Adolfo Lujan | Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Mass demonstration in Madrid on International Women's Day
Multitudinaria manifestación en Madrid en el día internacional de la mujer

Priority Areas

Supporting feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements to thrive, to be a driving force in challenging systems of oppression, and to co-create feminist realities.

Advancing Universal Rights and Justice

Uprooting Fascisms and Fundamentalisms

Across the globe, feminist, women’s rights and gender justice defenders are challenging the agendas of fascist and fundamentalist actors. These oppressive forces target women, persons who are non-conforming in their gender identity, expression and/or sexual orientation, and other oppressed communities.


Discriminatory ideologies are undermining and co-opting our human rights systems and standards,  with the aim of making rights the preserve of only certain groups. In the face of this, the Advancing Universal Rights and Justice (AURJ) initiative promotes the universality of rights - the foundational principle that human rights belong to everyone, no matter who they are, without exception.

We create space for feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements and allies to recognize, strategize and take collective action to counter the influence and impact of anti-rights actors. We also seek to advance women’s rights and feminist frameworks, norms and proposals, and to protect and promote the universality of rights.


Our actions

Through this initiative, we:

  • Build knowledge: We support feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements by disseminating and popularizing knowledge and key messages about anti-rights actors, their strategies, and impact in the international human rights systems through AWID’s leadership role in the collaborative platform, the Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs)*.
  • Advance feminist agendas: We ally ourselves with partners in international human rights spaces including, the Human Rights Council, the Commission on Population and Development, the Commission on the Status of Women and the UN General Assembly.
  • Create and amplify alternatives: We engage with our members to ensure that international commitments, resolutions and norms reflect and are fed back into organizing in other spaces locally, nationally and regionally.
  • Mobilize solidarity action: We take action alongside women human rights defenders (WHRDs) including trans and intersex defenders and young feminists, working to challenge fundamentalisms and fascisms and call attention to situations of risk.  

 

Related Content

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Rights and Resources:
Getting Ready for the Next 30 Years

✉️ In-person registration is now closed. Sign up for the livestream here

📅 Wednesday, March 12, 2025
🕒 12.00-1.30pm EST

🏢 UNDP, 304 E 45th St. Doha Room, 11th Floor (FF Building)

Organizers: UNDP, Femena, SRI and AWID

Where does the project come from?

We believe that the economy, the market, the financial system and the premises upon which they are built are critical areas of feminist struggle. Thus, our vision for a just economy goes beyond promoting women’s rights and empowerment in the market, to evaluating the role of gendered oppressions in shaping economic arrangements and transforming these to ensure gender and economic justice.


Process

We are neither starting from zero, nor alone in this attempt to put forward feminist propositions for a just economy.  Many of the propositions herein have been advanced or exist in practice within diverse communities challenging and resisting the mainstream market and growth-based economic systems.

It is also very important to note that there is growing awareness of the fact that micro solutions are not always the answer to macro problems, even if they represent important spaces for resistance and movement building and that there may be limitations to particular alternatives to address the injustices of the current capitalist system at a global scale.

Goals

However, feminist alternatives for a just economy are critical to create dents in the system and draw lessons for transformative systemic change. Here we cannot presume to offer a comprehensive nor a complete account on how to create a just feminist economic model, or even models. But we can, but rather draw from cross-movement dialogue with trade unions, environmental, rural and peasants movements, to articulate the propositions for the journey towards this vision.

What do we want to change?

The neoliberal model driving the global economy has repeatedly demonstrated its inability to address the root causes of poverty, inequalities, and exclusion. Neoliberalism, and has in fact contributed to the very creation and exacerbation of these injustices.

Characterized by globalisation, liberalization, privatisation, financialisation and conditional aid, mainstream development policies over the past 3 decades have wreaked havoc on livelihoods over the past 3 decades. These policies have also sustained a trajectory of deepening inequalities, gendered injustices, and environmental destruction that the world can no longer afford to endure.

While there are people those who assert that economic growth, facilitated by giving free reign to corporations and businesses, can sustain a tide that will (eventually) raise all boats.

However, the notion of development that has prevailed for the past decades, built for the most part upon the premise of limitless economic growth, is going through an ideological crisis.

The myth of economic growth as a panacea for our problems is being debunked.


See also

Our vision

5 Major Threats

Snippet - GenderJobs.org

Logo for website GenderJobs.org

GenderJobs.org: This is a platform with a comprehensive list of job opportunities to work on gender equality and LGBTQI+ rights, curated by gender professionals and intersectional feminists who intimately know the sector and are extremely passionate about supporting other gender professionals and anyone who is aspiring to become one! (source: https://genderjobs.org/about)

Key impacts on the international human rights system

Anti-rights actors have had a substantive impact on our human rights framework and the progressive interpretation of human rights standards, especially rights related to gender and sexuality.

When it comes to the impact of conservative actors in international policy spaces, the overall picture today is of stasis and regressions.


We have witnessed the watering down of existing agreements and commitment; deadlock in negotiations; sustained undermining of UN agencies, treaty review bodies and Special Procedures; and success in pushing through regressive language in international human rights documents.

Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)

The CSW, held annually in March, has long been one of the most contested sites in the UN system. In March 2015, conservative efforts set the tone before events or negotiations even began; the outcome document of the Commission was a weak Declaration negotiated before any women’s rights activists even arrived on the ground.

At 2016’s CSW, the new Youth Caucus was infiltrated by large numbers of vocal anti-abortion and anti-SRHR actors, who shouted down progressive youth organizations. Again, intensive negotiations resulted in a lacklustre text, which included regressive language on ‘the family.’

Precisely when addressing women’s human rights is of urgent importance, the CSW has been rendered a depoliticized and weakened space. Using it to advance rights has become harder and harder since progressives’ energy is taken up trying to hold the ground against conservative backlash.

Human Rights Council (HRC)

As the intergovernmental body responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe, the HRC is a key entry point for conservative actors. In recent years, this mechanism has been the scene for a number of damaging anti-human rights moves.

In conversation with other anti-rights actors, one strategy of conservative states, and blocs of states, is to aggressively negotiate out positive language and to introduce hostile amendments to resolutions, most often resolutions focusing on rights related to gender and sexuality.

To take one example, during the June 2016 session of the HRC, opposition was mounted towards a resolution on discrimination against women by the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and allies. During contentious negotiations, multiple provisions were removed, including women’s and girls’ right to have control over their sexuality, sexual and reproductive health, and reproductive rights; and the need to repeal laws which perpetuate the patriarchal oppression of women and girls in families, and those criminalizing adultery or pardoning marital rape.

The HRC has also been the site of pernicious conservative initiatives to co-opt human rights norms and enact conservative “human rights” language, such as that of the Russia-led “traditional values” resolutions, and more recently the “Protection of the Family” agenda.

Human Rights Committee

In 2015, moving their sights to another front, a number of religious right organizations began to target the Human Rights Committee, the treaty monitoring body for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a pivotal human rights instrument.

Anti-human rights groups mobilized in hopes of cementing their anti-abortion rhetoric into the treaty.

When the Committee announced it was drafting a new authoritative interpretation of the right to life, over 30 conservative non-state actors sent in written submissions, advocating their misleading discourse on ‘right to life’ - that life begins at conception and that abortion is a violation of the right - be incorporated in the Committee’s interpretation of article 6.

Conservative groups targeting the Human Rights Committee was a shift considering that historically anti-human rights actors have repeatedly attempted to undermine and invalidate the essential work of the treaty monitoring bodies, including the Human Rights Committee.

SDG negotiations and Agenda 2030

Anti-human rights actors were involved in lobbying towards the development of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, focusing again on rights relating to gender and sexuality. These efforts had limited traction in their attempts to embed regressive language in Agenda 2030.

However, after successfully pushing back against progressive language in the final text, conservative actors then pivoted to another strategy. In an attempt to evade state accountability and undermine the universality of rights, several states have repeatedly made reservations to the Goals.

On behalf of the African Group, Senegal claimed that African states would only “implement the goals in line with the cultural and religious values of its countries.”

The Holy See also made a number of reservations, stating it was “confident that the related pledge ‘no one will be left behind’ would be read” as meaning “the right to life of the person, from conception until natural death.”

Saudi Arabia went one step further, declaring that the country would not follow any international rules relating to the SDGs that reference sexual orientation or gender identity, describing them as running “counter to Islamic law.”

General Assembly (GA)

Anti-rights actors have made increasing headway at the UN General Assembly (GA).  Most recently, during the 71st session in 2016, the GA was the scene of feverish anti-rights organizing in opposition to the new mandate created by the Human Rights Council resolution on sexual orientation and gender identity in June 2016: the Independent Expert on SOGI. Four separate attempts were made to undercut the mandate in GA spaces.

One approach was to introduce a hostile resolution at the Third Committee[1], led by the African Group, which in essence aimed to indefinitely defer the new mandate. While this approach was not successful, such an attempt in the GA to retroactively block the creation of a mandate brought forward by the Human Rights Council represented a new and troubling tactic - anti-right actors are now working to directly undermine the HRC’s authority respective to the General Assembly.

Another approach targeted the Fifth Committee (responsible for administration and budgetary matters) as an entry point to attack the mandate. In an unprecedented move a number of States attempted (again, unsuccessfully) to block the funding of UN human rights experts, including the new IE on SOGI[2],.

While these multiple efforts were unsuccessful in blocking the creation and continuation of the new mandate, the significant support they received, the novel strategizing employed, and the strong alliances built along regional lines through negotiations point to difficulties ahead.


[1] The Third Committee of the GA deals with agenda items relating to a range of social, humanitarian affairs, and human rights issues.  Each year it discusses and issues resolutions on issues including the advancement of women, the protection of children, family, and youth.

[2] While UN Special Procedures experts (i.e. Special Rapporteurs, Working Group members and Independent Experts) work pro bono, some funds are generally allocated to facilitate country visits on the invitation of the national government, and support staff.

 


Other Chapters

Read the full report

Snippet - WCFM Database blurb 2 - En

Know a Funder? Add them to the Database!

Are you a funder? Or do you know funders that support feminist and gender justice movements? Apply to be a part of the Who Can Fund Me? Database now!

Join the database

Here are your report and infographics: Toward a feminist funding ecosystem

sinppet-annual-budget-size-4-4

Key factors impacting 
budget size

→Region
→Level of organizing
→Registration status
→Priorities and Agendas

 

Read and download the insights here

Kunyit Asam: The Roots of Love and Resilience

By Prinka Saraswati, Gianyar, Bali

The menstrual cycle usually lasts between 27 and 30 days. During this time, the period itself would only go on for five to seven days. During the period, fatigue, mood swings, and cramps are the result of inflammation.

In traditional Javanese culture, this is the moment for women to rest and take care of themselves. During this moment, a woman would take Kunyit Asam, a jamu or herbal drink to soothe the inflammation. This elixir consists of turmeric and tamarind boiled together in a pot.

I still remember my first period - it was one day before graduation day in elementary school. I remember pedaling my bike feeling something warm running between my thighs. When I arrived home I did all I could to clean myself and then put on a menstrual pad. My mother came home from work about four hours later. I told her what had happened. She looked me in the eye and asked how I felt. I told her that it was painful, that my body was swollen in every place. Then she asked me to go with her to the backyard. I followed her to our little jungle, my mother sat down on the soil and smiled.

“See this slender leaf? This is the leaf of Kunyit, *empon-empon that leaves the yellow stain on your fingers. What’s most important is not the leaf, but the roots. You dig the soil and slowly grab the roots.”, my mother showed me how to pick Kunyit or Turmeric roots. Then we went to the kitchen where she boiled water along with some tamarind. While waiting for it to boil, she showed me how to wash and grate the orangey-yellow root. Then, we put the grated turmeric into the boiling tamarind water. “Tomorrow, you can make it for yourself. This will help you to feel better!”.

