Rabiyya Mammadova
Rabiyya Mammadova is a prominent woman human rights defender and gender equality activist. She has been involved in the organization of peaceful demonstrations to protest gender inequality and discrimination, as well as protests against electoral fraud in Azerbaijan in 2019 and 2020. Rabiyya Mammadova is also a Board member of the Nida Civic Movement, a movement founded in 2011 to advocate for democratic and social changes in Azerbaijan.
The space for human rights defenders (HRDs) and NGOs has been steadily shrinking in Azerbaijan. A number of legislative amendments have been adopted in recent years that restrict the work of HRDs and put their activities under strict governmental control. The roundup of the most prominent HRDs and their subsequent trials and imprisonment indicate that Azerbaijan is well on the road towards authoritarianism, seemingly adopting a Russian-style contempt of civil society.
