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.
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"Women Human Rights Defenders confronting extractive industries: an overview of critical risks and Human Rights obligations" is a policy report with a gender perspective. It analyses forms of violations and types of perpetrators, quotes relevant human rights obligations and includes policy recommendations to states, corporations, civil society and donors.
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"Weaving resistance through action: Strategies of Women Human Rights Defenders confronting extractive industries" is a practical guide outlining creative and deliberate forms of action, successful tactics and inspiring stories of resistance.
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The video “Defending people and planet: Women confronting extractive industries” puts courageous WHRDs from Africa, Asia, and Latin America in the spotlight. They share their struggles for land and life, and speak to the risks and challenges they face in their activism.
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Challenging corporate power: Struggles for women’s rights, economic and gender justice is a research paper outlining the impacts of corporate power and offering insights into strategies of resistance.
Share your experience and questions!
◾️ 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?
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!
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Yo, Imposible proyección: la guía de participación
Snippet FEA Georgia's minimum wage (FR)
Le salaire minimum en Géorgie est l’un des plus bas dans le monde. Cette réalité touche surtout les femmes.
Non seulement le pays a un écart de rémunération important entre les genres, mais les femmes travaillent également des heures plus longues et moins réglementées avant de rentrer chez elles pour s'occuper des tâches ménagères et de leur famille. Il n'y a pas de congé de maternité, pas d'augmentation de salaire pour les heures supplémentaires, pas d'assurance-chômage, et pas de congé de maladie ou d'autre protection sociale. Sous la pression d’organisations occidentales, les partis politiques oligarchiques géorgiens ont mis en œuvre des réformes qui détruisent l'État-providence, augmentent les mesures d'austérité et aggravent l'exploitation des travailleur·euses, le tout au profit des grandes entreprises qui applaudissent le pays pour sa «facilité à faire des affaires». Les médias, cooptés par des intérêts privés et corporatifs, sont partiaux sur ces questions ou les réduisent au silence. L'organisation syndicale reste l'une des rares options pour lutter pour les droits humains fondamentaux et pour tenir l'État et les entreprises responsables des violations et persécutions quotidiennes et généralisées contre les travailleur·euses, et en particulier les femmes.
Source: Minimum-Wage et entretien avec Sopo Japaridze dans Open Democracy
Snippet - WITM Why now_col 2 - RU
Обеспечение ресурсами феминистских движений имеет основополагающее значение для обеспечения более справедливого и мирного настоящего и свободного будущего.
За последнее десятилетие спонсоры выделили значительно больше средств на обеспечение гендерного равенства, однако лишь 1% средств, выделенных на благотворительность и развитие был направлен непосредственно на поддержку социальных изменений, проводимых под руководством феминисток.
В солидарности с движениями, которые по-прежнему остаются невидимыми, маргинализированными и не имеют доступа к основному, долгосрочному, гибкому и основанному на доверии финансированию, данный опрос освещает фактическое состояние ресурсного обеспечения, выявляет ошибочные решения и указывает на то, как необходимо изменить модели финансирования, чтобы движения процветали и решали сложные задачи современного мира.
Selena “Rocky” Malone
Rocky showed inspirational leadership and direction in working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Brotherboy and Sistergirl (LGBTIQBBSG) youth at risk.
Rocky started her career with the Queensland Police Service as a Police Liaison Officer. Making a difference was important to her. She led an impressive career working with young LGBTIQBBSG people as the Manager of Open Doors Youth Service.
Rocky worked through complex situations with clients relating specifically to gender and sexual identity. She was a natural in this line of work - a strong community leader, a quiet achiever, a loyal friend, a compassionate nurturer, and a change maker. Rocky was a founding member of IndigiLez Leadership and Support Group.
In 2016 at the Supreme Court in Brisbane, Former High Court Justice Michael Kirby mentioned Rocky by name when praising the work of the LGBTI Legal Service over the years. Rocky fought extremely hard for the human rights of the LGBTIQBBSG community, pushed boundaries and created change in a respectful, loving way.
Ali Chavez Leeds

«Tasseography» (Tasséomancie)
La tasséomancie est une méthode de divination qui interprète les motifs dans les feuilles de thé et/ou le marc de café. Il s’agit d’une pratique qui se transmet par les femmes de mon côté arménien et qui m’a été enseignée par ma mère, qui elle-même l’a apprise de sa mère, et ainsi de suite. Lorsque je regardais ma grand-mère lire le marc de café du café arménien préparé pour la famille et les amis, je remarquais que, souvent, elle voyait ce qu'elle avait envie de dire. Ces gravures disent certaines des choses que j’ai envie de voir dans le monde ; j'espère que vous aussi.