I remember the first time I tasted it - a slightly bitter taste but also sour. My mother always served it warm. She would also put some in a big bottle which I would place on my stomach or lower back for further relief. For days after, my mother’s hands and mine were yellow. My friends could always tell every time I got period because my hands would be yellow.

A year after my first period, I found out that you could get the bottled version in convenience stores. Still, I made my own Kunyit Asam every time I had my period because the one in the convenience stores was cold. It did not smell of wet soil and warm kitchen.

Fast forward, I am a 26 year old woman who casually makes this drink for friends when they have their periods. I’ve made some for my housemates and I’ve delivered some for friends who live in different towns. I do not grow turmeric roots in my garden, but I have grown and shared the love from my mom. What was once from garden to cup is now from *pasar to cup.

A couple of days ago, I asked my mother who taught her how to make the jamu.

“Who else? Yang Ti*! Your grandmother was not just a teacher”, said my mom. I was never close to my grandmother. She passed away when I was eight. All I knew from my mom was that she was a math teacher who had to teach courses after work. I had this image of my grandmother as a hard worker who was kind of distant with her children. My mom did not disagree with that but explained it came from her survival instinct as a mother. “She tried to make time. She tried. She taught me how to make jamu so I could take care of myself and my sisters”.

My mother is the second child out of seven, six of whom are girls. The reason my grandmother taught her is so that all of her children could take care of each other. While my mother was taught how to make the drink, my mother’s older sister was taught how to plant turmeric. Yang Ti knew which one loved the smell of soil more and which one loved the smell of the kitchen. My mother was the latter. She learned how to plant from my aunt, her older sister.

My grandfather worked in a bank but he got laid off when he was in his 40s. So, my grandmother had to do a side-hustle to support their children. My mother was in high school at that time when Yang Ti woke her and her older sister up at dawn. “Would you help me to pick some roots?”. Of course nobody said no. Especially if it was your mother, especially if you were born in Javanese culture where saying “no” sounded like a bad word. Together, the three of them went to the backyard, and they harvested empon - empon, rhizome, that was buried inside the soil. She grew many kinds of rhizome; temu lawak, temu putih, ginger, galangal, kunci, kencur, and kunyit. That was the day where my mother realized that her mother was never far away from her.

That was the day where she could spend more time with her mother. There, in the garden. There, in the kitchen.

“We’re sending these for Ibu Darti, the lady who lives across the river. Kunyit Asam for her and her daughters.”, said my grandmother to my mother and my aunt that day. They poured the Turmeric-Tamarind warm drink into a tall thermos and later my grandmother would deliver it on the way to school.

Over time, my grandmother got more orders for jamu. Everybody in the family helped her to make and deliver her jamu. The small business lasted only a few years, but that was what paid for my mother and her siblings’ education.

Today, my mother, who got laid off just a few days before I wrote this piece, harvested Turmeric and other roots. She’s making her Turmeric Tamarind drink from her kitchen.

My phone rang in the middle of this afternoon, a couple minutes after I boiled the rest of my grated turmeric. Today is one day after my period.

“Ingka, have you washed your pot after boiling those turmeric? It would forever be yellow if you don’t wash it right away!”


  • *empon-empon = roots like ginger, turmeric, etc. coming from the Javanese word “Empu” which means, something or someone that has deep knowledge.

  • *jamu = Indonesia’s traditional elixir made of roots, barks, flowers, seeds, leaves, and fruits.

  • *Yang Ti = Javanese term for grandmother, taken from the term “Eyang Putri” the female you look up to.

  • *pasar = the word for traditional market in Indonesian.

 


“Feminist Movement”

by Karina Tungari, Hamburg, Germany  (@_katung_)

The more women support other women, the quicker we’ll see progress. Together we are stronger and make even more impact.

Karina Tungari, Hamburg, Germany  (@_katung_)


 

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COP30 Events and Actions

08 - 16 November, 2025

Tenderness is the Sharpest Resistance

A Film Series on Asian/Pacific Feminist Realities 

Curated by Jess X. Snow With assistance from Kamee Abrahamian and Zoraida Ingles 

Across Asia and the Pacific, and all of it’s vast diaspora, fierce women and trans folks have been fighting for a future where they can all be free. As rising sea levels threaten the Pacific islands, and the coasts of continental Asia, the fight to protect other Earth and the Ocean intensifies all over the globe. Our planet stores a geologic memory of everything that it has experienced. The rise of colonization, industrialization, and environmental destruction is connected to the rise of the binary patriarchal nation state. The power within the Earth, to reincarnate, heal, and bloom in the face of violence, must then be connected to the woman, to motherhood, to indigeneity and all forces that are expansive, sacred and queer. It is no coincidence that Feminist Realities unite the fight to protect the rights of women, trans and LGBTQ+ people with the fight to protect the Earth. From mother-daughter protectors of Mauna Kea in the Kingdom of Hawaii, to the complex mother-child relationships of Vietnamese refugees, to queer sexual awakenings in conservative India, the reclaimation of home in Inner Mongolia, to the struggle toward LGBTQ liberation in the Phillipines -- this collection of films is a cosmology of the ways current-day Asian Pacific women and queer and trans folks champion the journey to our collective liberation across oceans and borders. 

All of these films have a strong sense of place: indigenous activists protect their sacred lands, youth peel back colonial narratives of their homeland to uncover hidden truths, complex motherhood and relations of care are explored, and characters turn to their own bodies and sexuality as sanctuary when the family and city that surrounds them threaten their safety. 


AFTEREARTH

By Jess X. Snow

“A haunting film with stunning shots invoking feminist environmental resistance and how deeply rooted this is in connection to cultural history and land…”
    - Jessica Horn, PanAfrican feminst strategist, writer and co-creator of the temple of her skin

In the experimental documentary, Afterearth, four women fight to preserve the volcano, ocean, land and air for future generations. Through music, poetry, and heartfelt testimonial that honors locations touched by the Pacific Ocean–Hawaiʻi, the Philippines, China, and North America, Afterearth is a poetic meditation on four women’s intergenerational and feminist relationship to the lands and plants they come from.


