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Using cultural resources to provide an alternative to mainstream perceptions of human rights

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), as regional human rights institution work in the Arab world, has adopted an approach that seeks to reconcile prevalent Arab culture with human rights principles and values.

Using interactive theater to break the silence around violence against women

Established in 1989, Africa Network for Integrated Development (RADI) employs female paralegals and well-known actors to demystify laws around violence against women by using educational theater routines.  RADI first recognized the need for legal education following national civil law reform in 1999 that gave recourse to vulnerable people (i.e., women and children).  The tactic involves role-play activities that focus on real-life situations and highlight the dynamics of family violence. After the theater sketches, the paralegal presents participants with new changes in civil rights law and alternative behaviors to address violence against women.  The actors, on the other hand, creatively develop dialogue, plot and presentation. Women who have attended these performances go back into their communities and homes and share new information about their legal rights with others.  In particular, many women promote the sketches by word of mouth, noting the fun and creativity experienced by working with well-known actors.

Using street theater to inform the public about social issues

The Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) stages informance plays—performances meant to inform—on social issues ranging from women’s rights to children’s rights across the Philippines.

Using theater to teach people about civic and political rights

In Nepal, a project initiated by the National Democracy Institute and the Nepali Election Commission uses street theater to encourage participation in elections and to promote responsible voting practices.

Singing traditional songs in public to advocate for cultural rights

In June of 1988 hundreds of thousands of Estonians (as many as 300,000 or one-third of the Estonian population by some estimates) gathered for five nights in a row in the capital city of Tallinn to sing forbidden or politically-risky folk songs. Similar song festivals were held that summer in Latvia and Lithuania. This “Singing Revolution,” as it became known, was an important step toward the independence of the Baltic states from the Soviet Union in August 1991.