In her second report to the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Karima Bennoune, addresses the phenomena of fundamentalism and extremism and their grave impact on the enjoyment of cultural rights. She stresses that these are human rights issues requiring a human rights-based response, which she outlines. In the report, she argues that cultural rights can play a key role in combating fundamentalism and extremism.

The Special Rapporteur defines fundamentalism and extremism as ideologies with diverse manifestations but carrying common themes regarding their abuse of cultural rights, such as their attempts at cultural engineering aimed at redesigning culture based on monolithic world views, their limiting of the enjoyment of women’s human rights and restriction of the sexual and reproductive rights of all, and the desire to quash cultural opposition to their own agenda, including through stifling freedom of artistic expression and curtailing scientific freedom.