Portraits of Strength: Fourth Edition
Human Rights House Foundation’s (HRHF’s) “Portraits of Strength” photography series honours the vital role that women play in defending human rights. The fourth edition, launched in September 2026, features 12 portraits by women photographers and shares the stories of courageous and inspirational women human rights defenders from across the Network of Human Rights Houses. The series offers insight into both their work and the human rights situations in their countries.
About
Women human rights defenders (WHRDs) work to protect and advance freedoms while facing discrimination and stereotypes about their role and participation in society. Many carry out this work amid war, authoritarian repression, shrinking civic space, political persecution, or growing hostility towards civil society.
Now in its fourth edition, the Portraits of Strength series brings together portraits of women from the Network of Human Rights Houses taken by local women photographers and the stories of WHRDs responding to some of the most pressing human rights challenges facing their societies today. Their work includes protecting children affected by Russia’s war against Ukraine, documenting torture and other grave human rights violations, defending political prisoners, workers, journalists and activists, challenging gender-based violence and discrimination, protecting cultural heritage and the right to health, supporting marginalised communities, and strengthening access to justice, the rule of law, freedom of expression, and democratic accountability.
Across different contexts, their work often begins with an individual or community whose rights have been violated, but its impact reaches further. Through legal assistance and strategic litigation, advocacy, research, documentation, education, community organising and direct support, these women work not only to respond to violations but also to change the laws, institutions and practices that allow them to occur.
History of Portraits of Strength
HRHF launched the first edition of Portraits of Strength in 2014 on International Women Human Rights Defenders Day in response to the landmark UN resolution in the previous year (General Assembly resolution 68/181). The resolution acknowledged the serious challenges faced by WHRDs and urged far greater efforts to protect and empower them.
The second and third editions were launched in 2020 and 2024, respectively, with the latter marking the 30th anniversary of the Network of Human Rights Houses. They were exhibited at international human rights and documentary film festivals, Human Rights Houses and their events across the region of the Network.
Portraits of Strength
Zhenya Mayilyan, Armenia
Defending human rights is not simply my profession—it is my way of making the world a little more just, equal, and safer, especially for women and those whose voices are too often unheard.
Zhenya Mayilyan is a human rights defender from Armenia. She is the Chairperson of Real, World Real People NGO and the Chairperson of the Board of Human Rights House Yerevan. Since 2017, Mayilyan has worked on stronger human rights protection in her country, with a particular focus on the right to health.
Read the interview with Zhenya Mayilyan.
Sara Rahimova, Azerbaijan
Once, while detained at a police station, I reminded a police officer of my rights. He replied: ‘Can a human really have so many rights?’
Sara Rahimova is an Azerbaijani human rights defender and a board member of the Labour Desk Confederation of Trade Unions, working on women’s rights, workers’ rights, and environmental rights. Rahimova was selected to be portrayed in the fourth edition of the “Portraits of Strength” photography series by Human Rights House Azerbaijan.
Read the interview with Sara Rahimova.
Viktoriya Fiodarava, Belarus (exile)
Even if justice takes time, we must fight for it today.
Viktoryia Fiodarava is a Belarusian human rights lawyer, Chairperson of Legal Initiative, and a cofounder of the International Committee for the Investigation of Torture in Belarus. She leads efforts to provide legal assistance to victims of repression, document human rights violations, and advocate for the protection of civil liberties. Fiodarava was selected to be portrayed in the fourth edition of the “Portraits of Strength” photo exhibition by the Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House.
Read the interview with Viktoryia Fiodarava.
Jovana Kisin Zagajac, Bosnia and Herzegovina
I can say without hesitation that Republika Srpska is moving towards becoming a police state.
Jovana Kisin Zagajac is a human rights lawyer from Bosnia and Herzegovina working to advance human rights through strategic litigation and advocacy, with a particular focus on combating discrimination, protecting freedom of expression, defending environmental activists and journalists, and advancing women’s rights. Kisin Zagajac is a member of the Legal Team of Human Rights House Banja Luka.
Read the interview with Jovana Kisin Zagajac.
Jadranka Miličević, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Human rights matter profoundly because they are never permanently secured; they must be protected, defended and advanced every day.
