Frequently Answered Questions

What is WITNESS?

WITNESS is an international human rights organization that provides training and support to local groups to use video in their human rights advocacy campaigns. Beyond providing video cameras and training support, WITNESS is committed to facilitating exposure for our partners’ issues on a global scale. We help broker relationships with international media outlets, government officials, policymakers, activists and the general public, so that once a video is made, it can be used as a tool to advocate for change.

Does WITNESS have offices outside its headquarters in New York City?

While WITNESS works with partner organizations around the world, we do not have offices other than our New York headquarters.

When was WITNESS founded?

WITNESS was co-founded in 1992 by musician and activist Peter Gabriel and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now Human Rights First) with a seed grant from the Reebok Human Rights Foundation.

What human rights issues does WITNESS work on?

WITNESS works on a broad set of human rights issues with our campaign partners. To date, we have worked on over 100 video campaigns, which have called attention to issues like slavery, trafficking and war crimes. WITNESS campaign partnerships have also secured basic rights to education, employment, housing and health care. And they have improved the lives of children, the disabled, indigenous peoples, minorities, workers and women.

Does WITNESS make grants or provide funding?

No. WITNESS is not a grantmaking foundation and does not generally provide funds to individuals or groups for video productions or to purchase video equipment.

Does WITNESS provide legal counsel or advice?

No. WITNESS does not provide legal counsel or advice. If you are writing with concerns about legal status or action, please contact a legal aid center in your community. You may be able to locate the nearest office by visiting the National Legal Aid and Defender website at www.nlada.org.

Technical problems with the WITNESS website

If you are having any technical problems navigating through our website, or if you find broken links, please email our webmaster with the subject heading "Website problem."