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.
-
"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.
-
"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.
-
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.
-
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!
Related Content
What is AWID?
The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) is an international feminist membership organization.
We work to achieve gender justice and women’s human rights by strengthening the collective voice, impact and influence of global women’s rights advocates, organizations and movements.
จะมีมาตราการด้านการเข้าถึงสำหรับฟอรัมที่จะเกิดขึ้นหรือไม่
ตอบแบบสั้นคือ ใช่! AWID กำลังทำงานร่วมกับคณะกรรมการการเข้าถึงเพื่อให้มั่นใจว่าฟอรัมนี้จะสามารถเข้าถึงได้มากที่สุดเท่าที่จะเป็นไปได้ เรากำลังทำการตรวจสอบการเข้าถึงสถานที่จัดงานฟอรัม โรงแรมโดยรอบ และการคมนาคมขนส่ง ข้อมูลโดยละเอียดเกี่ยวกับการช่วยการเข้าถึงของ AWID ฟอรัม จะถูกอัปเดทเนื้อหาที่นี่ก่อนที่จะเปิดการลงทะเบียน ในระหว่างนี้ หากมีคำถามใดๆ โปรดติดต่อเรา
Rosalie Kalago
Snippet SM CTA_Fest (EN)
Follow us on social media and share about your favorite moments from our festival:
Facebook: @AWIDWomensRights
Instagram: @awidwomensrights
Twitter ENG: @awid
LinkedIn: Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)
¿AWID es una organización feminista?
Karen Empeño & Sherlyn Cadapan
Snippet - CSW68 Intro
Reclaiming Feminist Power
This year, we, alongside feminist activists from across the world, will be at CSW68 in New York, to challenge capitalist, neoliberal narratives and false solutions around poverty, development and financing. Through in-person events, lives on our socials, an exhibit booth and more; we are showing up to convene, amplify and support the voices and participation of our members, partners and allies.
Learn more about our program this year below.
Lorraine Gradwell
Snippet Video C&H (ES)
L’AWID est-elle une organisation du Nord ou du Sud ?
L’AWID est une organisation mondiale.
Notre travail est de portée internationale. Nous collaborons étroitement avec nos membres et d’autres organisations pour les droits des femmes et autres allié-e-s, tant au niveau local que national et régional. Nous faisons en sorte que leurs réalités nourrissent notre travail.
- Nous avons des bureaux au Mexique et au Canada.
- Notre équipe est répartie dans plus de 15 pays aux quatre coins de la planète.
- Dix des treize membres de notre conseil d’administration proviennent de pays du Sud.
Snippet - CSW68 - March 12 - FR
Jour 2
12 Mars
Edith "Edie" Windsor
Contenido relacionado
El Mundo: Muere Edith Windsor, la activista que logró que la Justicia de EEUU reconociera el matrimonio gay
Snippet FEA A Caring Economy (FR)
ECONOMIES
DES SOINS
Les Féministes qui Centrent
les Soins dans l'Économie
Et si nous ré-imaginons différentes manières de prendre soin de nos communautés?
Et si l'économie n'était pas basée sur le profit d’une petite élite mais sur notre bien-être individuel et collectif, et celui de la Nature?
Les histoires que vous allez découvrir portent sur les collectifs créés par et pour les personnes historiquement et actuellement exclues, privées de leurs droits et déshumanisées par l'État et la société.
Voici les histoires des féministes qui centrent les soins dans l’économie.
What is the AWID International Forum?
The AWID international Forum is a gathering of 2,000 women’s rights leaders and activists from around the world. The AWID Forum is the largest recurring event of its kind, and every Forum takes place in a different country in the global South.
The AWID International Forum is both a global community event and a space of radical personal transformation. A one-of-a-kind convening, the Forum brings together feminist, women’s rights, gender justice, LBTQI+ and allied movements, in all our diversity and humanity, to connect, heal and thrive.
When people come together on a global scale, as individuals and movements, we generate a sweeping force.
Join us in Bangkok, Thailand and online in December 2024.
Mai Ghoussoub
Snippet - CSW68 - AWID at CSW Post - EN

Ola AbuElShalashel
Snippet FEA Ocupação 9 de Julho is more than just a building (EN)
But Ocupação 9 de Julho is more than just a building.
It is a community hub, where one can take courses and train in creative income-generation activities like local hairdressing, cooking and artmaking. Children can also enjoy cultural and educational activities. The MSTC doesn't work alone. It collaborates with institutions and art collectives to produce cultural, athletic and educational experiences, alongside critical access to health care. Since its inception, this participatory project has been led and carried out by mostly women, under the leadership of Afro-Brazilian activist Carmen Silva, who was once a homeless person herself.
2002: comienzan las conversaciones acerca de una agenda de Financiación para el Desarrollo
La Conferencia de Monterrey sobre la Financiación para el Desarrollo marcó el comienzo de las conversaciones acerca de una agenda de Financiación para el Desarrollo.
- El Consenso de Monterrey fue adoptado durante la primera Conferencia Internacional sobre la Financiación para el Desarrollo. Fue la primera reunión organizada por la ONU con nivel de cumbre para abordar aspectos esenciales del desarrollo global, entre ellos los temas financieros y otros conexos.
- Durante la Conferencia y sus procesos preparatorios se dio una cooperación sin precedentes entre las Naciones Unidas y el Banco Mundial (BM), el Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI) y la Organización Mundial del Comercio (OMC) para promover mayor coherencia y cohesión entre los sistemas e instituciones monetarias, comerciales y financieras internacionales.
- Monterrey también marcó la primera ocasión en que se debatió la financiación para el desarrollo entre gobiernos, representantes de la sociedad civil y el sector empresarial. Estos actores llevaron la discusión más allá de lo ‘técnico’ para abordar cómo movilizar y canalizar recursos financieros a fin de alcanzar las metas internacionalmente convenidas en conferencias y cumbres de la ONU celebradas en la década de 1990, entre ellas los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio (ODM).
- El WWG [Grupo de Mujeres] señaló el significado histórico de la conferencia, afirmando que tenía el potencial de abordar desafíos estructurales que continúan obstaculizando el desarrollo. Sin embargo, también planteó sus preocupaciones por los efectos del incremento de la militarización y del fundamentalismo sobre las mujeres, pese a que el Consenso de Monterrey dio por sentado que el sistema económico y financiero mundial funcionaba bien para todas las personas.
Para saber más sobre los seis temas centrales de Monterrey los mecanismos de seguimiento a esta conferencia, consulta Género y financiación para el desarrollo, de Maria Floro, Nilufer Çagatay, John Willoughby y Korkut Ertürk (INSTRAW, 2004).