STANDING ABOVE THE CLOUDS

By Jalena Keane Lee

In Standing Above the Clouds, Native Hawaiian mother-daughter activists stand together to protect their sacred mountain, Mauna Kea from being used as a site to build one of the world’s largest telescopes. As protectors of Mauna Kea, this film highlights the interconnected relationship between Aloha ʻĀina (love of the land) and love for one’s elders and the future generations to come.


NƯỚC (WATER/HOMELAND)

By Quyên Nguyen-Le

In the experimental narrative short, Nước (Water/Homeland) a Vietnamese-American genderqueer teen challenges dominant narratives of the Vietnam War in Los Angeles, California. Through striking dream sequences and breaks from reality, this film follows their journey to piece together and understand their mother's experience as a Vietnam War refugee. 


KAMA’ĀINA

By Kimi Lee

In Kama’āina, a queer sixteen-year-old girl must navigate life on the streets in Oahu, until she eventually finds refuge by  way of guidance from an auntie at Pu’uhonua o Wai’anae–Hawaiʻi’s largest organized homeless encampment. 


DEVI

By Karishma Dev Dube

In Devi (goddess in Hindi) a young closeted lesbian, Tara risks both family and tradition to embrace her attraction to her family’s maid. Set in New Delhi, Devi is a coming of age story, as it is a commentary on the social and class lines that divide women in contemporary India today.


HEADING SOUTH

By Yuan Yuan

In Heading South, Chasuna, an 8 year old girl, raised by her mother in the Inner Mongolian Plateau, visits her abusive father in the big city. While at her father’s house, she is introduced to a new addition to the family, and must come to terms with the fact that her true home is inseparable from her mother and land.


Outrun

By Johnny Symons & S. Leo Chiang

In the feature film, Outrun, we follow the journey of the first transgender woman in the Philippine Congress. Facing oppression in a predominantly Catholic nation, her triumphant journey becomes an outcry for the rights of LGBTQ+ people globally. 


Spanning documentary, narrative, and experimental forms, these films illustrate that community care, self-love, and deep transformative listening between our loved ones is a portal to the Feminist Realities we are bringing into existence today.  From all across the Asia Pacific and it’s diaspora, these stories teach us that in the face of violence, tenderness is the sharpest force of resistance.

Watch our conversation with the filmmakers


Jess X Snow:

Jess X. Snow is a film director, artist, pushcart-nominated poet, children’s book author and community arts educator who creates queer asian immigrant stories that transcend borders, binaries and time. 

Follow us on Social Media to receive news about upcoming events and screenings:

Facebook: @AWIDWomensRights
Instagram: @awidwomensrights
Twitter ENG: @awid
Twitter ES: @awid_es
Twitter FR: @awid_fr
LinkedIn: Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)

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AWID Member Exclusive: Mutual Aid and Community Care Crafting Workshop

AWID members will explore and critically evaluate the role that mutual aid can play in resourcing our movements, through collective collage making.

📅 Wednesday, November 12, 2025
📍 The People’s COP Space

More info here

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Co-Creating a Political Home for Feminist Movements

From 27 - 30 April, 2026, AWID will be at the Women Deliver 2026 Conference, co-creating a political home with feminist and gender justice movements that is rooted in transnational care and solidarity. 

In a time when fascism and militarization continue to rise globally, feminist connection and solidarity across borders is what we truly need.  We are organizing multiple spaces at Women Deliver and online to connect movements with each other in conversations to build feminist agendas of solidarity and action. 

Dear Feminist Movements: A Letter from the Board

Dear feminist movements, 

Speaking on behalf of the Board, I  write to express our deepest gratitude, appreciation, and respect for Hakima Abbas and Cindy Clark, our extraordinary Co-Executive Directors during the past five years who will be stepping aside to refresh the AWID leadership as we move into a new strategic plan and phase of our organizational life. They have consistently practiced the best principles of feminist organizational leadership and ethics of care as they navigated us through one of the most unpredictable, turbulent times in recent history of the world, the COVID-19 syndemic, and the subsequent downward global political spiral. They held AWID, our Staff, and Board firmly, gently, and lovingly as all of us experienced various impacts. They also held steadfastly to AWID vision and mission as they responded respectfully and strategically to various changes, not least the cancellation of the AWID Forum.

Going forward… we expect to continue with the co-directorship model given the nature, scope, and weight of the responsibilities of the executive role at AWID. Our first experience with co-leadership was a success in a multitude of ways, as you all have seen. 

The Board decided to prioritize an internal recruitment process first, fully recognizing the great potential that exists within the current team. We expect to complete the transition by the end of 2022. Hakima and Cindy will stagger their departure, and will facilitate a smooth transition to the new leadership.  

Seeing Cindy and Hakima leave AWID is difficult for the Board as well as others who have worked closely with them and love them.  Nonetheless, rest assured the AWID Board is leading the transition process in a way that fully recognizes the beautiful and inspiring indelible marks Hakima and Cindy will be leaving as part of our 40-year history, that embraces the next step of on-boarding and supporting new leadership, and that inspires us to do better at this moment in AWID's life. 

Major organizational transitions are neither simple nor easy. Sometimes they are forced, beyond anyone’s control, fraught, or even destructive. I, and many of you, have seen examples of those kinds of transitions. At other times, the staff’s needs and aspirations are aligned with those of the organization. Although we did not choose or wish Cindy and Hakima to leave AWID, their decision and AWID moving into the next strategic plan and new decade of existence are aligned. Best of all, we are in the wonderful, super competent, creative, and feminist hands of the Staff and Board.

We thank you, dear Feminist Movements, for your confidence in AWID. We also ask you to support our leadership transition in the coming months. Let’s continue to build, deepen, and strengthen our connections, as we have done for the past 40 years. 

Please stay tuned for more concrete developments and updates. You will be hearing from us in the coming weeks.

