In a city as big and diverse as London, human rights challenges persist. Across the city, refugees are seeking safety, workers fight for fair treatment, and many communities still battle discrimination. Yet, behind every struggle, there are charities working tirelessly to defend people’s human rights, using legal action, advocacy, and community mobilisation to create a meaningful change. From fighting for civil liberties to combatting torture to advocating for the right to free speech, these charities cover all sorts of areas within human rights.
In this article, we will outline 11 London-based charities fighting for human rights in the UK and beyond. Whether you want to donate, find a job in the human rights sector, or use their services, this list can serve you as a guide. Here are 11 charities advocating for human rights in London:
#1. British Institute of Human Rights
British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) is an independent charity dedicated to the promotion of human rights across the United Kingdom (UK). Established in 2002, the BIHR focuses on making human rights accessible and advocating for the integration of human rights principles into public policies and practices. The charity also seeks to raise awareness and provide education on human rights, particularly those enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act.
To read more about the charity’s extensive areas of work, as well as their achievements and impact, we recommend visiting their website.
#2. The Refugee Council
Founded in 1951, following the creation of the UN Refugee Convention, The Refugee Council is a leading charity helping refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK. Working with over 13,000 people seeking safety each year, the organisation provides a wide range of services, including crisis advice, mental health counselling and practical support to help people settle and integrate into their new community. They also specialise in working with refugee children travelling alone.
The organisation is highly impactful, having helped 15,851 refugees and people seeking asylum in the last year’s documented period (2022/23).
#3. Reprieve
Reprieve is a legal action non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works all over the world to challenge the death penalty and defend people who are facing human rights abuses, often at the hands of powerful governments. Made out of investigators, lawyers and campaigners fighting for justice, the organisation performs the challenging job of supporting people facing violence carried out in the name of “counter-terrorism” or “national security.” This includes people on death row, people held without charge or trial, people tortured and people targeted by illegal and lethal drone attacks.
Since their funding in 1999, the organisation has made huge strides in the efforts to end the death penalty and seek justice for victims of appalling human rights abuses, including over 550 people saved from death row around the world and over 80 people freed from detention without charge or trial. For more information about Reprieve’s successes, visit the organisation’s latest Impact Report.
#4. Article 19
Named after Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this London-based charity was created with a mission “to document censorship, to defeat the censors, and to help the censored.” Focused on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Article 19 uses the combined power of research, campaigning, and legal analysis to strive for a place where all people everywhere can freely express themselves and actively engage in public life without fear of discrimination.
The organisation’s activity, spanning across 162 countries, revolves around 5 key themes: promoting media independence, increasing access to information, protecting journalists, expanding civic space, and placing human rights at the heart of developing digital spaces. To see the impact of Article 19’s work, visit their Annual Report page.
#5. Women for Refugee Women
The London-based charity Women for Refugee Women (WRW) is an organisation dedicated to supporting women who have fled persecution and violence, including rape and other torture. The charity works directly with refugee and asylum-seeking women to support them in building confidence, skills and connections, creating a community in which women can grow together, express themselves, and heal.
Alongside them, WRW campaigns for, and achieves, real change to the asylum system, making sure that every woman seeking safety in the UK receives a fair hearing. By speaking to the media, performing at events or speaking at the Parliament, the charity plays a leading and impactful role in the advocacy for a humane and just asylum process. To get to know the organisation better, understand their strategy and learn about their campaigns, visit WRW’s website as well as social media.
#6. Freedom from Torture
Freedom from Torture is a charity organisation founded in 1985 by Helen Bamber and Amnesty International volunteers for the Care of Victims of Torture. The organisation works to support survivors of torture, fighting to ensure that their human rights are restored through rehabilitation and protection, as well as to hold torturing governments accountable. The organisation also campaigns for torture survivors to be treated fairly once they seek safety in the UK.
The organisation’s work is guided by the experiences of torture survivors, who play a leading role in designing, delivering and evaluating the work of the charity. With a team of therapist, doctors, lawyers and welfare advisors, Freedom from Torture provides a holistic service to rebuild the physical and mental health of survivors. In order to learn more about the charity, you can read its 2022-25 strategy as well as their latest Impact Report.
#7. CARAS
CARAS (Community Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) is a leading refugee charity in Southwest London, working with over 600 people seeking support each year. The organisation works with people arriving in the UK to help them overcome difficulties (such as language barrier, accessing services, and overcoming prejudices), rebuild their lives, and become a member of the community.
The charity offers a range of individual and group support services to people of refugee background, including social and recreational activities, trips and family activities, psycho-education sessions for young asylum-seekers, educational support for young people, and legal casework. CARAS also offers one-to-one visiting relationships to help people prevent and manage periods of crisis such as domestic violence or destitution.
#8. Just Fair
Established in 2010, Just Fair is the only UK-wide civil society charity that focuses on the human rights of everyday life, namely, the economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR). This includes the right to food, the right to water, the right to housing, as well as work and workers’ rights, social security, health, education, and a healthy environment. Since 2023, the organisation has had a special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2023, which allowed them to participate more closely in the UN human rights monitoring system.
Through ground-breaking research and impactful campaigns conducted with UK-based and international partners, the organisation works to ensure that UK law, policy, and practice complies with domestic and international human rights obligations. To learn more about Just Fair, you get acquainted with their strategy and work outlined online.
#9. The Civil Liberties Trust
The Civil Liberties Trust is a charity working to promote human rights and civil liberties through research, policy work, litigation, education and advice. It works in parallel with the non-profit organisation Liberty – the UK’s largest civil liberties organisation that focuses on challenging unjust laws, influencing policy, and inspiring people to stand up to power.
As a grant-making body, the Civil Liberties Trust funds work that promotes public understanding of human rights, supports strategic litigation, and drives policy change. It focuses on key issues such as privacy rights, protest rights, immigration justice, and racial equality. By backing legal challenges, public awareness campaigns, and advocacy efforts, the Trust helps to hold the government accountable and ensure that civil liberties are safeguarded for all.
#10. Equal Rights Trust
The Equal Rights Trust, the only international organisation focused exclusively on the right to equality, was established in 2007 with a mission to combat discrimination. The charity takes a holistic, comprehensive approach to different inequalities, aiming to promote the right to equality as a right to participate in all areas of life on an equal basis.
The organization engages in research, advocacy, litigation, and capacity-building initiatives, often working in partnership with grassroots organizations, legal experts, and policymakers. Its work spans multiple areas, including discrimination based on race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and other protected characteristics. The ERT also provides legal support and resources to individuals and groups facing inequality, helping to strengthen legal frameworks for equality both in the UK and globally.
#11. Redress
Redress is a small international organisation founded in 1992 by Keith Carmichael, a survivor of gross human rights violations. After his experience of 857 days of arbitrary detention, gross mistreatment and aggravated assault, he realised that while there were organisations campaigning for the release of prisoners and providing medical care, there was not a specialist organisation dedicated to helping survivors obtain reparation for the harm they suffered. Redress was then founded to fill that gap and help survivors of torture and related human rights violations seek legal redress.
Since then, Redress has pursued its mission by helping survivors obtain justice and reparation, bringing perpetrators of torture to court, promoting the development and implementation of national and international standards which provide effective and enforceable remedies for torture, advocating governments and other policy makers on the need to respect the absolute prohibition on torture and collaborating with organisations around the world to end impunity and eradicate the practice of torture worldwide.
