Rights are hard-won and easily lost. The fight for human dignity, equality, and freedom is a continuous journey fueled by hope, solidarity, and the unwavering will of those who believe a fairer world is possible. Throughout history, progress has been driven by individuals and communities refusing to accept injustice, working tirelessly to secure freedoms for themselves and others. As new challenges arise, the call to action remains the same: to stand together and speak out. Here we’ve listed a few examples that became extra visible and prominent in the last 10 years, showing various areas of activists’ fight for justice.

Schools Strike for Climate / Fridays for the Future

The worldwide climate crisis resistance movement started symbolically in Sweden on Friday in the summer of 2018. Aged 15, Greta Thunberg was systematically showing up under the Swedish Parliament building with a transparent „Schools Strike for Climate”. Thanks to media attention, soon other young people around the world joined her. According to total numbers, e.g., in 2019, over 6 million people attended protests in their countries. Greta continues her work as an activist, being vocal not only about climate change, although it’s still the most important matters. She represents the voice of young people and keeps putting pressure on authorities in power to act now on the climate crisis, change policies, and actively provide society with solutions. Every year, she is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2019, she became the youngest-ever Person of the Year of Time Magazine (16 years old).

Women and girls’ rights to education

Malala Yousafzai became a symbol of resistance towards the Taliban’s ban on women and girls’ rights to education in Pakistan (and internationally too). As a teenager, she started to write a blog (under a fake nickname) to share concerns about their situation in the country and fear of changes at her school. Later on, her identity was revealed, and together with her father, they started to be more vocal about the issue. In 2012, while going back home, she got shot by the Talibans for publicly opposing their decisions. Those events received worldwide condemnation. Millions of Pakistanis signed the petition for the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill. In December 2014, she became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate (17 years old). She continues her mission as an education activist, as a United Nations Messenger of Peace, she helps to raise awareness of the importance of girls’ education.

#MeToo

The movement was started in 2006 by the initiative of an activist for women’s rights and sexual assault survivor Tarana Burke, but it got a bigger spotlight in 2017. The hashtag „MeToo” went viral on social media in connection with the revealed sexual abuse crimes of Harvey Weinstein, a Hollywood film producer. The movement helps other women (and later on also men) with similar experiences to stand up for themselves. Tarana Burke, among other activists, was called “the silence breaker,” and in 2017, she became Time’s Person of the Year. In 2024 #MeToo action raise again in France due to the case of Gisèle Pelicot – the survivor of group rape caused by her husband. It shows the importance and ongoing relevance of such a movement.

Pride / LGBTQ+ Rights Movement

The roots of pride go back to the Stonewall Riots of 1969 in New York City, often considered the catalyst for the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and 1970, when the first Pride parade took place to commemorate the anniversary of the riots. These one-day celebrations eventually evolved into global events/parades (expanded to 100+ countries) and a full month of LGBTQ+ pride held every June. Queer/pride activism is a form of social and political advocacy that supports the rights, visibility, and acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals. It’s combating discrimination, promoting equality, and celebrating diversity in the community. Activists actively lobbying, e.g., marriage equality, child adoption, fair and accessible medical service, recognising hate crimes based on sexual orientation/identification discrimination, etc.

Black Protests – Women’s Strikes

On the 24th of October 1975, Icelandic women turned their society upside down. Almost all of them (over 90% of the population) took the day off, refused to fulfill house chores, and work as a symbol of protest and went on the streets. The strike aimed to emphasise that women’s status and work were socially and economically indispensable yet often undervalued. It was just the start of a social, political, and legislative revolution regarding women’s rights that not only completely changed Iceland but also made the country a world leader in the fight for gender equality. Others follow their example. In October 2016 and 2020, Polish women, inspired by Icelanders, under the leadership of activist Marta Lempart (founder of „OSK – All-Poland Women’s Strike), organised the biggest national strikes against the abortion ban and for women’s health safety. Wearing black was a symbol of mourning. In several years, OSK organised many protests against such injustice targeting women and various minorities. Solidarity strikes also took place in different countries, e.g., Iceland and Norway. In 2023, Iceland decided to repeat its former action and organised another national strike, including the participation of women authorities like Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir. It shows that even in places like „equality paradise,” the importance of fighting for women’s rights is never decreasing.

Amnesty International’s Write for Rights – Letter Writing Marathon

Amnesty International is the largest grassroots organisation fighting for human rights. It has 50 international offices, declares to have over 10 million members, activists, volunteers, supporters, and donors around the world. Most of their actions come from the power of the community, which was started by local groups and activists. This is also the origin of the Letter Writing Marathon. On the  10th of December 2001, when everyone celebrated Human Rights Day, a group of activists from Warsaw decided to write letters to the authorities for 24 hours straight to fight against human rights injustice. In total, they managed to write 2,326 letters! This is how the Write for Rights was born. Since 2002, the action has gone global, become a complex campaign, and consists of worldwide events that save people’s lives. Amnesty shares stories of activists, local heroes, students, defenders, politicians, and anyone who was imprisoned unjustly for their activity and advocacy for human rights and humans greater good. Together, people around the world gather on the same day to write as many letters as possible to help release them from prison, give them hope, demand changes, put pressure on authorities, and leave the strong message: „The world is watching”.

Black Lives Matter

In May 2020, George Floyd was killed by a US police officer, which met with national and worldwide condemnation. People started organising protests and solidarity actions under the claim „Black Lives Matter”. Activists were pointing out the problem of violence, police brutality, and racial injustice, systemic racism towards Black people and other people of color, for a very long time. The latest case helped to grow the campaign on a global scale.

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