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AWID is an international, feminist, membership organisation committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development and women’s human rights

Memory as Resistance: A Tribute to WHRDs no longer with us

AWID’s Tribute is an art exhibition honouring feminists, women’s rights and social justice activists from around the world who are no longer with us. 


In 2020, we are taking a turn

This year’s tribute tells stories and shares narratives about those who co-created feminist realities, have offered visions of alternatives to systems and actors that oppress us, and have proposed new ways of organising, mobilising, fighting, working, living, and learning.

49 new portraits of feminists and Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) are added to the gallery. While many of those we honour have passed away due to old age or illness, too many have been killed as a result of their work and who they are.

This increasing violence (by states, corporations, organized crime, unknown gunmen...) is not only aimed at individual activists but at our joint work and feminist realities.

The stories of activists we honour keep their legacy alive and carry their inspiration forward into our movements’ future work.

Visit the online exhibit

The portraits of the 2020 edition are designed by award winning illustrator and animator, Louisa Bertman

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 activists and WHRDs and forging efforts to ensure justice is achieved in cases that remain in impunity.

“They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.” - Mexican Proverb 


The Tribute was first launched in 2012

It took shape with a physical exhibit of portraits and biographies of feminists and activists who passed away at AWID’s 12th International Forum, in Turkey. It now lives as an online gallery, updated every year.

To date, 467 feminists and WHRDs are featured.

Visit the online exhibit

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Yamile Guerra

Yamile Guerra fue una conocida abogada, líder comunitaria y activista política de la región colombiana de Santander.

Trabajó activamente para resolver las disputas entre comunidades locales y empresas promotoras, y abogó contra la apropiación ilegal de las tierras. Yamile ocupó varios cargos políticos, entre ellos la Secretaría General del Gobierno de Santander en Bogotá, y se presentó también a la Alcaldía de Bucaramanga. En los últimos años de su vida, Yamile se volvió cada vez más activa en las causas medioambientales contra los desarrollos urbanos, particularmente, en la defensa de los humedales biodiversos de Santurbán contra los desarrollos urbanos, una región que abastece de agua dulce a casi 2 millones de personas .

Según su familia y amigxs, Yamile recibía amenazas de muerte a diario y había pedido protección a las autoridades.

"Ella era muy consciente de este problema [litigio de tierras] y manifestó repetidamente que se sentía insegura". - Alixon Navarro Muñoz, periodista y amigo de la familia Guerra.
El 20 de julio de 2019, Yamile fue asesinada a tiros por dos hombres en Floridablanca, Santander. Acababa de terminar de discutir con ellos por una disputa de tierras. Un sospechoso fue arrestado más tarde por su asesinato y admitió haber recibido un pago por llevar a cabo su asesinato. Según varios informes, o Yamile fue la tercera integrante de su familia en ser asesinada a causa de las disputas por tierras. El padre de Yamile, Hernando Guerra, había sido  asesinado también varios años antes.

El asesinato de Yamile forma parte de una ola de violencia y asesinatos sistemáticos contra cientos de activistas sociales y defensorxs de los derechos humanos en Colombia. Según el Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Paz (INDEPAZ), en el momento de la muerte de Yamile, más de 700 líderes comunitarios y activistas de derechos humanos habían sido asesinadxs desde que el país firmó un acuerdo de paz en agosto de 2016. La mayoría de ellxs fueron asesinadxs por enfrentar el tráfico ilegal de drogas y las operaciones mineras. Las personas  indígenas, afrocolombianas y las mujeres defensoras de derechos humanos son lxs activistas que corren mayor riesgo.

Menos de una semana después de la muerte de Yamile, miles de colombianxs marcharon por pueblos y ciudades sosteniendo fotos en blanco y negro de activistas que habían sido asesinadxs, en las pancartas se podía leer: "Sin líderes no puede haber paz" y "No más derramamientos de sangre".

Yamile Guerra tenía solo 42 años en el momento de su asesinato.

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Snippet FEA Unio Otras Photo 3 (EN)

Photo of Sabrina Sanchez speaking next to a screen on Ilga World meeting

Demo WYSIWYG page for testing

In a context like Colombia’s, the work of imagining, dreaming and even creating processes of transformation so we can live in worlds that are decent, just, careful, and affectionate is worthy of admiration. It is an attack on life itself. Not just on the life of one official, but an attack on the soul, on the spirit of an entire people who feels frustrated.

  1. It is an attack on life itself. Not just on the life of one official, but an attack on the soul, on the spirit of an entire people who feels frustrated.

Privacy is a fundamental right not just for the most powerful and privileged

In a context like Colombia’s, the work of imagining, dreaming and even creating processes of transformation so we can live in worlds that are decent, just, careful, and affectionate is worthy of admiration. This is an emboldened paragraph.