«Our Promise» (Notre promesse)
Cette gravure célèbre la résilience, le sacrifice et la force des combattant·e·s de la liberté de l’Asie du Sud-Ouest et de l’Afrique du Nord à travers l'histoire et la solidarité qui existe. Elle a été inspirée à l'origine par un article que j'ai lu sur une exposition organisée à Tatvan, un district de Bitlis, qui mettait en lumière la présence arménienne dans la région. Mes ancêtres sont originaires de Bitlis, se situant aujourd'hui sur le territoire de la Turquie actuelle.

«Looking at the Cup» (Regarder la tasse)
La tasséomancie (la lecture du marc de café) est une pratique culturelle utilisée par les femmes arméniennes depuis des siècles pour se parler entre elles et les unes aux autres, un langage codé permettant d'entamer des conversations, d'établir des relations et de tisser des liens.
À propos d’Ali Chavez Leeds
![]Ali Chavez Leeds portrait](/sites/default/files/styles/max_325x325/public/2021-10/portrait.jpeg?itok=0yU3PqLe)
Snippet FEA collaborator and allies Photo 5 (EN)

Angelica Bello
Snippet - WITM Acknowledgements - RU
Слова благодарности
AWID выражает признательность всем тем, чьи идеи, аналитические работы и вклад в развитие легли в основу исследования «Где деньги?» и его дальнейшей адвокации.
Прежде всего, мы выражаем глубочайшую благодарность членам AWID и активисткам(-там), которые участвовали в консультациях, и провели этот опрос вместе с нами, щедро поделившись своим временем, аналитикой и теплом.
Мы выражаем признательность феминистским движениям, союзницам(-кам) и феминистским фондам, включая (но не ограничиваясь ими) Black Feminist Fund, Pacific Feminist Fund, ASTRAEA Lesbian Foundation for Justice, FRIDA Young Feminist Fund, Purposeful, Kosovo Women’s Network, Human Rights Funders Network, Dalan Fund and PROSPERA International Network of Women's Funds , за ваше тщательное исследование состояния ресурсного обеспечения, вдумчивый анализ и постоянную адвокацию для достижения более объемного и эффективного финансирования для феминистских организаций и движений за гендерную справедливость во всех контекстах.
Присоединяйтесь к глобальному феминистскому сообществу, которое освещает состояние ресурсного обеспечения, требуя большего финансирования и влияния для феминисток(-ов) во всем мире
Diakite Fatoumata Sire
Diakite estuvo activamente comprometida con la defensa de las mujeres en la vida política y pública de Mali.
Trabajó para apoyar la capacitación de candidatas electorales y habló en contra de la práctica de la mutilación genital femenina (MGF). Fue una firme defensora de la salud y los derechos reproductivos.
Feminist Embodiments of Hope and Power
A Film Series on Feminist Realities from the SWANA region
by Esra Ozban
In a product-obsessed world, prioritizing process is a fundamental feminist method. Processes matter, and curation is no exception. While figuring out which of the films from the SWANA region would speak the loudest to the Feminist Realities theme, the global pandemic we are still facing shifted our everyday lives tremendously. Even to think, write, or express myself has become an everyday struggle. I kept missing all of my deadlines and sending apology emails to Kamee Abrahamian, whom I was working with as an independent curator for AWID’s Feminist Film Club. Kamee’s invaluable support, understanding, and suggestions reminded me that even in two different parts of the world, as colleagues who never met in person, we can co-create micro versions of the Feminist Realities for which we live and yearn.
Feminist Realities for me have a lot to do with sisterhoods. Sisterhoods that help womxn clearing mines in Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh. Sisterhoods baked in Vegan Inclusive Trans Cake by young trans feminists in Ankara that remind cis-ters that they are not welcomed by the Z generation. Sisterhoods that are growing into the mint on Dragica Alafandi’s rooftop in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp in Occupied Palestine in Sowing seeds of resistance. Sisterhoods that embrace intimate, sexual, and revolutionary proximities in Gezi Park in #resistayol. Sisterhoods that unearth an imagined encounter between two generations of womxn in exile in the streets of Haifa in Your father was born 100 years old and so was the Nakba. Cross-species sisterhoods that build in a fictional (brave) space created by Mounia Akl in Submarine for her rebel character Hala, who refuses to evacuate from a city full of garbage and is left behind with a dog friend.
This selection gathers bits and pieces of many Feminist Realities that have been realized in the SWANA region over the last couple of years. We will continue to imagine, learn, and share feminist embodiments of hope and power. In the meantime, let’s immerse ourselves in the powerful alternatives brought to life by the filmmakers and protagonists of these films. We may co-create every step, every act, and every attempt as we continue to cohabitate this world with others who are living Feminist Realities and continue to dream more of them into existence.
