HRC62 side event | Democratic backsliding: Through attacks on freedoms of expression, association and assembly
This event, coordinated by the co-organisers of Trans Advocacy Week 2026, will expose how anti-gender movements threaten all our freedoms, reaffirm States’ obligations to protect freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly without discrimination, and strengthen alliances across movements working to defend civic space and democratic institutions.
Location: Room IX, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland
Event language(s): English
Date: ThursdayLocation: Room IX (through door A11), Palais de Nations, Geneva
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Central European Summer Time (time where you are based: see here)
About the event
Across regions, democratic institutions are under sustained pressure. Attacks on the freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly have become central tools of democratic backsliding. Civil society organisations, human rights defenders, and marginalised communities are facing restrictive legislation, defunding, criminalisation, smear campaigns, and physical and digital harassment. Trans, LGBQI, and broader gender equality movements are increasingly positioned at the center of these attacks.
The participants of the side event will discuss the importance of supporting trans/LGBQI organisations that provide essential services, safe spaces, and advocacy where States fail, when restrictions on freedom of association directly undermine the safety, health, and fundamental rights of communities.
This side event will examine how anti-gender and anti-democratic actors strategically weaponise narratives targeting trans and gender diverse people as entry points for broader democratic erosion. Measures framed as “protecting children,” “defending family values and (cis)women,” “preserving national culture,” or “defending national sovereignty from foreign influence” are being used to justify restrictions on speech, ban public assemblies such as Pride marches, limit access to funding, and curtail the registration and operation of civil society organisations.
These tactics not only undermine the rights of trans and wider LGBTQI communities and women – they weaken democratic systems as a whole.
These dynamics are also unfolding within the multilateral system itself, at a moment when global governance is facing a broader crisis of trust, legitimacy, and political commitment to human rights.
For many trans, LGBQI and feminist movements, international human rights mechanisms have long served as critical spaces to organise, build alliances, and hold States accountable when national protections fail.
Yet growing geopolitical polarisation, coordinated anti-gender mobilisation, and increasing pressure on gender equality agendas are narrowing these avenues for engagement.
As organising spaces within international institutions become more contested and constrained, civil society movements risk losing not only allies but also vital platforms to bring community realities into global decision-making processes.
Drawing on experiences from multiple regions, speakers will:
- analyse how the instrumentalisation of trans and gender diverse people and attacks on gender equality function as a gateway to wider assaults on democratic governance and multilateral human rights systems
- document patterns of restrictions on freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly affecting trans, LGBQI and feminist organisations from diverse geographic contexts
- highlight the impact of shrinking civic space on community-led service provision, advocacy, and political participation
- share lessons learned and strategies collected by trans and feminist movements to resist democratic erosion and defend human rights frameworks
- reflect on how the current crisis of multilateralism, including ongoing discussions around UN reform, may further reshape or constrain international spaces where trans, LBTQI, and gender justice movements organise, advocate, and engage with global human rights mechanisms.
At a moment when democratic backsliding is accelerating globally, this discussion will situate trans and LGBQI rights within the broader struggle to defend civic space and constitutional democracy. It will call on States, UN mechanisms, and civil society actors to recognise that attacks on gender justice are not isolated cultural debates, but coordinated political strategies aimed at undermining pluralism, equality, and democratic accountability.
This initiative is coordinated by six partners:
