Promoting the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is a foreign policy priority for several countries, their concerns accentuated by considerable evidence of rising levels of violations of this right worldwide. This puts a premium on solid evidence and on clear assessment criteria to serve as objective guides for policy.

This paper reviews the complex landscape of approaches to assessing and measuring both the status of FoRB and the degree to which this human right is being violated or protected. It introduces and describes various transnational methodologies, both qualitative and quantitative, which focus, in differing ways, on violations. Several are widely cited and have express policy applications, while others have more indirect application to FoRB. The analysis highlights the diversity of approaches, which both reflect and contribute to a tendency to politicise FoRB issues. Challenges include differing understandings of the nature and relative significance of violations and their comparability. Country analysis is crucial because the specific context has vital importance for a granular appreciation for causes and impact of FoRB violations. This granularity, however, is poorly reflected in broader quantitative transnational and time series indices that highlight trends and comparative impact.