The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims all people free and equal in their dignity and rights. However, each of us knows at least a dozen stories that contradict this statement. There are hundreds of thousands of people in Ukraine whose rights and freedoms are restricted daily.

One of the main reasons for this lies in the stereotypes, prejudice, or simple lack of communication with those who are somehow different from us.

December the 10th is Human Rights Day and a great opportunity for starting a public dialogue on human rights in contemporary Ukraine.

We will tell the stories of the people who are changing our society every day and will show human rights advocacy from the inside. The authors of the project have immersed themselves in an environment where human rights defenders live and work to show not only activists but also the people they assist.

Photo project #JustLikeYou by Ksenia Kravtsova and Vladislav Nechiporenko (Real Stories Production).

The project is implemented with the support of the Human Rights for Ukraine (HR4U) project, as part of the United Nations Development Program in Ukraine, with the financial support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark during 2019-2023.

A recent study "What Ukrainians Know and Think About Human Rights" found that 45 % of respondents had their rights or the rights of their relatives violated. However, only less than half of them tried to defend their rights.More about the results of the poll “What do Ukrainians know and think about human rights” — http://bit.ly/HumanRightsStudy2018