Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)

I thank the witnesses for giving their testimonies of the abuse in their communities. It is important to stress that what human rights defenders are doing in Guatemala and other parts of the world in defence of the climate is something that benefits all of us. The witnesses are at the front line of that. I recognise that the Irish Government has been funding, through partners like Trócaire and Front Line Defenders, a huge amount of protection work for human rights defenders. That is why it is so important that, on the one hand, we fund protection but, on the other, we have to match that with our commitment to the UN binding treaty, so we are not providing this protection funding and, at the same time, not matching the legislative piece.

I am really concerned about the rollback at EU level and the deregularisation that is called the simplification agenda. As Senator Higgins mentioned, it was long fought for over years and years and at the drop of a hat, this all changed. I am particularly concerned about the access to justice piece but also the burden it is placing on local civil society groups and human rights defenders and the burden of proof that a company is, in fact, doing something wrong.

I would love to hear a bit more from Dr. O'Connell about why the treaty is so important and a little more from Ms Domingo Díaz about her experience as a woman human rights defender. She spoke a little bit about the differential impact it has for women, particularly around the targeting, the sexual violence and the high rates of defamation for women who are human rights defenders and the specific impact that has for her.

It is also really important for everyone in the room to be cognisant of the fact that the number of human rights defenders killed increases every year. That is really shocking and horrifying.