjab and Sindh provinces. Girls from ‘low’ caste Hindu communities are particularly at risk, and many of those kidnapped are forcibly converted to Islam and married off to their abductors. 

There are already laws in place to protect women and girls, but many people are unaware of them, and are sometimes even unaware of their right to not be forcibly converted or forcibly married. We decided to address this gap. 

This kind of training can have a significant, long-lasting effect.

In October 2021 we began a four- month project with a local partner, the Cecil & Iris Chaudhry Foundation. The project trains senior human rights activists in raising awareness among the Christian and Hindu communities on the existing laws and safeguards for women and girls. 

We know from our work in the Africa and Middle East regions that this kind of training can have a significant, long-lasting effect, so we are looking forward to seeing how this project will change lives in Pakistan. 

All this vital, transformational work is only possible with your support. Thank you so much! 

*Name changed for security reasons