The right to social protest is under threat. Governments worldwide are implementing measures to prevent people from using public spaces and digital platforms to voice their demands. In Latin America, repression, criminalization, and stigmatization are the primary tools used to target protesters. These actions inflict direct harm on individuals while simultaneously seeking to delegitimize movements, instill fear, and discourage political participation. Ultimately, the goal is to silence public debate, as analyzed in Silencing dissent through fear, a 2024 report by CELS on the situation in Argentina.
However, restrictions on the right to protest do not affect all individuals equally. Women and LGBTIQ+ persons who take to the streets face specific forms of violence that vary depending on the context in which they occur. As documented in the report The right to protest: the need for an intersectional and transfeminist approach, in Latin America, these forms of violence can include stigmatization based on gender identity or perceived societal roles; verbal, physical, and sexual assault; criminalization through the misuse of criminal law; and legal barriers to the exercise of the right to protest.
These situations cannot be analyzed solely through the lens of gender. They are exacerbated when intersecting identities come into play, affecting women and LGBTIQ+ persons who are Black, Brown, Afro-descendant, migrants, persons with disabilities, rural workers, Indigenous peoples, or those living in poverty in rural areas or marginalized urban neighborhoods. These differentiated forms of violence are the result of historical and structural inequalities that shape power dynamics and perpetuate discrimination against these social groups.
International and regional protection mechanisms have strengthened standards safeguarding the rights to assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press. These bodies have recognized the need for specific actions to protect groups at greater risk, such as women and LGBTIQ+ persons.
This report examines these instruments through an intersectional lens to understand how oppression operates across different contexts and communities, and, more importantly, how these mechanisms are implemented. It aims to contribute to the development of international standards that ensure all individuals can equally exercise their right to use public and digital spaces to express their demands.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: Intersectionality and the Right to Protest
2. Why an intersectional perspective?
3. Standards on the Right to Protest: A Framework for Exploration
4. Review of Standards and Opportunities for the Application of Intersectionality
5. Recommendations: Contributions Toward a New Interpretation of Protest Protection Standards from an Intersectional Perspective