We are thinking of them and of all the women leaders who are continuing the fight, having gained consciousness, from their respective ethnic, political, cultural, and identity locations and from their work, of their selves and the social problems facing their communities.

This link goes somewhere, but this sentence doesn't, it only exists to show how a link works. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.

£2600 is an amount of money that I've wrapped some <strong> tags around, while 4 weeks – a length of time – also has had the same treatment for the purposes of just testing how typography appears on the page. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

Find out how links are made into buttons

Header Level 2

In a context like Colombia’s, the work of imagining, dreaming and even creating processes of transformation so we can live in worlds that are decent, just, careful, and affectionate is worthy of admiration.

We are thinking of them and of all the women leaders who are continuing the fight, having gained consciousness, from their respective ethnic, political, cultural, and identity locations and from their work, of their selves and the social problems facing their communities.

Header Level 3

Women leaders and human rights defenders in Colombia: A legacy of dreams, struggles and affection that we will not silence

It is an attack on life itself. Not just on the life of one official, but an attack on the soul, on the spirit of an entire people who feels frustrated.

These are hyperlinks in paragraphs where they're needed the most, right in a demo page.

£2600 is an amount of money that I've wrapped some <strong> tags around, while 4 weeks – a length of time – also has had the same treatment for the purposes of just testing how typography appears on the page. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

Header Level 4

It is an attack on life itself. Not just on the life of one official, but an attack on the soul, on the spirit of an entire people who feels frustrated. These are hyperlinks in paragraphs where they're needed the most, right in a demo page.

£2600 is an amount of money that I've wrapped some <strong> tags around, while 4 weeks – a length of time – also has had the same treatment for the purposes of just testing how typography appears on the page. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

Header Level 5

It is an attack on life itself. Not just on the life of one official, but an attack on the soul, on the spirit of an entire people who feels frustrated. These are hyperlinks in paragraphs where they're needed the most, right in a demo page.

£2600 is an amount of money that I've wrapped some <strong> tags around, while 4 weeks – a length of time – also has had the same treatment for the purposes of just testing how typography appears on the page. Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

Header Level 6

It is an attack on life itself. Not just on the life of one official, but an attack on the soul, on the spirit of an entire people who feels frustrated.

These are hyperlinks in paragraphs where they're needed the most, right in a demo page. £2600 is an amount of money that I've wrapped some <strong> tags around, while 4 weeks – a length of time – also has had the same treatment for the purposes of just testing how typography appears on the page.

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

Blockquotes

Standard

It is an attack on life itself. Not just on the life of one official, but an attack on the soul, on the spirit of an entire people who feels frustrated.

Master Quotation Writer, Head of Placeholder Typography

Short (Big)

It is an attack on life itself.

Master Quotation Writer, Head of Placeholder Typography

Long (Small)

It is an attack on life itself. Not just on the life of one official, but an attack on the soul, on the spirit of an entire people who feels frustrated. It is an attack on life itself. Not just on the life of one official, but an attack on the soul, on the spirit of an entire people who feels frustrated. It is an attack on life itself. Not just on the life of one official, but an attack on the soul, on the spirit of an entire people who feels frustrated.

Master Quotation Writer, Head of Placeholder Typography

Bordered

It is an attack on life itself. Not just on the life of one official, but an attack on the soul, on the spirit of an entire people who feels frustrated.

Master Quotation Writer, Head of Placeholder Typography

Boxed (white)

It is an attack on life itself. Not just on the life of one official, but an attack on the soul, on the spirit of an entire people who feels frustrated.

Master Quotation Writer, Head of Placeholder Typography

Boxed (primary theme)

It is an attack on life itself. Not just on the life of one official, but an attack on the soul, on the spirit of an entire people who feels frustrated.

Master Quotation Writer, Head of Placeholder Typography

Boxed (secondary theme)

It is an attack on life itself. Not just on the life of one official, but an attack on the soul, on the spirit of an entire people who feels frustrated.

Master Quotation Writer, Head of Placeholder Typography

 

Membership why page - Kirthi Jayakumar quote

"I participated in a member-only activity and I was particularly moved to see how there was space for everyone to share and that there was no judgment whatsoever. The entire session was energetic and vibrant."

- Kirthi Jayakumar, Founder, The Gender Security Project, India 

هل يمكنني مشاركة الاستطلاع مع الآخرين/ الأخريات؟

نعم! الرجاء القيام بذلك! نشجعكم/ن على مشاركة رابط الاستطلاع في شبكاتكم/ن. سيسمح لنا جمع وجهات النظر أكثر تنوعاً، فهم البيئة التمويلية للحركات النسوية بشكل أكبر.

Binta Sarr

Binta Sarr était une activiste pour la justice sociale, économique, culturelle et politique, en plus d’avoir occupé le poste d’ingénieure hydraulique au Sénégal. Après 13 années de service, celle-ci a choisi de quitter le fonctionnariat pour travailler auprès de femmes rurales et marginalisées. 

