Carmela Elisarraraz Mendez
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!
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?
◾️ 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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框架與主題
第十四屆AWID國際論壇的主題是：“女性主義理念實現：行動的力量”。
在第十四屆論壇上，我們將表揚與彰顯在我們身邊，處於各種發展階段的女性主義理念實現行動。
我們希望將本次論壇變成我們的女性主義理念實現行動：在這裡你可以進入在一個不同的世界，帶著你的勝利佳績、你所設計的解決方案前來，分享讓你更加強大、充滿希望、做好前行準備的事物。本次盛會有別於您之前參加過的其他會議。
請您務必共襄盛舉，攜手創造世界。絕對值得！
每個論壇都有一個主題，該主題反映了我們成員和運動的需求，並回應我們對當前背景脈絡的分析。
全球背景脈絡
當前，全球各地的法西斯主義、基本教義主義、威權主義以及不受約束的企業權力方興未艾。我們看到，這些威脅與國家協力形塑了公共規範、敘事論述和政策，在公共論述中深植了恐懼和仇恨的文化，並煽動暴力。國家，曾經是我們權利倡議和主張權利的對象，但在許多情況下，國家不再覺得需要負責，甚至在某些情況下，國家自己也不再具有維護權利的權力了。
這個動盪、複雜和充滿不確定性的時代，更需要發揮創造力，組織各種運動，保持需求的連貫性並大膽提出主張。
從女性主義的將來到女性主義的理念實現
2016年的AWID論壇以女性主義的未來及付諸實現所需的條件為中心。無論是當時還是現在都很明顯不過，對於許多社會正義運動來說，若想跳出當前的體制之外去思考結構性的解決方案是一個艱鉅挑戰。長期的不平等和壓迫的經驗會限縮想像力。但是當時我們周遭的所見所聞顯示女性主義運動確實生機勃發，以各種大小規模都有的方式推動了權利和正義為導向理念實現與解決方案。
我們確實看到了對於動員的迫切需求，但動員的起點不是從最低的共同點開始，動員應源於希望。這分希望源自於肯定，世界各地的經驗與實踐體現了更加正義的生存方式，儘管不盡完美，從這些經驗出發，藉由分享、加強與壯大，我們可以幫助其擴大影響力。
這些並非不可能實現的夢想，而是以實現的生活。凡事皆有可能的感受啟發我們去重新審視和重新欣賞我們的工作具備的轉化面向。
全球女性主義理念實現的一些例子
在AWID，我們知道鮮活的女性主義理念實現典範是，代表一個有望實現的世界。這些多元的理念實現經驗蘊含再現了希望和力量。深植於多種生活思考與實踐的方式，向我們證明有不一樣的可能：從我們日常生活和彼此之間的關係的日常表達到治理和正義的替代制度。女性主義理念實現經驗抵制諸如父權制度、資本主義和白人至上的宰制權力制度。
以上皆為強而有力的主張，引導我們看到具備可能性的願景，並證明了女性主義組織是如何在世界各地的運動和社群中開疆拓土，開闢通往正義的道路。
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在美國密西西比州傑克遜城一個被深度邊緣化的黑人社區透過傑克遜合作（Cooperation Jackson）平台，展開了社區團結和合作經濟的實驗，這項計劃雄心勃勃，有別於資本主義的生產方式，要建立社群共有精神。
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在西非，女性農民對抗圈地並拒絕工業化的農業計畫，勇敢主張「我們就是解決方案（We Are The Solution）」，此運動旨在建立農業生態解決方案，以女性農民及其知識為中心，讓社群可以獲得溫飽並減緩氣候變遷
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同樣，在印度有5000名婦女根據地方知識，共同建立了以社群為基礎的糧食主權制度，包括穀物和種子銀行
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墨西哥的婦女開創了一個無錢交易的經濟計畫，該計畫由婦女主導，並為其他婦女以及她們所認識的每個人服務。在El Cambalache計畫中，一切交換物都具有相同的價值：人們用不再需要的東西去交換他們想要的東西，也包括想分享的知識、能力和互助。El Cambalache計畫建立在當地社會運動的反制度、反資本主義價值觀之上
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在羅賈瓦，庫德人在沒有國家的情況下建立了民主制度。庫爾德婦女將女性學（Jineology）作為挑戰父權制度、資本主義和國家機器的框架，創建了將這一框架付諸實踐的制度和機構
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在英國，Anarcho Agony Aunts是一個關於性和約會的諮詢節目，涵蓋了女性主義者、反法西斯主義者和無政府主義者的各種觀點。主持人羅文和馬里亞姆正在從另類右派中奪回空間，讓人們（主要是男人）在不受批判的空間內提出棘手問題
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非洲女性主義判決計畫起草並廣傳了一系列關於重大非洲里程碑司法案件的另類判決。該計畫的核心精神提出了女性主義司法實踐和替代性的女性主義判決，對非洲法學、法律實務和司法決貢獻卓著。
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印度的烏沙合作社（Usha Cooperative）是在主流銀行拒絕向Sonagachi地區的性工作者提供服務時成立的。性工作者自發組織起來，優先解決其經濟問題並建立自己的金融機構。烏沙合作社是一家合作銀行，服務2萬多名性工作者，並在一年內提供7231名性工作者470萬美元的貸款。該銀行完全由性工作者組成，為合作社的治理和管理帶來了真正的所有權和影響力，為個人和社群服務，開創了建立經濟實力的自主先驅模式
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在波多黎各，一個社區土地信託基金協助了非正式居住區轉型為永續的社區，該社區處於受到污染的易氾濫河道。該基金為改善城市中的非正式定居區域點提供了一種新模式，如果沒有她們的幫助，當地的原始居民根本負擔不起
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在幾個拉丁美洲國家，社運人士提供了醫療人工流產提同儕的諮詢和陪伴，奪回女性身體的自主權和獲得醫療知識的權利。（出於安全原因，此處未提供相關的鏈接）
第十四屆AWID國際論壇
AWID論壇將按照6大主軸安排：
- 社群、運動和經濟正義的資源
- 治理、當責與正義
- 數位化的現實
- 身體、愉悅和健康
- 女性主義星球與生命
- 組織女性主義運動
基於這些理念實現的經驗，我們希望2020年的論壇能夠：
- 鞏固女性主義理念實現的力量：通過點名、表揚、壯大和貢獻等方式，從這些經驗及主張出發，累積動能，凸顯可能性並豐富我們的集體想像力。
- 補充希望和能量的泉源：為人權與正義社會運動及韌性提供必要的能量。
- 加強聯繫、互惠和團結：服務各種多元的女性主義運動以及其他權利和正義為本的社會運動。
論壇是一個協作過程
該論壇不僅僅是一個四天的會議，是女性主義理念實現的運動茁壯旅程的一個中繼站，我們已經出發，論壇結束後也會繼續前行。
Snippet - Homepage CSW69_ES
AWID en la CSW69 Beijing+30 | #CongelarFascismos
Nuestra presencia colectiva trastorna las prácticas institucionales de exclusión en dichos espacios y, a la vez, apoya los procesos de organización de los movimientos en torno a las alternativas feministas a los sistemas de opresión.
Súmate a las conversaciones desde el 10 al 21 de marzo de 2025, mientras transformamos de forma colectiva la CSW69 en espacios para y sobre la resistencia y la solidaridad.
Dorothy Masuka
«Yo no planeaba ser una cantante, el canto planeó estar en mí.» - Dorothy Masuka (entrevista de Mail & Guardian)
Dorothy Masuka, nacida en 1935 en Bulawayo (en ese momento Rodesia del Sur, ahora Zimbabue), creció en Sudáfrica, y se convirtió en una reconocida compositora, cantante de jazz, activista, y defensora ferviente de la lucha contra el apartheid. Definida como «una arquitecta del discurso de la música popular africana de liberación», Dorothy a menudo cantaba sobre política en lenguas indígenas africanas y, a través de todo su trabajo, confrontó las políticas racistas del gobierno sudafricano.
Una de estas canciones, titulada «Dr. Malan» (por el político pro-apartheid D.F. Malan) fue prohibida. Luego, en 1961, grabó «Lumumba», una canción sobre el asesinato del líder anticolonial Patrice Lumumba. El trabajo y el activismo de Dorothy atrajeron la atención de la División Especial de la policía sudafricana, y fue forzada a un exilio político que se prolongaría durante tres décadas. Durante ese tiempo, trabajó con grupos independentistas, incluido el Congreso Nacional Africano. En 1992, cuando el apartheid comenzó a desmoronarse y Nelson Mandela fue liberado de prisión, Dorothy regresó a Sudáfrica.
Su trabajo incluye la primera canción que grabó, en 1953, titulada «Hamba Notsokolo», que fue un éxito durante la década de 1950, y hoy es un clásico muy valorado. También escribió «El Yow Phata Phata», una canción que fue adaptada por Miriam Makeba, quien hizo de «Pata, Pata» un hit internacional.
Arraigados en la resistencia, la música y el activismo de Dorothy (popularmente conocida como «Auntie Dot» [«Tía Dot»]) estaban entretejidos, y dejaron un legado magnífico e inspirador.
Dorothy falleció en Johannesburgo el 23 de febrero de 2019 a la edad de 83 años, por problemas de salud.
Entrevista a Dorothy Masuka de Mail & Guardian (en inglés)
Escucha su música:
Snippet Forum Quoate Nicky Mcintyre (ES)
Todos nuestros procesos de cambio se basan en las relaciones que construimos en espacios como los Foros de AWID donde se baila juntxs, tu humor se trasluce, tu yo real, cuentas historias... eso es lo que hace la diferencia.
- Nicky Mcintyre, Estados Unidos
Film club - Finding Sally
Finding Sally (2020) Amharic | Anglais avec sous-titres anglais
Une enquête personnelle sur la vie mystérieuse de la tante de la réalisatrice Sally, une aristocrate éthiopienne devenue rebelle communiste qui a disparu après la révolution conduisant au renversement de l'empereur Haile Selassie.
Discussion en direct avec Tamara Dawit, réalisatrice de « Finding Sally »
23 juin à 12 h 30 EST sur IG en direct
Carole Seymour-Jones
Why did AWID choose Taipei as the location for the Forum?
AWID spent close to two years working to identify a Forum location in the Asia Pacific region (the Forum location rotates regions).
Building on initial desk research and consultations with allies that led us to rule out many other options in the region, we organized a thorough round of site visits to Nepal, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia and (later) Taiwan.
Each site visit included not just scoping the logistical infrastructure but meeting with local feminist groups and activists to better understand the context, and their sense of potential opportunities and risks of an AWID forum in their context.
In our site visits, we found incredibly vibrant, diverse local feminist movements.
They often expressed conflicted feelings about the opportunities and risk that the visibility of an event like the Forum could bring to them. In one, during the first 30 minutes of our meeting we heard unanimously from the activists gathered that an AWID Forum would be subject to huge backlash, that LGBTQ rights were a particular political hot-button and that fundamentalist groups would turn out in full force to interrupt the event. When our response was “ok, then you don’t feel it’s a good idea”, again the unanimous response was “of course it is, we want to change the narrative!”.
It was difficult to hear and see in some of these places how many feminist activists wanted to leverage the opportunity of a visible big event and were prepared to face the local risks; but our considerations as hosts of close to 2,000 people from around the world impose a different calculation of risk and feasibility.
We also grappled with questions of what it means to organize a feminist forum that is aligned to principles around inclusion, reciprocity and self-determination, when state policy and practice is usually directly counter to that (although officials in the ministries of Tourism work very hard to smooth that over).
We weighed considerations of infrastructure, with potential opportunity to tip momentum on some national level feminist agendas, and national political context.
In many of these places, monitoring the context felt like an exercise on a pendulum that could swing from open and safe for feminist debates in one moment to stark repression and xenophobia the next, sacrificing feminist priorities as political bargaining chips to pacify right wing, anti-rights forces.
The process has been a sobering reflection on the incredibly challenging context for women’s rights and gender justice activism globally.
Our challenges in Asia Pacific led us to consider: would it be easier if we moved the Forum to a different region? Yet today, we would not be able to organize an AWID Forum in Istanbul as we did in 2012; nor would we be able to do one in Brazil as we did in 2016.
With all of this complexity, AWID selected Taipei as the Forum location because:
- It offers a moderate degree of stability and safety for the diversity of Forum participants we will convene.
- it also has strong logistical capacities, and is accessible for many travellers (with a facilitated e-visa process for international conferences).
- The local feminist movement is welcoming of the Forum and keen to engage with feminists from across the globe.
In organizing the AWID Forum, we are trying to build and hold space as best we can for the diverse expressions of solidarity, outrage, hope and inspiration that are at the core of feminist movements.
