Nearly 1,000 human rights defenders, reporters, and labor leaders were slain or vanished last year, according to the United Nations.

Preliminary data from the United Nations reveals that a minimum of 950 human rights defenders, journalists, and trade unionists were either killed or forcibly disappeared globally in 2025.

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This figure is highlighted in the latest global dataset, titled "Human Rights Count," which was published by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, OHCHR.

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According to the data, the alarming rate of violence against these individuals translates to one human rights defender, journalist, or trade unionist being killed or disappeared every 10 hours.

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The report explicitly states that "every 10 hours, a human rights defender, journalist or trade unionist is killed or disappeared," further emphasizing that "every hour, a child dies in armed conflict" and "one in five people have experienced discrimination in the past year."

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Projected totals for 2025 indicate that at least 743 defenders were killed and 202 disappeared, with a noticeable lack of decline in the upward trend of such incidents.

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In 2025, a minimum of 37,163 civilians lost their lives, marking a decrease from the record high of 48,011 in the preceding year.

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The data also shows that "every 14 minutes, a civilian dies in armed conflict," and nearly one in five people worldwide have experienced discrimination in the past 12 months.

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The OHCHR has expressed concern that violence against human rights defenders has reached unprecedented levels, with at least 5,995 killed since 2015.

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According to the UN rights agency, the number of human rights defenders murdered or disappeared in 2025 was more than double the number recorded a decade ago.

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The report notes that attacks against human rights defenders have reached record levels over the past year, prompting the OHCHR to express regret over the surge in attacks on defenders and civilian deaths in conflicts.

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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk emphasized that behind every data point is a real life lived or lost, highlighting the human impact of these statistics.

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Türk stated, "These new global human rights data show that discrimination, violence and exclusion are systemic and continue to affect those already at the margins."