Cet engagement a donné lieu à la création de l’Association pour la promotion des femmes sénégalaises (APROFES), un mouvement de base auquel est venu se greffer une organisation fondée par Binta en 1987. L’une de ses approches était la formation au leadership, non seulement dans le cadre d’activités économiques mais également en lien avec les droits des femmes et leur accès à des fonctions décisionnelles.

“« Les populations à la base doivent s’organiser, se mobiliser, assumer le contrôle citoyen et exiger une gouvernance démocratique dans tous les secteurs de l’espace public. La priorité des mouvements sociaux doit aller au-delà de la lutte contre la pauvreté et être axée sur des programmes de développement articulés et cohérents en adéquation avec les principes des droits humains, tout en prenant en compte leurs besoins et leurs préoccupations tant au niveau national, sous régional que dans une perspective d’intégration africaine et mondiale. » – Binta Sarr

Ancrée dans la conviction de Binta, à savoir que les changements essentiels dans le statut des femmes nécessitent la transformation des attitudes masculines, APROFES a adopté une approche interdisciplinaire et s’est appuyée sur la radio, les séminaires et le théâtre populaire, offert une éducation publique innovante et apporté un soutien culturel aux actions de sensibilisation. Sa troupe de théâtre populaire a créé des pièces sur le thème des castes dans la société sénégalaise, de l’alcoolisme et de la violence conjugale. Binta et son équipe ont également pris en compte l’interconnexion essentielle entre la communauté et le monde élargi.

« Pour APROFES, il s’agit d’étudier et de prendre en compte les interactions entre le micro et le macro, le local et le mondial, ainsi que les différentes facettes du développement. De l’esclavage à la colonisation, le néo-colonialisme et la marchandisation du développement humain, qui représentent la majeure partie des ressources d’Afrique et du Tiers-Monde (pétrole, or, minéraux et autres ressources naturelles), demeurent sous le contrôle des cartels financiers et autres multinationales qui dominent ce monde mondialisé. » – Binta Sarr

Binta était également l’une des membres fondatrices de la section féminine de l’Association culturelle et sportive Magg Daan, et a reçu des mentions élogieuses de la part du gouverneur régional et du ministre de l’Hydrologie pour sa « dévotion aux populations rurales ».

Née en 1954 dans la petite ville de Guiguineo, Binta est décédée en septembre 2019.


Hommages:

 « La perte est incommensurable, la douleur est lourde et profonde mais nous allons résister pour ne pas pleurer Binta; nous allons garder l’image de son large sourire en toutes circonstances, pour résister et nous inspirer d’elle, maintenir, consolider et développer son œuvre... » – Page Facebook de l’APROFES, 24 septembre 2019

« Adieu, Binta! Nul doute que ton immense héritage sera préservé. » – Elimane FALL, président de l’ACS Magg-Daan 

Snippet FEA Linda Porn Bio (ES)

Linda Porn es una otra heroína de la organización sindical feminista y del activismo de las trabajadoras sexuales a nivel nacional (en España) y transnacional.

Originaria de México, vive en España desde los años 2000. Es trabajadora sexual, activista, madre soltera y artista multidisciplinar.

Partiendo de estas diferentes identidades, utiliza la performance, el videoarte y el teatro para visibilizar las luchas en las intersecciones del transfeminismo, el trabajo sexual, la migración, el colonialismo y la maternidad. Combina el arte y el trabajo sexual mientras cuida a su hija como madre soltera.

Linda también pertenece a colectivos de trabajadoras sexuales que luchan por sus derechos, como el sindicato OTRAS y CATS Murcia. También cofundó el grupo 'Madrecitas' - que visibiliza y denuncia la violencia institucional racista contra las familias migrantes. Violencia de la que ella y su hija fueron objeto por ser trabajadora sexual y madre soltera migrante.

¡No te pierdas su trabajo artístico aquí!

#MeToo in China


The #MeToo movement in China was ignited in January 2018, impelled by the momentum of the #MeToo movement around the globe. The movement was a response to cultural and systemic problems in relation to gender and power within China. The foundation of the movement was laid over decades, with many years of debate and advocacy for gender equality finally erupting into a tremendous force across society. #MeToo has been driven mainly by young people, among whom are countless anonymous women and their allies, and they search for opportunities to realize the ultimate “Chinese Dream”: to transform China into a country with gender equality.
 
The environment for #MeToo movement is extremely adverse in China: the rule of law, the fairness and transparency of government action, and freedom of speech cannot be taken for granted by the movement in China but are the very goals it fights for. From the beginning, it has been an intense struggle, with every victim or activist who comes forward running tremendous risks. From being silenced, humiliated, or retaliated against, to having their safety jeopardized, every success of the #MeToo movement has been won by those who are courageous enough to bear the costs of speaking out and defying censorship.
 
