Shelter City - Support Centres

Shelter City is a nationwide initiative of Justice and Peace Netherlands to protect human rights defenders, in cooperation with a growing number of Dutch cities and local organizations.

Human rights defenders defend the rights of themselves and of others. Through their work they play an important role in the promotion of democratic values, political freedoms, and civil rights. This is a challenging and dangerous fight: they are often silenced, threatened, arrested, tortured and sometimes they disappear.

Justice and Peace established Shelter City in 2012 on the request of their network of international human rights defenders. After the first Shelter City in The Hague, Middelburg joined in 2014, followed by Nijmegen, Maastricht, Utrecht, and Amsterdam in 2015, Tilburg and Groningen in 2016 and Zwolle and Haarlem in 2017. In 2018 Deventer also joined the Shelter City network. Rotterdam followed in 2020. Tbilisi & Batumi (Georgia), Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), Cotonou (Benin) and San José (Costa Rica) have joined the network as International Shelter City Hubs. The expectation is that other cities (in or outside the Netherlands) will join in the future as well. The growing number of applications from Human Rights Defenders under threat shows that new Shelter Cities are strongly needed.

In every Shelter City the municipality, local organizations, universities, and Justice and Peace provide the shelter and take care of the program for the human rights defender. Together with the human rights defenders they organize meetings and workshops that contribute to the raising of awareness about human rights issues among the inhabitants of the Shelter Cities.

Shelter City is affiliated with the EU Human Rights Defenders Relocation Platform

GIJN Guide: Resources for Women Journalists - Support Centres

Women journalists often face unique challenges while doing their jobs. The Global Investigative Journalism Network GIJN has gathered resources to help our female colleagues around the world find networks, resources and tools to handle issues such as online harassment, workplace discrimination and gender-based violence, as well as easily locate opportunities and support designed specifically for women journalists.

The topics:

Networks (international and regional), Safety, Discrimination & Harassment, Mentors, Grants & Fellowships, Awards, Female Experts, Investigative Journalism

Free Press Unlimited (FPU) - Support Centres

Free Press Unlimited is a foundation based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which supports local journalists in war zones and conflict areas in over 43 countries. 

The organization offers several support programmes for journalists at risk:

1. Emergency support: Journalists and media organisations in distress can apply for emergency support from Reporters Respond. Through this fund, Free Press Unlimited enables them to resume their work as quickly as possible when faced with obstruction, vandalism, or intimidations. More info here .
2. Legal support: With the Legal Defense Fund, Free Press Unlimited provides financial support to journalists and media organisations worldwide, giving support to journalists who face prosecution or imprisonment and who are unable to afford a lawyer or trial costs. More info here .
3. Safety trainings & tools: In collaboration with international partners, Free Press Unlimited supports (media) organisations and media workers with safety training. More info here .
4. Advocacy: Independent media and press freedom cannot exist if safety for journalists isn’t guaranteed. Therefore, Free Press Unlimited actively lobbies for a safe work environment for journalists. An environment which enables them to work free of fear and danger. More info here .

Digital Defenders Partnership - Support Centres

The Digital Defenders Partnership (DDP) was formed in 2012 by the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC). The aim of the DDP is to protect and advance internet freedom, and to keep the internet free from emerging threats, specifically in repressive environments. DDP coordinates emergency support for individuals and organizations such as human rights defenders, journalists, civil society activists, and bloggers. The DDP affirm to have "a people-centered approach, focusing on our core values of transparency, human rights, inclusivity & diversity, equality, confidentiality, and freedom".

The DDP has three different types of funding that address urgent emergency situations, as well as longer-term grants focused on building capacity within an organization. Furthermore, DDP coordinates a Digital Integrity Fellowship where organizations receive personalized digital security and privacy trainings, and a Rapid Response Network program.

The Rory Peck Trust - Support Centres

The Rory Peck Trust was established in 1995 in memory of freelance cameraman Rory Peck, who was killed in Moscow in 1993. Based in London, the Trust has grown into an international organisation that provides practical and financial support to independent journalists and their families worldwide.

The Trust assists freelancers in four main ways:

- Assistance grants: they are meant to help professional freelance journalists (and/or their family) who are facing a crisis directly related to their work. The amount of assistance varies according to the particular circumstances of the applicant, but may include medical and rehabilitation costs, subsistence costs, legal advice and relocation costs. More info here.

- Training fund: it enables freelance journalists to gain the essential skills and knowledge needed to work in difficult and potentially dangerous situations. Courses teach them to assess risk and spot danger, handle a crisis, support others and give vital first aid. More info here.