MOTHERLAND
By Emily Mkrtichian& Jesse Soursourian
“With beautiful visuals paired with compelling verité scenes, Motherland is a show of female camaraderie and strength… The film is a testament of women around the world who are willing to work harder to overcome any obstacle they meet.”
- Nosarieme Garrick, award winning filmmaker
“Motherland is an inspiring visualization of solidarity, courage, and grit…”
- Hers is Ours Collective, organizers of the Outsider Moving Art & Film Festival
Motherland from jesse soursourian on Vimeo.
Emily Mkrtichian on Feminist Realities and Artsakh/NKR:
We shot the short film, Motherland, in the Republic of Artsakh in 2018. I was drawn to each of these women for their strength, their resilience and their humor -- despite the context in which they lived. In 2018, that context was the aftermath of a brutal war in the 1990’s, after which their country remained an unrecognized (or, in the international community, disputed) territory that was not given the autonomy and independence so many other countries enjoy. Artsakh was also deeply affected by the consequences we see in almost all places that go through violent conflict -- consequences that so often fall on women to bear: PTSD, high rates of alcoholism, high rates of domestic abuse, less equality and freedoms granted to women, little to no representation of women in politics and civil service. In the face of all these challenges, this film tries to capture the fire and power of the women of Artsakh, one that might not fit the traditional Western feminist paradigm, but one they have created for themselves through deep community ties, care for their families, hard work, and the ability to laugh with eachother through it all. Today, the Republic of Artsakh has been newly devastated by another war that left it without 70% of the lands these women grew up understanding were theirs. Yet, I can promise you that these women, and thousands of others, continue to pull their families, communities, and culture together through the same networks of care, commitment to hard work, and deep riotous laughter in the face of an uncertain future.
SOWING SEEDS OF RESISTANCE
By Baladi-Rooted Resistance
“A timely film to watch after having born witness to the latest bombardment of Gaza by Israeli Defence Forces. A glimpse into the way that women in Palestinian communities survive structural oppression, through the story of a library of traditional seeds.. and the women that sustain them as a form of nourishing rebellion.”
- Jessica Horn, PanAfrican feminst strategist, writer and co-creator of the temple of her skin
“Watching women coming together and working collectively for food autonomy is both therapeutic and empowering for me.”
- Hers is Ours Collective, organizers of the Outsider Moving Art & Film Festival
Baladi-Rooted Resistance Team on Feminist Realities:
How to talk about Feminist Realities when you live in Deheisheh, a Palestinian refugee camp, built 70 years ago to serve 3000 refugees, but now home to 15000 people, in the occupied West Bank? Or when the land you farm is under constant threat by illegal settlers.
If you’re a woman in occupied Palestine you will have to struggle not only against patriarchy but also against colonialism and a brutal military occupation.
Dragiča and Vivien are fighting these multiple systems of domination in their own way.
Vivien uses native seeds to help Palestinians maintain their identity. Growing traditional food in traditional ways has great significance: “If you’re not a producer anymore, you’re a consumer, and what better way to enslave someone than turning them into your consumer. This is happening all around the world, but here you have it doubled with the military occupation.”
31.5% of households in the West Bank are food insecure. Through a rooftop edible garden, Dragiča managed to increase her family’s food autonomy. In the crowded camp, where the Israeli army conducts regular nighttime incursions to arrest and harass residents, Dragiča’s rooftop garden not only nourishes her family, but it especially nourishes her soul.
#RESISTAYOL
By Ruzgar Buski
Ruzgar Buski on Feminist Realities:
I don’t know what to say about Feminist Realities but as a trans artist, an activist from Turkey, I know our realities are harsh. We live with violences- physical, emotional, economical, sexual! That is why we have to build our own networks, and co-creating micro realities for each other is a Feminist Reality for me. #resistayol is my first film, and at the beginning I was planning to make a film by/for/with trans people that does not try to convince anyone to the fact that trans people are human or focuses on raising awareness on trans issues. However, Gezi Uprising, one of the biggest uprising in the history of Turkey, happened and the film became something different.
I believe the production process really affects what the film is. We tried very hard for women, trans and non-binary people to work on every step of the film. This film is made by people who gathered with camaraderie and friendship. Kanka Productions is founded on transfeminist comradeship. I want the film to give hope, to heal because we carry a lot of traumas in our bodies- this is what makes us and what bonds us. Healing is a never-ending process and we have to create spaces to breath. #resistayol is an hour of breathing collectively.
