Shaikha Binjasim
Shaikha Binjasim is a Kuwaiti human rights defender, writer and professor of philosophy at Kuwait University. She has been advocating on social media for freedom of conscience and freedom of speech in Kuwait. She is involved in several activities dedicated to the protection of women and minorities in Kuwait. Her writings include topics such as tolerance, democracy and criticism of the lack of rule of law in Kuwait.
While the Constitution of Kuwait contains explicit guarantees for the right to free speech and association, in practice human rights defenders (HRDs) exercising these rights are targeted and face systematic violations. In recent years, digital security has become a growing concern, as the regime intensified its efforts to muzzle HRDs using the internet for their work. Online activists are targeted on very ambiguous grounds, most often under the claim that their public statements constitute insults to the Emir or the judiciary.