At this moment, we see Taipei as the location in the Asia Pacific region that will best allow us to build that safe and rebelious space for our global feminist community.
The fact is, there is no ideal location in today’s world for a Forum that centers Feminist Realities. Wherever we go, we must build that space together!
Snippet - WCFM Database blurb - En
AWID’s Who Can Fund Me? Database
Regularly updated and searchable directory of 200+ funders across different sectors and regions that support vital gender justice work.
Esther Mwikali
Esther Mwikali habitait dans le village de Mithini, dans le comté de Murang’a au Kenya. Activiste des droits fonciers, importante et appréciée, elle travaillait sur les abus à l’égard de squatters vivant sur des terres revendiquées par des magnats. Esther a participé à une enquête qui comprenait également des violations de droits fonciers à Makaya par de puissants individus.
Suite à l’absence d’Esther lors d’une réunion de village, une équipe de patrouille est partie à sa recherche. Le 27 août 2019, deux jours après sa disparition, on retrouva son corps dans une ferme proche de sa propriété, montrant des signes de torture. Elle fut sauvagement assassinée.
« Esther était reconnue pour son travail auprès des membres de la communauté, empêchant les évictions de terres revendiquées des magnats. Les activistes du coin n’ont aucun doute sur le lien entre son meurtre et les luttes constantes pour les terres dans la région. C’est un tragique rappel de la fréquence alarmante d’assassinats extrajudiciaires régulièrement menés au Kenya » - Global Wittness Report, juillet 2020
« Nous associons la mort de Mwikali aux luttes pour les terres par ici. Nous demandons au gouvernement de mener une enquête sur ce sujet au plus tôt. » - James Mburu, porte-parole des squatters
« Des mesures devraient être prises à l’égard des individus suspectés d’avoir menacé les squatters, et notamment la famille Mwikali. » - Alice Karanja, National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders (coalition nationale des défenseur·e·s des droits humains)
« L’impact de son travail et sa ténacité demeureront encore en vie pour les prochaines décennies au Kenya. CJGEA console avec les personnes endeuillées et appelle à la justice. » - Center for Justice and Governmental Action (Centre pour la justice et l’action gouvernementale, CJGEA) communiqué de presse, 13 septembre 2019
Pourquoi avoir choisi Bangkok ?
Chaque Forum de l’AWID se déroule dans une région différente, et il était temps de retourner en Asie ! Nous avons visité de nombreux pays de la région, consulté des mouvements féministes et procédé à des évaluations détaillées de la logistique, de l'accessibilité, de la sécurité, des visas et bien d’autres choses encore. Finalement, le conseil d'administration de l'AWID a approuvé à l’unanimité Bangkok, en Thaïlande, comme étant la meilleure option. Nous sommes ravi·e·s de retrouver Bangkok, où le Forum de l’AWID avait déjà eu lieu en 2005.
Informe OURS 2021 Resumen
Derechos en riesgo: Hora de Actuar
Actualmente, una compleja red de actores anti-derechos, en constante evolución, está ejerciendo cada vez más influencia tanto en los espacios internacionales y regionales, como en las políticas nacionales. Los actores anti-derechos están ingresando en los espacios multilaterales (donde múltiples países se reúnen para la colaboración internacional), con el fin de transformarlos y socavarlos desde adentro. Emplean una variedad de discursos persuasivos para ganar legitimidad, a menudo cooptando el lenguaje de los derechos y la justicia para ocultar sus verdaderas agendas.
Este informe es el segundo de una serie de reportes sobre las tendencias en derechos humanos, producido por el Observatorio de la Universalidad de los Derechos (OURs, por sus siglas en inglés). Además del análisis sobre actores anti-derechos clave y sus discursos, estrategias e impactos, el informe presenta breves narrativas inspiradoras de acción feminista y ejercicios de construcción de conocimiento para ayudar a fortalecer nuestra resistencia colectiva.
El efecto sobre nuestros derechos ya ha sido grave, pero esto no ha terminado todavía. Todxs podemos hacer nuestra parte para resistir las agendas anti-derechos y reclamar nuestros derechos.
¡Únete hoy mismo al llamado a la acción colectiva!
Dolorosa Mubvumbi
Вместе под Зонтом: Феминизм и Права Секс-Работниц/ков
Ассоциация «Права женщин в развитии» и Фонд «Красный зонт» приглашают Вас принять участие в диспуте-семинаре на тему феминизма и секс-работы.