- Safety clinics: they are one-to-one consultations, held both online and in person, for freelance journalists, photographers and videographers. Security advisors provide personal guidance and advice on specific safety and risk assessment issues, assignment planning and digital security free of charge to freelancers at all stages of their career. More info here.

- Freelance resources: they are tailored to the safety, security and professional development needs of freelance journalists. These resources are free and accessible to all freelance journalists. More info here.

Russian Union of Journalists - Support Centres

The Russian Union of Journalists (Союз журналистов России) is the union representing journalists and other media workers across Russia. The Russian Union of Journalists, which is affiliated to the International Federation of Journalists, runs a defence hotline to support members who are attacked for doing their jobs. Contacts to get in touch with the union: ruj@ruj.ru and +7 (495) 637-51-01

ECPMF Alarm Centre for Female Journalists under Threat - Support Centres

On 8 March 2016, the ECPMF has created a special Women’s Reporting Point to address and raise awareness on increasing threats against female journalists.

Threats can be reported via encrypted messaging. The secure emails will only be opened by female staff at ECPMF headquarters and their contents will remain confidential. To provide appropriate legal assistance and solidarity to female journalists or media workers who report their cases, ECPMF is partnering with the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Italian branch FNSI.

The rationale of this support measure stems from the consideration that female journalists are not only attacked because of their profession, they are also threatened because they are women, as pointed out also by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. Gender-based threats, such as sexual and abusive comments, threats of rape or publishing pictures and phone numbers on sex and dating websites target women more often than men.  

ECPMF encourages all women to report attacks in order to seek help, but also to make the dimension of attacks against journalists visible: the reported cases will be collected in a database – with details of the woman’s identity removed in order to protect her – as basis of an analysis to show the scale of the problem across Europe.

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) - Support Centres

CPJ provides support to frontline journalists, and work to ensure that all journalists, including freelancers and media support workers, are aware of safety and security issues before entering a conflict zone. CPJ works to prevent deaths, detentions, kidnappings, and other dangers through information sharing and practical guidance. It also provides on-the-ground advocacy and rapid response support to journalists who are injured, imprisoned, or forced to flee because of their work.

CPJ Journalist Assistance program dispenses emergency grants to journalists in distress worldwide through CPJ’s Gene Roberts Emergency Fund (not available for organizations, media outlets, or media projects). More information and resources here.

CPJ is a founding member of the ACOS Alliance, which stands for ‘A Culture of Safety’ and promotes the Freelance Journalist Safety Principles which news organizations and press groups have signed. More information and resources here.

CPJ is also a member of the Journalists in Distress (JID) network, a group of 18 international organizations that provide direct assistance to journalists and media workers whose lives or careers are threatened because of their work. Each organization has its own mandate and criteria for emergency assistance; the network does not engage in joint advocacy. More information here. 

CPJ’s four-part Safety Kit provides journalists and newsrooms with basic safety information on physical, digital and psychological safety resources and tools.

E-mail: emergencies@cpj.org.

Free media help line Bosnia Herzegovina - Linija za pomoć novinarima Bosnia Hercegovina - Support Centres

Free Media Help Line is part of the Journalists' Association of Bosnia Herzegovina, and functions as a local institution for the support and assistance to journalists in the implementation of their work, and for the protection of journalists rights and freedoms. Free Media Help Line encourages all journalists to report every threats or any interference in the exercise of journalistic duties.

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) - Support Centres

ECPMF offers several support programmes for journalists at risk.

- Journalists-in-Residence programme: The ECPMF’s Journalists-in-Residence (JiR) programme offers temporary shelter for journalists facing harassment and intimidation as a direct result of their work. Journalists get the chance to rest and recuperate in a safe and discreet place, and also to continue their investigative work at their own pace and use their time in Leipzig for networking and finding solidarity. The JiR programme lasts for either three or up to six months, and includes a rent-free furnished apartment in Leipzig, as well as a monthly stipend to cover basic living costs. It also covers travel and visa expenses, health insurance, psychological counselling, and journalism-related training sessions on topics like digital security, mobile reporting and social media management. More info here .

- Legal support: ECPMF offers and coordinates legal support on matters related to free speech for individuals and organisations working in countries located geographically in Europe. More info here .

- Helpdesk: he Helpdesk is ECPMF central tool for responding to the individual needs of journalists at risk and under threat. ECPMF supports media professionals across Europe in order to find a place of safety in emergency cases and we assist exiled journalists in Germany, irrespective of their origin. More info here .

- Women’s Reporting Point: it aims to deepen a gender-specific aspect of the safety of journalists and encourages female media workers to report it if they are subjected to harassment or they witness it in their journalistic work. Reports received are given priority, treated confidentially and are only handled by women staff. More info here .