Resilience as Resistance: Mental health and well-being in human rights

Open Global Rights Blog Series

A blog series that examines a range of critical questions and issues relating to the mental health and wellbeing of human rights activists. Topics discussed include research on the mental health impacts of human rights work, obstacles to advancing mental health and well-being in this field, as well as innovative approaches and strategies to prevent and alleviate the harmful effects of human rights work.
Avoiding the “access abyss”: palliative care, pain relief, and human rights, Ravindran Daniel (April 12, 2018)
Building the foundations of resilience: 11 lessons for human rights educators and supervisors, Sarah Knuckey & Su Anne Lee (March 7, 2018)
The forgotten advocates of children’s rights in Guatemala, Myrella Saadeh (September 1, 2017)
New threats against human rights defenders require new kinds of protection, Padre Melo (July 11, 2017)

Justice Determinants of Wellbeing (Feb 2025)

Wellbeing Inspires Welldoing: How Changemakers’ Inner Wellbeing Influences Their Work, Severns Guntzel, J. & Murphy Johnson, N. (2020)

Research, Self care

Identifying Your Role and Practicing Self-Care as a Young Black Activist, Genisha Metcalf, DoSomething.org (October 2020)

Burnout, Racism, Tools

“Racism, Whiteness, and Burnout in Antiracism Movements: How White Racial Justice Activists Elevate Burnout in Racial Justice Activists of Color in the United States”, Paul C Gorski and Noura Erakat, Ethnicities (March 2019)

Burnout, Racism, Research

A Needs Assessment: Stress Management and Burnout Prevention for Case Workers and Human Rights Activists Working on Issues of Gender and Sexuality in India, TARSHI and Nazariya (2019)

Burnout, Research

« Older Entries

Resilience as Resistance: Mental health and well-being in human rights

RELATED RESOURCES

Justice Determinants of Wellbeing (Feb 2025)

CYCLES OF TRAUMA ANDTHE JOURNEY TOWELLBEING:A Framework For TraumaInformed Practices & Positive Social Change

Urgent Action Sister Funds Publications on Crisis And Collective Care (April 2024)

Safer Viewing: A Study of Secondary Trauma Mitigation Techniques in Open Source Investigations

Wellbeing Inspires Welldoing: How Changemakers’ Inner Wellbeing Influences Their Work, Severns Guntzel, J. & Murphy Johnson, N. (2020)

Identifying Your Role and Practicing Self-Care as a Young Black Activist, Genisha Metcalf, DoSomething.org (October 2020)

“Racism, Whiteness, and Burnout in Antiracism Movements: How White Racial Justice Activists Elevate Burnout in Racial Justice Activists of Color in the United States”, Paul C Gorski and Noura Erakat, Ethnicities (March 2019)

A Needs Assessment: Stress Management and Burnout Prevention for Case Workers and Human Rights Activists Working on Issues of Gender and Sexuality in India, TARSHI and Nazariya (2019)