To mark the launch of our new report, Quinn McKew (ARTICLE 19 Executive Director) will join Karolina Gierdal (human rights lawyer), Joanna Gzyra-Iskandar (human rights activist), Anna Wójcik (rule-of-law expert), and Joanna Szymańska (Senior Program Officer, ARTICLE 19 Europe and Central Asia, moderator) to discuss Poland’s widespread protests against three key issues: the near-total ban on abortion, discrimination against the LGBTQI+ community, and the increasingly politicised judiciary.

We’ll hear what people across Poland are doing to bring about change, and to secure their rights.

Since the Law and Justice (PiS) party came to power in 2015, it has waged systemic and widespread attacks on the fundamental rights of people in Poland, including the right to protest and peacefully assemble. It has repeatedly breached Poland’s Constitution, controlled the judiciary, and turned state media into a propaganda tool. 

Prompted by sustained assaults, in recent years the public has taken its frustration to the streets. These huge demonstrations – seen as the biggest civil society awakening since the Solidarność resistance movement that advanced workers’ rights in the 1980s  – were routinely met with violence from the police. 

Yet despite these challenges, the level of public engagement, network- and community-building, grassroots activism, and creative dissent has been truly inspiring. As authorities continue to push back against the people’s calls for change, our expert panel takes stock of recent events, assesses their impact in Poland and further afield, and discusses what the future might hold.

We are excited to see you there. To confirm your attendance, please follow this link