Jadranka Miličević is a human rights lawyer from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 1992, Miličević has worked to advance human rights and to support people affected by war, violence and discrimination. Miličević’s work has had a particular focus on women’s rights and the rights of marginalised communities, including survivors of violence, Roma women, women with disabilities, LGBTQI people, and other groups facing discrimination. Miličević is the founder and executive director of CURE Foundation, one of four organisations working to establish a Human Rights House in Sarajevo.
Read the interview with Jadranka Miličević.
Cvijeta Senta, Croatia
I remain hopeful because people continue to organise, resist, and stand in solidarity with one another. That persistence reminds me that human rights are not only legal principles but also a daily practice of defending each other’s dignity.
Cvijeta Senta is a human rights defender from Croatia working at the intersection of anti-racism, civic space, and social justice. Her work is grounded in feminist values and a commitment to equality and solidarity. Senta is an Organisational Coordinator at the Centre for Peace Studies and a Program Council Member at Human Rights House Zagreb.
Read the interview with Cvijeta Senta.
Khatia Rekhviashvili, Georgia
Human rights still matter because, in Georgia today, they are the line between freedom and submission.
Khatia Rekhviashvili is a human rights defender from Georgia who has worked for over a decade to advance human rights. Rekhviashvili is the Chairperson of the Board of Rights Georgia; her work is focused on strategic litigation, domestic and gender-based violence, torture and ill-treatment by police, and mass surveillance of activists.
Read the interview with Khatia Rekhviashvili.
Małgorzata Szuleka, Poland
Human rights are not an abstract promise, but a practical response to real harm.
Małgorzata Szuleka is a Polish human rights defender who has worked for over 16 years to expand access to justice for victims of crime and protect the rule of law. Szuleka is a representative of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, a member of the Network of Human Rights Houses, where she coordinates advocacy and research activities.
Read the interview with Małgorzata Szuleka.
Olga Borisova Craig, Russia (exile)
Human rights matter because they are not a favour from the state. They are a boundary that power is not supposed to cross.
Olga Borisova Craig is a media campaigner, researcher and digital creator based in the UK, and a former member of the Russian feminist protest and performance art group Pussy Riot. She has been active in the human rights field for over a decade, focusing on political prisoners, women’s rights, freedom of expression, and online censorship. Borisova Craig was selected to be portrayed in the fourth edition of the “Portraits of Strength” photography series by Index on Censorship, a member of the Network of Human Rights Houses.
Read the interview with Olga Borisova Craig.
Katarina Golubović, Serbia
To protect human rights means turning an internal understanding of justice into reality: every time a person at risk is successfully protected, their story builds the foundation for a fairer society in which I, too, can be happy.
Dr Katarina Golubović is a human rights defender from Serbia and President of the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights (YUCOM). She has worked in human rights for over 20 years, having joined YUCOM in 2005. Golubović has dedicated her work to strengthening the rule of law, judicial independence, access to justice, constitutional protection of human rights, public administration reform, and aligning Serbia’s legal framework with international and European human rights standards. She has also actively worked to protect civic space and fundamental freedoms and to support victims of human rights violations through legal advocacy and strategic litigation.
Read the interview with Katarina Golubović.
Kateryna Rashevska, Ukraine
Being a human rights defender is to, first of all, see the person, the dignity of that person, and the unique experience.
Kateryna Rashevska is a Ukrainian human rights defender working on the issues of violations of the rights of Ukrainian children at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and the illegal deportation of children to the occupied Ukrainian territories and the territories of the Russian Federation. Rashevska is an Expert at the Regional Center for Human Rights, a member organisation of Human Rights House Crimea.
Read the interview with Kateryna Rashevska.
Mariia Tsypiashchuk, Ukraine
The realisation that I wanted and, above all, needed to pursue human rights advocacy came right along with Russia’s modern war against Ukraine in 2014.
Mariia Tsypiashchuk is a Ukrainian human rights defender who has worked for over a decade to advance human rights through human rights education, protection mechanisms during armed conflict, countering discrimination, access to information, and protecting cultural heritage. As a human rights expert, Tsypiashchuk often works with Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv on events including its international human rights school and human rights education festival.
Read the interview with Mariia Tsypiashchuk.