Campaign to abolish blasphemy laws
Around the world, blasphemy laws are used to harass, victimise, and discriminate against people from religion or belief minorities. They directly impede people’s right to freedom of thought, conscience, and belief.
That’s why we’re campaigning for Northern Ireland to catch up with the rest of the UK, and repeal its blasphemy laws.
Blasphemy laws violate human rights
The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Ahmed Shaheed, has recommended the repeal of blasphemy laws globally, because maintaining such laws is a violation of human rights and legitimises the violent persecution of religious minorities and the non-religious in totalitarian regimes.
‘It is appalling that we still have blasphemy laws in Northern Ireland — these laws are used by some of the world’s most horrific regimes to justify killing people for exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression.’
We’ve been taking down blasphemy laws around the UK
Humanists UK worked to secure the repeal of the blasphemy laws in England and Wales in 2008. In 2021, we supported our sister charity Humanist Society Scotland in successfully campaigning to repeal the blasphemy law there.
In 2019, Northern Ireland Humanists launched our official campaign to repeal the law in Northern Ireland. The campaign’s popularity has led to most of the major parties committing to repeal.
Since we co-founded the international End Blasphemy Laws campaign in 2015, it has helped repeal blasphemy laws in…
- Norway
- Iceland
- Republic of Ireland
- Malta
- France
- New Zealand
- Canada
- Greece
- Scotland
We want Northern Ireland to be next.
And we’ve gained support for repeal from…
- Sinn Féin
- Alliance Party
- Most UUP MLAs
- SDLP
- Green Party
- People Before Profit
Help us fight for freedom of expression in Northern Ireland
In-depth policy briefing on blasphemy laws
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Guide to campaigning locally
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