Boysan Yakar in #resistayol:
Well lubunyas (queers) were sitting in the park, all of a sudden bulldozers arrived and everyone got pissed off. Actually in summary this is it. It's Lubunya's park,and we had thirty days to explain that to this huge city. Everyone acknowledged that at night ibnes (faggots) fuck in that park...LGBTI Block carried our commune there. We already didn't trust the state and police and didn't have any security, we've established our own ways of doing things, our own laws and customs to survive... We carried our law to Gezi rapidly...With an effort to establish some common language and understanding among all these groups, the LGBT language of togetherness spread all through the park. Every day was a Pride march, everyone was continuously saying ‘ayol’. We spruced up the stinky, fusty language of the left. I guess we had such an impact because we've been disowned for all these years. From the most radical ones to the most conservative and nationalist ones, they all needed us, because everyone got used to being confronted with everything. Τhey were not used to such energy, our energy. That’s why it was a great political space for us. Every day, we actualized our biggest and main struggle there, that is, a struggle for visibility and recognition. That’s why we left Gezi with a huge gain.
VEGAN INCLUSIVE TRANS CAKE
By Pembe Hayat
“...a multifaceted statement, showing the joy that exists in the friendships within the queer community in Turkey as a display of rebellion and resistance.”
- Nosarieme Garrick, award winning filmmaker
“...fun, light, and random. In a world constantly marked and scarred by violence against the trans community, nothing, no action, is (unfortunately) deprived of meaning. So to more joy, love, and meaningful randomness!”
- Hers is Ours Collective, organizers of the Outsider Moving Art & Film Festival
Cayan Azadi in Vegan Inclusive Trans Cake:
Hello Barbies, Kens, porcelain dolls, Olive Oyls, cabbage dolls. Brides of Chucky, sisters of Chucky, brother-in-laws of Chucky and last but not least, esteemed brother-in-law lovers.
So why did we make this cake.
Now we got the news that a trans woman sex worker has attempted suicide due to the violence from street-guards and police on the street. She’s being kept at a police station now and that’s exactly why we made this cake. This transvestite cake is baked to show that we exist in every part of life, that we exist persistently and this cake shows that won’t be wiped off or ignored in this society.
Yes, there is violence in our lives, yes there is a lot of shade as well but despite all of that, we can still have fun, enjoying life as much as we can. Bon appetit, sis!
YOUR FATHER WAS BORN 100 YEARS OLD AND SO WAS THE NAKBA ابوكي خلق عمره ١٠٠ سنة، زي النكبة
By Razan AlSalah
SUBMARINE
By Mounia Akl
“It is directed as a poem is written… simple, a touch abstract, and moving.”
- Hers is Ours Collective, organizers of the Outsider Moving Art & Film Festival
Esra Ozban:
Esra Ozban is a film programmer and filmmaker from Turkey. Their artistic, curatorial, and scholarly work intersects critical archival practices, sex work, pornography, feminist/queer film cultures among others.
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Snippet FEA lines of work Against (ES)

VIOLACIONES DE DERECHOS LABORALES
Gabriela Leite
O nosso grupo, organização e/ou movimento não está registado - devemos participar no inquérito mesmo assim?
É claro que sim, queremos saber mais sobre si e sobre a sua experiência com o financiamento.
Andaiye
Andaiye' en swahili significa 'una hija vuelve a casa'. Nació como Sandra Williams el 11 de septiembre de 1942 en Georgetown, Guyana, y cambió su nombre por el de 'Andaiye' en 1970, cuando los movimientos del Black Power [Poder Negro] arrasaron en su país y en la región del Caribe.
Andaiye fue considerada una figura transformadora al frente de las luchas por la liberación y la libertad. Fue una de lxs primerxs integrantes y líder activa de la Working People’s Alliance [Alianza de la Gente Trabajadora] (WPA, por sus siglas en inglés), un partido socialista de la Guyana que luchó contra el régimen autoritario existente y continuó, a lo largo de su vida, centrando su activismo en la justicia para la clase trabajadora y los derechos de las mujeres rurales, y en la superación de las barreras étnicas entre las mujeres Indo y Afro-Guyanesas.
Andaiye fue cofundadora de la Red Thread Women [Hilo Rojo Mujeres], una organización que aboga para que el trabajo de cuidados de las mujeres fuese remunerado justamente, también trabajó en la Universidad de West Indies y con el CARICOM. Andaiye señaló, sin ningún temor a desafiar a los gobiernos, los desequilibrios de género en las juntas estatales, la discriminación de lxs trabajadorxs sexuales en las leyes existentes, reclamó el derecho al aborto en Jamaica, y se pronunció abiertamente contra los acuerdos comerciales como el Caribbean Single Market and Economy [Mercado y Economía Únicos del Caribe] (CSME, por sus siglas en inglés) que permitía la libre circulación de las trabajadoras domésticas migrantes, pero no otorgaba esos mismos derechos a sus hijxs.
