Martha Lía Grajales
Martha Lía Grajales is a lawyer and woman human rights defender from Venezuela. She is a member of the Surgentes collective, a human rights organisation supporting marginalised communities, dedicated to research, technical and political assistance and advocacy for public policies that promote human rights and the democratisation of society. Through these initiatives, it has promoted capacity building and the organisation of marginalized groups, ensuring that they are informed about their rights and the relevant mechanisms available to enforce them.
HRDs have been working under restrictive policies for many years: the Maduro administration has continued the work begun by Chávez in restricting civil space and delegitimising HRDs, repeatedly accusing them of undermining the Venezuelan democracy with the alleged collaboration of the United States. HRDs are discredited and criminalised by state-controlled media (television, radio, print media) on a weekly basis.