In feminist solidarity and love,
Margo Okazawa-Rey
President, AWID Board

Confronting Extractivism & Corporate Power

Women human rights defenders (WHRDs) worldwide defend their lands, livelihoods and communities from extractive industries and corporate power. They stand against powerful economic and political interests driving land theft, displacement of communities, loss of livelihoods, and environmental degradation.


Why resist extractive industries?

Extractivism is an economic and political model of development that commodifies nature and prioritizes profit over human rights and the environment. Rooted in colonial history, it reinforces social and economic inequalities locally and globally. Often, Black, rural and Indigenous women are the most affected by extractivism, and are largely excluded from decision-making. Defying these patriarchal and neo-colonial forces, women rise in defense of rights, lands, people and nature.

Critical risks and gender-specific violence

WHRDs confronting extractive industries experience a range of risks, threats and violations, including criminalization, stigmatization, violence and intimidation.  Their stories reveal a strong aspect of gendered and sexualized violence. Perpetrators include state and local authorities, corporations, police, military, paramilitary and private security forces, and at times their own communities.

Acting together

AWID and the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD-IC) are pleased to announce “Women Human Rights Defenders Confronting Extractivism and Corporate Power”; a cross-regional research project documenting the lived experiences of WHRDs from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

We encourage activists, members of social movements, organized civil society, donors and policy makers to read and use these products for advocacy, education and inspiration.

Share your experience and questions!

Tell us how you are using the resources on WHRDs Confronting extractivism and corporate power.

◾️ How can these resources support your activism and advocacy?

◾️ What additional information or knowledge do you need to make the best use of these resources?

Share your feedback


Thank you!

AWID acknowledges with gratitude the invaluable input of every Woman Human Rights Defender who participated in this project. This project was made possible thanks to your willingness to generously and openly share your experiences and learnings. Your courage, creativity and resilience is an inspiration for us all. Thank you!

Related Content

"Overcoming adversity and healing the pain" - Iniobong Usanga

"Overcoming adversity and healing the pain" - Iniobong Usanga

Iniobong, an AWID member since January 2015, is an Irish citizen with Nigerian roots. In 2001, she migrated to Ireland because she was forced to leave Nigeria after experiencing domestic, sexual and reproductive abuse.


“I don’t think anyone should be put in that situation where they are a slave to someone…. It shouldn’t happen to anyone”, she says.

Her arrival to Ireland as an asylum seeker and a single mother was extremely difficult at the beginning.

“People judge you even without knowing your situation”, she says. But due to her determination, Iniobong completed post-secondary education and has since worked in different paid and voluntary positions.

For years Iniobong kept her experience of abuse and forced migration to herself. She feared her family’s reactions and did not want to be judged, pitied or labelled.

In 2014, Iniobong chose to break her silence.

She spoke out for herself but also “for people who are currently experiencing what I had gone through, for survivors, for those who have given up hope and those who want to make a fresh start.”

“I am grateful because I have a voice and I can use it freely.”

Iniobong also uses her voice to advocate for the rights of women and children who are facing different kinds of violence.

With the help of some friends, she founded Love and Care for People Worldwide, a non-governmental organisation that supports women, children and youth affected by abuse, poverty and other forms of social exclusion. “I wanted to offer people hope and make them know their determination combined with some support.” The organisation offers diverse activities to help strengthen children’s and women’s self-confidence, learning and vocational skills.

“I would not sell my happiness for anyone. I have to be happy for me. And not continue living my life to please every other person but me.”


Listen Iniobong's story in her own words

Region
Europe
Africa

"Superando la adversidad y sanando el dolor" - Iniobong Usanga

"Superando la adversidad y sanando el dolor" - Iniobong Usanga

Iniobong es una ciudadana irlandesa con raíces nigerianas, que forma parte de AWID desde enero de 2015. Llegó a Irlanda en 2001 tras ser obligada a abandonar Nigeria por sufrir violencia doméstica, sexual y reproductiva.


“Nada justifica que una persona sea puesta en la situación de ser esclava de otra. Es algo que no debería sucederle a nadie, declara.

Su llegada a Irlanda como solicitante de asilo y madre soltera fue muy difícil al principio. “Las personas te juzgan incluso sin conocer tu situación”, afirma. Con determinación, Iniobong completó sus estudios superiores y ha realizado numerosos trabajos, tanto remunerados como voluntarios.

Durante varios años, guardó silencio sobre sus experiencias de abuso y migración forzada. Sentía temor de la reacción de su familia y no quería ser juzgada, etiquetada o que sintieran lástima por ella. En 2014, Iniobong decidió romper el silencio, lo hizo por ella misma, pero también “por aquellas personas que ahora están sufriendo lo que yo sufrí, por las supervivientes, por quienes han perdido la esperanza y por quienes desean comenzar de nuevo”.

“Agradezco tener voz y poder usarla con libertad."

Iniobong también usa su voz para defender los derechos de aquellas mujeres, niñas y niños que están viviendo algún tipo de violencia. Con la ayuda de algunas amistades, fundó “Love and Care for People Worldwide” (Amor y protección para las personas de todo el mundo), una organización no gubernamental que apoya a las mujeres, niñas y niños afectados por el abuso, la pobreza y otras formas de exclusión social. “Quería dar esperanzas a la gente, que conocieran su valor y que tuvieran cierto apoyo”. La organización ofrece distintas actividades para ayudar a fortalecer la confianza de las mujeres, las niñas y niños, sus habilidades para aprender y sus destrezas vocacionales.

“No vendería mi felicidad por nadie. Es por mí que debo ser feliz y no dejar de vivir mi vida por complacer a nadie que no sea yo.”


Escuche la historia de Iniobong con sus propias palabras. (en inglés)

Region
Europa
África

« Surmonter l'adversité et guérir de la douleur » - Iniobong Usanga

« Surmonter l'adversité et guérir de la douleur » - Iniobong Usanga

Iniobong, membre de l’AWID depuis janvier 2015, est citoyenne irlandaise et d’origine nigérienne. En 2001, elle est arrivée en Irlande après avoir été forcée de quitter le Nigéria suite à des violences domestiques, sexuelles et reproductives.


