The International Journal for Religious Freedom recently published a themed issue on the impact of religious freedom research. The issue, edited by Dennis Petri and Govert J. Buijs, contains a contribution by our members Niels De Nutte and Anton Van Dyck. In this article, they examine the relevance of the Freedom of Thought Report for religious freedom research. This report is published annually by Humanists International since 2012. The 2021 report will be released on 16 November.
Our colleagues argue that the comparative and global nature of the Freedom of Thought Report (and any cross-national religious freedom datasets for that matter) increases the resilience of religious groups because it helps them identify countries’ strengths and weaknesses in relation to FoRB, without targeting any particular country or religious group. They also describe how religious freedom data has been used to campaign against religious freedom violations more effectively, citing the examples of blasphemy and apostasy.
The full article can be found here.