Andaiye publicó varios ensayos académicos, escribió columnas de prensa y también editó los últimos libros de Walter Rodney, un activista político guyanés y líder de la AMP, que fue asesinado en 1980. Andaiye sobrevivió a un cáncer y fue una de lxs fundadorxs de la Guyana Cancer Society [Sociedad de Guyana Contra el Cáncer] y del Cancer Survivors’ Action Group [Grupo de Acción de Sobrevivientes del Cáncer]. También fue integrante de la Junta Directiva de la Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action [Asociación Caribeña para la Investigación y la Acción Feminista] (CAFRA, por sus siglas en inglés), y Directora del Help and Shelter [Ayuda y Refugio] e integrante de la Junta Directiva de la Guyana National Commission on Women [Comisión Nacional de Guyana sobre las Mujeres]. Andaiye recibió varios premios a lo largo de su vida, entre ellos, la Flecha de Oro de los Logros de Guyana (el cuarto premio nacional más importante del país).
Andaiye falleció el 31 de mayo de 2019 a la edad de 77 años. Los homenajes que posteriormente le rindieron activistas, amigxs y personas inspiradas por su vida dan cuenta, elocuentemente, de su asombroso legado y su hermosa humanidad.
Algunos ejemplos:
"Andaiye tuvo un profundo efecto en mí... fue tantas cosas: una educadora, una luchadora; me enseñó a ser autocrítica, a pensar con más claridad, me enseñó sobre la supervivencia, sobre lo increíble que puede ser el coraje, sobre la compasión, a ir más allá de las apariencias externas y a tratar a la gente como personas y no dejarse distraer por su estatus, clase, raza... o cualquier otra cosa". Peggy Antrobus, activista feminista, autora, académica, Barbados.
"El tipo de idealismo convencido que Andaiye expresó, su voluntad de confrontar el mundo y su creencia obstinada en que realmente lo puedes cambiar... Esa política de la esperanza... ¿De qué otra forma podemos rendir homenaje a su vida, legado y memoria si no es haciendo nuestro trabajo de forma ética y con una autocrítica continua? Y situando el trabajo de cuidados de las mujeres en el centro de todo esto." - Tonya Haynes, Barbados.
"Puedo escuchar sus ocurrencias en nuestro entusiasmo colectivo. Así, a través de las lágrimas, puedo reír. Mis más profundas reverencias a ti, querida Andaiye, gracias por todo. Te deseo amor y luz para el viaje de tu espíritu. Saluda a Walter y a todxs lxs ancestrxs". - Carol Narcisse, Jamaica.
Discursos anti-derechos
Capítulo 3
Los discursos anti-derechos continúan evolucionando. Además de utilizar argumentos relacionados con la religión, la cultura y la tradición, los actores antiderechos cooptan el lenguaje de la justicia social y los derechos humanos para ocultar sus verdaderas agendas y ganar legitimidad.

Alison Howard, Alliance Defending Freedom, habla afuera del sitio de construcción de Planned Parenthood en Washington, D.C.
Hace tres décadas, un evangelista televisivo estadounidense candidato del Partido Republicano dijo una célebre frase: el feminismo es «un movimiento político antifamilia que alienta a las mujeres a dejar a sus maridos, matar a sus hijos, practicar brujería, destruir el capitalismo y convertirse en lesbianas». Hoy en día, esta idea conspirativa ha logrado un alcance y una legitimidad sin precedentes bajo la forma del discurso de la «ideología de género», un término genérico que, cual enemigo imaginario, ha sido creado por los actores antiderechos para oponerse a él.
Dentro de la serie de discursos empleados por los actores antiderechos (que incluyen nociones de «imperialismo cultural» y «colonización ecológica», apelaciones a la «objeción de conciencia» y la idea de un «genocidio prenatal»), un tema clave es la cooptación. Los actores antiderechos se apropian de problemáticas legítimas, o seleccionan partes de estas, y las distorsionan al servicio de sus agendas opresivas.
Índice de contenidos
- Ideología de género
- Imperialismo cultural y colonización ideológica
- Aborto: objeción de conciencia
- Aborto: genocidio prenatal
- Ejercicio: Recuperemos la narrativa
- Historia de movimiento de resistencia: Los principios de Nairobi: compromisos inter-movimientos sobre discapacidad y derechos a la salud sexual y reproductiva