« Je pense que personne ne mérite d’être l’esclave de quelqu’un. Cela ne devrait arriver à personne. » dit-elle.

Au début, son arrivée en Irlande, comme demandeuse d’asile et fille mère, a été très difficile : « les gens vous jugent sans vraiment connaître votre situation », commente-t-elle. A force de détermination, Iniobong a achevé ses études secondaires et a occupé de nombreux postes rémunérés et bénévoles.

Pendant des années, Iniobong a gardé toute cette histoire d’abus et de départ forcé pour elle. Par crainte des réactions de sa famille et aussi parce qu’elle ne voulait pas qu’on la juge, qu’on la plaigne ou lui mette une étiquette. En 2014, Iniobong a choisi de rompre la loi du silence, pour elle, et aussi « pour toutes celles et ceux qui endurent ce qu’elle a vécu, pour les survivant-e-s, pour les personnes qui n’ont plus d’espoir et celles qui veulent prendre un nouveau départ.»

« Je suis reconnaissante d’avoir une voix et de pouvoir m’exprimer librement. »

Iniobong fait aussi entendre sa voix pour militer pour les droits des femmes et des enfants qui subissent eux-mêmes différentes formes de violence. Avec l’aide de quelques ami-e-s, elle a fondé “Amour et attention aux gens du monde entier” (Love and Care for People Worldwide), une organisation non-gouvernementale qui aide les femmes, les enfants et les jeunes ayant subi des abus, et souffrant de pauvreté et d’autres formes d’exclusion sociale. “Je voulais apporter de l’espoir aux gens et leur faire savoir que nous soutiendrons leur détermination.” L’organisation propose différentes activités qui permettent de renforcer la confiance en soi des enfants et des femmes, de les éduquer et de développer leurs compétences professionnelles.

« Je ne pourrais jamais brader mon bonheur. C’est mon bonheur. Je continuerai de vivre pour moi-même et non pour satisfaire les autres. »


Ecoutez Iniobong raconter son histoire avec ses propres mots (en anglais)

Region
Europe
Afrique

The Abortion Rights Campaign "Breaking the Silence" in Ireland

The Abortion Rights Campaign "Breaking the Silence" in Ireland

The Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC) - advocating for free, safe, and legal abortion in Ireland - has been an AWID member since May 2015. It is a grassroots, non-hierarchical, all-volunteer organization and is autonomous in its pro-choice activism.


ARC partners with numerous social justice, human rights and gender equality groups working on issues that intersect with and are impacted by Ireland’s failure to support full sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHRs) for women since the 1983 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution.

Although ARC only formed in January 2013, it currently actively partners with over 15 organizations throughout Ireland and internationally including the women’s councils, transgender, immigrant, traveler and regional/rural groups.

Marching for Choice

As part of this year's Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion, ARC held its 4th Annual March for Choice on 26 September 2015

The march is part of ARC’s wider mission to secure access to free, safe, and legal abortion, while challenging the restrictive, stigmatized, and patriarchal environment surrounding SRHRs in Ireland.

Cathie Doherty, one of the co-conveners of ARC tells us, “There is an appetite in Ireland for real change, contrary to the statement from the Minister for Health and the Taoiseach. We need to end the hypocrisy of travel and the hypocrisy which forces women who cannot travel to carry pregnancies or to break the law by importing the abortion pill. We can change Ireland. We can have a society which treats us as the valuable human beings that we are.”

In just one year (2013 – 2014), the march grew from 1,000 to 5,000 participants, and there were a reported 10,000 participants at this year's march. Marchers have brought wheelie suitcases to symbolize the thousands of women who have been forced to seek abortion elsewhere. Between January 1980 and December 2014, at least 163,514 women and girls travelled from the Republic of Ireland to access safe abortion services in another country.

Speaking out – Breaking Silence and Stigma

ARC works closely with women who have had abortions to tell their stories. They create a safe space where women can speak and be listened to. Ireland’s ‘Speak-Out’ organized in 2013 and again in 2014 gave a platform to women to talk about their abortions and reproductive health experiences abroad or illegally in Ireland. Some women have shared their stories with the press.

The Comedian and writer Tara Flynn recently spoke publicly about her experience in the Irish Times and said about the March for Choice that she will also MC for, “It’s time to acknowledge real women’s stories – women we all know – and actual facts: hundreds of thousands of women have had to travel and will continue to travel for healthcare they need, or put themselves at risk. Silence has got us nowhere. It’s time to talk.”

Dismantling Myths Through Social Media

For ARC, social media is an effective platform to campaign for and highlight bodily autonomy issues which often more traditional media fail to engage with.

“We strive to incorporate the use of new media and technologies into all of our advocacy work, with the aim of engaging as wide an audience as possible,” ARC said.

Ahead of International Women's Day in 2014, ARC ran the '8 days, 8 myths' campaign, dismantling the stigma and falsehoods surrounding abortion.

 


4th Annual March for Choice Campaign

 

La Campaña por el Derecho al Aborto «Rompiendo el Silencio» en Irlanda

La Campaña por el Derecho al Aborto «Rompiendo el Silencio» en Irlanda

Abortion Rights Campaign [Campaña por el Derecho al Aborto, ARC] — que aboga por el aborto libre, seguro y legal en Irlanda — se afilió a AWID en mayo de 2015. Se trata de una organización de base, no jerárquica y formada por personal voluntario, que actúa de forma autónoma en su activismo por el derecho a decidir.


ARC trabaja en conjunto con numerosos grupos de justicia social, derechos humanos e igualdad de género en temáticas relacionadas entre sí y que se ven afectadas por el hecho de que desde 1983, cuando se aprobó la octava enmienda a la Constitución irlandesa, el país no ha brindado un apoyo pleno a la salud y los derechos sexuales y reproductivos de las mujeres.

