Márta Pardavi
Hungary
Márta Pardavi is co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a leading human rights NGO in Budapest, Hungary. A lawyer by training, she has recently been focusing on the threats to the rule of law and civil society space in Hungary and in the EU, and on strengthening alliances between human rights defenders in the EU.
Márta serves on the boards of PILnet, International Partnership for Human Rights and Verzio International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival. She has been awarded the 2018 William D. Zabel Human Rights Award from Human Rights First, Civil Rights Defender’s Civil Rights Defenders of the Year 2019 award and was chosen to be a member of POLITICO28 Class of 2019. In 2020/2021, she was a Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute’s School of Transnational Governance in Florence, Italy.
”Whoever is afraid of feminism, is afraid to admit and accept that, fundamentally, women are strong beings. In various societies, over centuries, political leaders have made use of many skills and tricks to keep women power under control. On the other hand, power comes with responsibility – always. Admitting that you are strong means taking responsibility for this power. Sometimes that overwhelms.”
