This report documents human rights concerns during 2023 in 155 countries, connecting issues at global and regional levels and looking forward to the implications for the future. States and armed groups are breaking and bending the rules of war and racism lies at the heart of some armed conflicts and the responses to them. Economic crises, climate change and environmental degradation have disproportionately affected marginalized communities. Human rights defenders campaigning for the rights of these communities are targeted as part of a wider repression of dissent. The backlash has intensified against the rights of women and girls and LGBTI people. Incitement to hatred and other harmful content posted online against some racialized groups have increased. Meanwhile, advances in artificial intelligence are used to limit freedoms and violate human rights.