Aunque la ARC se creó recién en enero de 2013, ya trabaja activamente con más de 15 organizaciones de toda Irlanda y también a nivel internacional, entre las que se cuentan Consejos de Mujeres y grupos trans*, de inmigrantes, de simpatizantes, regionales y rurales.

Marcha por el Derecho a Decidir 

En el marco del Día de Acción Global por un Aborto Legal, Seguro y Gratuito, la ARC organizó su Cuarta Marcha Mundial por el Derecho a Decidir, el 26 de septiembre de 2015. La marcha es parte de la misión de ARC que incluye tanto garantizar el acceso al aborto libre, seguro y legal, como cuestionar el ambiente restrictivo, estigmatizado y patriarcal que rodea a la salud y los derechos sexuales y reproductivos en Irlanda.

Cathie Doherty, una de los co-convocantes de ARC afirma: «En Irlanda hay ganas de que se produzca un cambio real, en contra de lo que sostienen el Ministro de Sanidad y del Primer Ministro. Tenemos que acabar con la hipocresía de los viajes al exterior, que obliga a las mujeres que no pueden viajar a continuar con sus embarazos o a incumplir la ley importando píldoras para abortar. Podemos cambiar Irlanda. Podemos tener una sociedad que nos trate como seres humanos valiosos, que lo somos».

En sólo un año (2013 - 2014), la marcha ha crecido de 1.000 a 5.000 participantes, y se informó que 10,000 personas participaron de la marcha de este año.. Las manifestantes llevan maletas con ruedas, como símbolo de los miles de mujeres que se han visto obligadas a viajar para poder abortar. Entre enero de 1980 y diciembre de 2014, al menos 163 514 mujeres y niñas viajaron desde la República de Irlanda para acceder a servicios de aborto seguro en otro país(en inglés)

«Alza la voz» – Romper el silencio y acabar con el estigma

La ARC trabaja en estrecha colaboración con las mujeres que han abortado para que cuenten sus historias, creando un espacio seguro donde las mujeres pueden hablar y ser escuchadas. La acción «Speak Out» [Alza la voz] organizada en 2013 y nuevamente en 2014 facilitó una plataforma a las mujeres para que pudieran hablar sobre sus experiencias de abortos y atención a la salud reproductiva en el extranjero o ilegalmente en Irlanda.

Algunas mujeres compartieron sus historias con la prensa. La actriz y escritora Tara Flynn habló recientemente en público sobre su experiencia a través del periódico The Irish Times, en declaraciones sobre la Marcha por el Derecho a Decidir en la que se dispone a participar: «Es hora de admitir las historias de las mujeres reales — las mujeres que todo el mundo conoce — y los hechos concretos: cientos de miles de mujeres han tenido que viajar y continuarán viajando para obtener la atención médica que necesitan, o han puesto en riesgo su vida. El silencio no nos ha llevado a ninguna parte. Es hora de alzar la voz".

Desmontando mitos a través de las redes sociales

Para la campaña ARC, las redes sociales son una plataforma eficaz para hacer campaña y poner de relieve cuestiones que tienen que ver con la autonomía corporal, de las que no se ocupan los medios de comunicación más tradicionales.

«Nos esforzamos por incorporar el uso de los nuevos medios y las tecnologías en todo nuestro trabajo de incidencia, con el objetivo de involucrar a un público lo más amplio posible», afirmó una portavoz de la ARC.

En 2014, en la semana previa al Día Internacional de las Mujeres, ARC organizó la campaña «8 días, 8 mitos», para acabar con el estigma y las mentiras que rodean al aborto.

 


Cuarta Marcha Anual por el Derecho a Decidir (en inglés)

 

Source
ARC

En Irlande, le « silence est rompu » : La Campagne pour le droit à l’avortement

En Irlande, le « silence est rompu » : La Campagne pour le droit à l’avortement

Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC – Campagne pour le droit à l’avortement) – qui milite pour que l’avortement devienne gratuit, sûr et légal en Irlande – est membre de l’AWID depuis le mois de mai 2015. Cette organisation de base, non hiérarchique et entièrement composée de bénévoles mène son action en faveur de l’avortement en toute indépendance.


Elle collabore avec de nombreux groupes de défense de la justice sociale, des droits humains et de l’égalité de genre qui, tous, travaillent sur des thèmes liés à l’incapacité de l’Irlande à garantir pleinement la santé et les droits sexuels et reproductifs (SDSR) des femmes, notamment depuis l’adoption en 1983 du 8e amendement de la Constitution irlandaise. L’ARC n’existe que depuis janvier 2013, mais elle collabore déjà activement avec plus de 15 organisations basées dans toute l’Irlande ou d’envergure internationale, parmi lesquelles des conseils de femmes, des groupes de défense des droits des personnes transgenres, des migrant-e-s, des gens du voyage mais aussi des organisations régionales / rurales.

Marcher pour le droit de choisir

Dans le cadre de la Journée mondiale d’action pour l’accès à l’avortement sûr et légal, l’ARC a organisé sa 4e Marche annuelle pour l’avortement (site en anglais) le 26 septembre. Cette marche est une partie intégrante de la mission de l’ARC, une mission qui consiste d’une part à lutter pour que les femmes puissent avorter légalement, gratuitement et en toute sécurité et, d’autre part, à remettre en cause le contexte restrictif, stigmatisant et patriarcal dans lequel la SDSR est mise en œuvre en Irlande.

Selon Cathie Doherty, l’une des co-organisatrices de l’ARC, « l’Irlande aspire actuellement à un vrai changement, contrairement à ce que prétendent le ministre de la Santé et le Premier ministre. Nous devons cesser de prétendre que les femmes irlandaises ne vont pas à l’étranger pour avorter. Cette hypocrisie contraint les femmes qui ne peuvent pas adopter cette solution à mener à leur terme des grossesses non désirées ou à importer illégalement des pilules abortives. Nous pouvons faire évoluer l’Irlande. Nous pouvons également vivre dans une société qui nous traite comme les êtres humains estimables que nous sommes.»