Вместе под Зонтом: Феминизм и Права Секс-Работниц/ков
10 ноября 2020г. в 14:00 по UTC (сверьтесь с вашим местным временем)
В рамках данной сессии, сотрудницы (-ки) Ассоциации «Права женщин в развитии» будут делиться своими знаниями и опытом работы в условиях виртуального общения. Мы поговорим об основных сложностях и интерсекциональности в работе секс-работниц (-ков) и феминисток (-ов).
Подумайте над своими вопросами!
Для участниц (-ков) будет предоставлен перевод на испанский, французский и русский языки.
Спикеры
Кей Тхи Вин
Кей Тхи является секс-работницей и с 2007 года лоббирует вопросы здоровья и прав секс-работниц (-ков). За последние девять лет она участвовала в программе по предупреждению ВИЧ среди женщин, работающих в секс-индустрии, и мужчин, имеющих половые связи с мужчинами, в Мьянме. В настоящее время Кей Тхи является региональной координаторкой Азиатско-Тихоокеанской сети секс-работниц (-ков) (АТССР) и работает с партнерами по всему Азиатско-Тихоокеанскому региону.
Гитанджали Мишра
Гитанджали является соосновательницей и исполнительной директоркой организации CREA (Нью-Дели). Она феминистка и любительница кино, работала по вопросам сексуальности, репродуктивного здоровья, гендера, прав человека и насилия в отношении женщин на различных уровнях - в качестве активистки, грантодательницы и на директивном уровне.
Вера Родригез
Вера присоединилась к фонду «Красный зонт» в августе 2017 года в качестве сотрудницы по программам. Вера родилась в Испании, где окончила факультет журналистики Университета Сан Пабло в Валенсии. Последние 7 лет она является активной участницей организации «X-talk», очень вовлечена в работу Коллектива Стриптизерш (-ров) Восточного Лондона, а также является участницей съемочной группы «Опера секс-работниц (-ков)».
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Sara Hegazy
Sara Hegazy, a bold Egyptian LGBTQI+ rights activist, lived in a society where the members of her community, their bodies and lives often face lethal prejudice. The roots of Sara’s resistance were in the deconstruction of a dominant, oppressive and patriarchal system, and its anti-rights actors.
"[In Egypt], every person who is not male, Muslim, Sunni, straight, and a supporter of the system, is rejected, repressed, stigmatized, arrested, exiled, or killed. This matter is related to the patriarchal system as a whole, since the state cannot practice its repression against citizens without a pre-existing oppression since childhood." - Sara Hegazy wrote on March 6, 2020
The suppression of Sara’s voice by the Egyptian government reached its violent peak in 2017, when she was arrested for raising a rainbow flag at the Mashrou’ Leila (Lebanese band whose lead vocalist is openly gay) concert in Cairo. What followed were charges of joining an illegal group along with “promoting sexual deviancy and debauchery”.
"It was an act of support and solidarity — not only with the [Mashrou' Leila] vocalist but for everyone who is oppressed...We were proud to hold the flag. We wouldn't have imagined the reaction of society and the Egyptian state. For them, I was a criminal — someone who was seeking to destroy the moral structure of society." - Sara Hegazy
Sara was jailed for three months, where she was tortured and sexually assaulted. In January 2018, after being released on bail, she sought asylum in Canada where she was safe but imprisoned by the memories of the abuse and violence her body and soul had gone through.
"I left this experience after three months with a very intense, serious case of PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder]. Prison killed me. It destroyed me." - Sara Hegazy told NPR
Sara took her own life on 14 June 2020, leaving a handwritten note in Arabic:
“To my siblings – I tried to find redemption and failed, forgive me.”
“To my friends – the experience [journey] was harsh and I am too weak to resist it, forgive me.
“To the world – you were cruel to a great extent, but I forgive.”
Her legacy and courage will be carried forward by those who love her and believe in what she fought for.
Tributes:
“To Sarah: Rest, just rest, spared from this relentless violence, this state-powered lethal patriarchy. In rage, in grief, in exhaustion, we resist.” - Rasha Younes, an LGBT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. Read the complete text
Mashrou’ Leila’s lead vocalist sings tribute to Sara Hegazy
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