AWID honors feminists and Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) who have died and whose contributions to the advancement of human rights are very much missed.

Celebrating Activists and WHRDs

AWID’s WHRD Tribute is a photo exhibition featuring feminist, women’s rights and social justice activists from around the world who are no longer with us. 

The Tribute was first launched in 2012, at AWID’s 12th International Forum, in Turkey. It took shape with a physical exhibit of portraits and biographies of feminists and activists who passed away. The initiative was described by Forum participants as being a unique, moving and energizing way to commemorate our collective history.

At the 13th International Forum in Brazil, we honored activists and WHRDs with a mural unveiling ceremony in four languages, a dance performance and a Brazilian ritual.

In between the events, the Tribute lives as an online gallery that is updated every year as part of the 16 Days Campaign Against Gender Based Violence (25 November – 10 December).

Contributions from all over the world

Since 2012, through our annual Tribute to Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) no longer with us, over 400 feminists and WHRDs from 11 regions and 80 countries have been featured. 

AWID would like to thank the families and organizations who shared their personal stories and contributed to this memorial. We join them in continuing the remarkable work of these women and forging efforts to ensure justice is achieved in cases that remain in impunity.

Visit the WHRD Tribute online exhibit

The violence and threaths against WHRDs persist

In addition to paying homage to these incredible activists, the Tribute particularly sheds light on the plight of WHRDs who have been assassinated or disappeared.

One third of those featured in the Tribute were activists who have been murdered or disappeared in suspicious circumstances. They were specifically targeted for who they were and the work they did to challenge: 

• State power
• Heteronormativity
• Fundamentalisms
• Corporations
• Patriarchy
• Organized Crime
• Corruption
• Militarization…

Women like Agnes Torres, from Mexico, was killed because of her gender identity and sexual orientation; or Cheryl Ananayo, an environmental activist from the Philippines was assassinated as she struggled against a mining company; or Ruqia Hassan, a Syrian independent journalist and blogger killed for her criticism of ISIS. And so many others.

With the WHRD Tribute, we bring them all into our collective memory and carry their legacy of struggle as our torch in the feminists’ and women’s rights movements. We recognize that security, safety and self-care must be a priority in all our political agendas. And we call on to governments and international bodies to collectively address violence against feminists and WHRDs.

We believe this is a critical step to ensure the sustainability of our movements for gender equality, women’s rights, and justice for all.

Visit the WHRD Tribute online exhibit

Contact us

Yes, please do! We encourage you to share the survey link with your networks. The more diverse perspectives we gather, the more comprehensive our understanding of the financial landscape for feminist organizing will be.

Este año honramos a 19 defensoras de la región de América Latina y el Caribe. De ellas, 16 fueron asesinadas, incluyendo a 6 periodistas y 4 defensoras LGBTQI. Únete a nosotras en la conmemoración de  sus vidas y trabajo,  compartiendo los memes aquí incluidos con tus colegas, amistades y redes; y tuiteando las etiquetas #WHRDTribute y #16Días.

Por favor, haz click en cada imagen de abajo para ver una versión más grande y para descargar como un archivo.

Visita nuestro Tributo 2015

أداؤك في المضاجع مهاراتك في ضبط المراجع…

منجزاتك الأكاديمية جسر عبور نحو شهوتك الجنسيّة (جدّيًا، سلِّم الأوراق المطلوبة، الكترونية كانت أم ورقيّة)

Por Que Devo Realizar Este Inquérito?

7 Women Human Rights Defenders from across the South and Southeast Asian region are honored in this year’s Online Tribute. These defenders have made key contributions to advancing human and women’s rights, indigenous people’s rights, and the right to education. These WHRDs were lawyers, women’s rights activists, scholars, and politicians. Please join AWID in commemorating t their work and legacy by sharing the memes below with your colleagues, networks and friends and by using the hashtags #WHRDTribute and #16Days. 

Please click on each image below to see a larger version and download as a file

See Our 2015 WHRD Tribute

Paseo de las Artes Feministas

Declaración de Rula Khoury

Como parte de nuestro compromiso de lograr una interacción más profunda con artistas y la práctica de la creación conjunta de las Realidades Feministas, AWID colaboró con un para promover y fortalecer las agendas y realidades feministas en sus comunidades y movimientos a través de sus expresiones creativas. Nuestra intención en este punto es reunir a creativxs feministas en un espacio pujante y valiente donde puedan desarrollarse y vivir en libertad, y donde puedan romper las narrativas tóxicas para sustituirlas por alternativas transformadoras. 

Esta exhibición reúne la obra de artistas y colectivos de todo el globo que están creando activamente la diferencia que queremos ver plasmada en el mundo. Entre estxs creativxs feministas se encuentran Upasana Agarwal, Nicole Barakat, Siphumeze Khundayi, Katia Herrera, Ali Chavez Leeds, el Colectivo Morivivi, Ika Vantiani, y lxs curadorxs detrás de la exhibición #MeToo en China. Sus voces se mantienen firmes en su rechazo a aceptar las limitaciones que impone el patriarcado, y para amplificar sus compromisos con las comunidades con las que trabajan. A su propio modo, cada obra de arte representa los actos cotidianos de resistencia, las historias e identidades que no se han narrado, las conexiones con la tierra y lo ancestral y, lo que es más importante, la solidaridad que existe en el interior de las luchas y los movimientos feministas y entre ellos. Estxs artistas se inspiran en y a la vez inspiran estrategias creativas de  resistencia e iniciativas feministas que nos muestran cómo podemos vivir en un mundo más justo, un mundo que pone en el centro los cuidados y la sanación.

Before starting the WITM research methodology, it is important you prepare the background and know what to expect.

Capacity

With AWID’s WITM research methodology, we recommend that you first review the entire toolkit.

While this toolkit is designed to democratize WITM research, there are capacity constraints related to resources and research experience that may affect your organization’s ability use this methodology.

Use the “Ready to Go?” Worksheet to assess your readiness to begin your own WITM research. The more questions you can answer on this worksheet, the more prepared you are to undertake your research.

Trust

Before beginning any research, we recommend that you assess your organization’s connections and trust within your community.

In many contexts, organizations may be hesitant to openly share financial data with others for reasons ranging from concerns about how the information will be used, to fear of funding competition and anxiety over increasing government restrictions on civil society organizations.

As you build relationships and conduct soft outreach in the lead-up to launching your research, ensuring that your objectives are clear will be useful in creating trust. Transparency will allow participants to understand why you are collecting the data and how it will benefit the entire community.

We highly recommend that you ensure data is collected confidentially and shared anonymously. By doing so, participants will be more comfortable sharing sensitive information with you. 

First step

1. Gather your resources

We also recommend referring to our “Ready to Go?” Worksheet to assess your own progress.

First step

1. Gather your resources

Ready to Go? Worksheet

Download the toolkit in PDF