En un an tout juste (entre 2013 et 2014), le nombre de participant-e-s à la marche est passé de 1 000 à 5 000. Ce sont 10 000 participant-e-s qui ont été comptabilisés à la marche de cette année. Les manifestant-e-s sont venu-e-s avec des valises à roulettes pour symboliser l’obligation faite aux femmes d’aller avorter hors du pays. Entre janvier 1980 et décembre 2014, au moins 163 514 femmes et jeunes filles ont dû quitter le territoire irlandais pour bénéficier de services médicalisés d’interruption de grossesse à l’étranger (site en anglais). 

Prendre la parole pour rompre le silence et mettre fin à la stigmatisation

L’ARC collabore étroitement avec de nombreuses femmes qui ont avorté, et ce dans le but de faire connaître leur histoire. Elle met à leur disposition un espace sûr au sein duquel elles peuvent parler et être écoutées. Des séances de prise de parole (« Speak-out ») ont été organisées en 2013 puis en 2014, dans le but d’offrir à ces femmes la possibilité de parler de l’avortement ou des soins de médecine procréative dont elles ont pu bénéficier à l’étranger ou, illégalement, en Irlande.

Certaines des participantes ont confié leur témoignage à des journalistes. L’écrivaine et comédienne Tara Flynn a récemment évoqué sa propre expérience dans un article de l’Irish Times (site en anglais). Elle a notamment affirmé qu’elle participerait à la Marche pour le droit de choisir, poursuivant en ces termes : « il est temps de reconnaître le vécu réel de toutes ces femmes – que nous connaissons – et d’admettre les faits tels qu’ils sont : des centaines de milliers de femmes ont été contraintes de prendre des risques ou d’aller à l’étranger pour recevoir les soins de santé dont elles avaient besoin. Le silence ne nous a mené à rien. Il est temps de parler. »

Mettre à bas les mythes grâce aux médias sociaux

L’ARC considère les médias sociaux comme une plateforme efficace pour mener son action et mettre en lumière les questions relatives à l’autonomie corporelle, un sujet que les médias traditionnels n’abordent généralement pas.

« Pour atteindre le public le plus large possible, nous [l’ARC] nous efforçons d’intégrer l’utilisation des nouveaux médias et des nouvelles technologies à tous les niveaux de notre travail de plaidoyer. »

En préparation de la Journée internationale des femmes 2014, l’ARC a mené la campagne « 8 days, 8 myths » (« 8 jours, 8 mythes »), dans le but de saper les fondements de la stigmatisation et des préjugés dont sont victimes les femmes qui avortent.


Présentation de la 4e Marche annuelle pour le droit de choisir (en anglais)

 

Source
ARC

Love letter to Feminist Movements #8

Dearest Beloved Feminist Movements,

Hello again, and again, and again. I have known and loved you my entire adult life, since I first met you meaningfully, after graduating from university. I’d seen you one time before then. That was you appearing as Betty Friedan on a local TV talk show in the US Midwest, in the late-1960s. At the time, Mrs. Wells, my other mother, and I commented on what wild, far-fetched ideas this woman was trying to convince us about. Decade after decade since then I have fallen more deeply in love with you, Beloved, and understand and witness your political and theoretical brilliance, ethical and moral authority, creativity, joy, and love, above all. Nearly 60 years later, I know we are partners forever.

Love letter to feminist movements from Your dramatically cloaked jungle nymph.

The early years of our acquaintanceship was ok. I was quite self-involved--figuring racial, gender, and sexual identity; getting clear on my core politics, values, and ethics; completing my formal education--and you provided numerous settings, intellectual drop-in centers, and comforting holding environments where and through which I was able to craft the young-adult building blocks of the feminist and human being whom I would become.

The predominantly white women’s movement of Cambridge and Boston, including Daughters of Bilitis, was my starting place. That suited me at the time but soon realized I desired something more. Poof! Like magic (serendipity), I connected with a small group of radical, anti-imperialist, Black, socialist lesbian women and we soon became the Combahee River Collective. 

That early Combahee experience, combined with critical life lessons and particular African-American/Korean immigrant racial politics of early-1990s in the US, prepared me for the journey that has led me to identify and work as a transnational feminist to address militarism and to dedicate myself to imagining other worlds where all living beings will thrive.

The next two critical women’s-movement moments were decades after Combahee years but deeply linked. First was meeting and being invited into the Korean feminist movement organizing against US military bases and supporting the “kijichon women” the Korean women whose lives, including for some, their mixed-race children, revolved around servicing US military personnel in numerous ways in villages and towns adjacent to the bases. Korean Beloved Feminists, especially Kim Yon-Ja and Ahn Il-Soon, the first sisters I met and traveled with, made me see and understand the critical importance of nation as an analytical and organizing principle. The “capstone” was living, working in occupied Palestine. The late Maha Abu-Dayyeh introduced me to the Palestinian women’s movement, with a profound comment, “you can leave Palestine but Palestine will never leave you.” So true. And, all my work and experiences across many borders brought me to AWID--my second home.

As you know, Beloved, being with you has not been easy or simple. Indeed, you are demanding, consistently riddled with contradictions, and sometimes even hurtful. Nonetheless, you continue to grow and develop, as you are supporting my political, emotional, and spiritual growth and development.  I guess we are growing each other--a very profound process to which I will dedicate the rest of my time in my current form.

The through-line of being with you all these decades is this: 

Feminists Collectively Engaging the Heads, Hearts, Hands, and Spirits to transform our worlds

This is chart with 7 consecutive circles arranged in a circumference. Each one is separated by an arrow which makes the chart a loop. Starting at the top, and following left to right, the circles say: #1 reflecting on individual experiences, #2 story-telling collectively, #3 theorizing, #4 visioning, #5 acting and reflecting, #6 re-visioning, #7 ethic of humility, care, joy, love.

 

So much love, Feminist Movements!

Your Margo
AKA DJ MOR Love and Joy

Wellfleet Massachusetts USA

Privacy and cookies - before 25 Apr 2023

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Last updated: May 2019