The narrator in the recently-released 45th anniversary video about the formation of Peace Brigades International (PBI) says: “In 1981 on Grindstone Island, Indigenous territory of the Algonquin peoples, a group of activists met with a radical question: Can a non-violent international presence stop a bullet?”
The theory of “protective accompaniment” asserts that the physical presence of PBI volunteers as “unarmed bodyguards” alongside threatened human rights defenders, organizations and communities reduces the risk of an attack against them because the proximity of volunteers can bring international attention, diplomatic pressure, reputational damage, and negative media exposure.
The Peace Brigades International model of “holistic protective accompaniment” also includes capacity strengthening (notably self-protection strategies and wellbeing/mental health/ trauma support), network building (strengthening global solidarity), defender-led multi-level advocacy (amplifying the voices of defenders, reaching national and international actors), and awareness raising (providing first-hand information from the frontlines of struggles to local and global audiences).
There is also an increased understanding within PBI of the strategic importance of “preventative accompaniment”.
That is the theory that threats and violence against organizations, defenders and communities (ODCs) can be prevented through the tools noted above (capacity strengthening, network building, advocacy and awareness raising about the decisions made in the Global North about the Global South, specifically investment fund decisions on controversial extractive megaprojects and the export of weapons that can be used by the State to repress defenders protesting an injustice.
So, can Peace Brigades International-Canada help “stop a bullet”? Can PBI-Canada help through holistic protective and preventative accompaniment save the life of a human rights defender, for example, in Colombia more than 4,500 kilometres away or the Philippines more than 13,000 kilometres away?
That is our intention and commitment.
Additional reading
–Arms transfers and State violence against human rights defenders: A PBI-Research Unit methodology overview (PBI-Canada, September 1, 2026)
–Peace Brigades International calls on European Council to “oppose increase in the EU defence budget” (PBI-Canada, July 2, 2026)
–Human rights defenders and the Global Affairs Canada 2025 annual report on the export of “strategic goods and technologies” (PBI-Canada, June 3, 2026)
–COPINH coordinator Bertha Zúñiga Cáceres expresses support for the Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act (PBI-Canada, March 21, 2021).