#MeToo in China Exhibition was first held in 2019 and toured in 5 cities. The aim of the exhibition is to bring the personal experiences of the victims and activists to greater prominence and, through engagement with these stories, to inspire our audience to join in the fight. The exhibition has itself become a part of the #MeToo struggle—the exhibition has been beset by challenges on its tour throughout China, on more than one occasion even facing closure.

#MeToo China Image
#MeToo China Image
#MeToo China Image

Forum anchors (Forum page)

El Foro de AWID estará organizado alrededor de 6 tópicos interconectados. Estos «ejes» se centran en las realidades feministas.

Explora

Membership why page - Loyiso Lindani

J’ai l’intime conviction que des femmes puissantes peuvent donner à d’autres femmes la possibilité d’être puissantes, c’est pourquoi je suis ravie d’être membre de l’AWID. La visibilité que j’ai reçue en faisant partie de la Street Team de la communauté AWID a élargi mes connaissances et ma façon d’envisager le Féminisme et l’intersectionnalité. J’espère que davantage de femmes se joindront à nous et porteront des thématiques et des idées qui aideront d’autres femmes. .- Loyiso Lindani, Afrique du Sud.

Maritza Quiroz Leiva

Maritza Quiroz Leiva was an Afro Colombian social activist, a community leader and women human rights defender. Among the 7.7 million Colombians internally displaced by 50 years of armed conflict, Maritza dedicated her advocacy work to supporting the rights of others, particularly in the Afro Colombian community who suffered similar violations and displacement.

Maritza was the deputy leader of the Santa Marta Victim's Committee, and an important voice for those seeking justice in her community, demanding reparations for the torture, kidnapping, displacement, and sexual violence that victims experienced during the armed conflict. She was also active in movement for land redistribution and land justice in the country. 

On 5 January 2019, Maritza was killed by two armed individuals who broke into her home. She was 60 years old. 

Maritza joined five other Colombian social activists and leaders who had been murdered just in the first week of 2019. A total of 107 human rights defenders were killed that year in the country. 

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Snippet FEA Principles of work Human Rights (FR)

Une personne parlant dans un haut-parleur.

DROITS HUMAINS

Nicole Barakat

nicole barakat -verge exhibition april 2018
“We transcend time and place” [«Trascendemos el tiempo y el lugar»], papel recuperado cortado a mano (2017)
nicole barakat -verge exhibition april 2018
“We will remember who we are and we will persist” [«Recordaremos quiénes somos y persistiremos»], lamé cortado a mano bordado en algodón sobre seda de lana (2018)
nicole barakat -verge exhibition april 2018
“We will return home” [«Regresaremos a casa»], lamé cortado a mano bordado en seda sobre terciopelo de algodón (2018)
verge march 18 - document photography
“We will heal in the now” [«Sanaremos en el ahora»], seda cortada a mano, lana, lamé, algodón, impresión digital directa de satén sobre tela de lino (2018)

somos infinitxs 

Una exposición de Nicole Barakat que encarna su reconexión con los objetos de la diáspora de sus tierras ancestrales en la región del Sudoeste Asiático y África del Norte (SWANA, por sus siglas en inglés).
 
Barakat presenta una colección de obras textiles como manifestaciones de su práctica de conectarse con los objetos desplazados, y a menudo robados, que son exhibidos en colecciones de museos occidentales que incluyen  el Museo del Louvre de París, el Museo Británico de Londres y el Nicholson Museum de Sydney.
 
Para burlar a los guardianes y fisurar las vitrinas que retienen estos objetos ancestrales, Barakat recupera formas de conocimiento precoloniales, no lineales y receptivas que son, a menudo, devaluadas y desestimadas por las instituciones coloniales y patriarcales, utilizando la adivinación con la borra del  café, el trabajo con los  sueños, la escucha intuitiva y las conversaciones con los objetos mismos (fuente).

Sobre Nicole Barakat

Nicole Barakat portrait
Nicole Barakat es una artista femme queer de SWANA, que nació y vive en las tierras de Gadigal (llamadas Sydney) en Australia. Trabaja con procesos intuitivos y de escucha profunda, con la intención de transformar las condiciones de la vida cotidiana. Su obra se desarrolla a través de métodos artísticos no convencionales, creando objetos intrincados que plasman el amor y la paciencia característicos de las prácticas textiles tradicionales.
 
Sus trabajos incluyen dibujos en papel y en tela cortados y cosidos a mano, esculturas realizadas con su propio cabello, tela y materiales vegetales, así como obras en vivo en las que utiliza su voz como material.
 
La práctica creativa de Nicole está arraigada en el re-cuerdo y la re-colección de sus conocimientos ancestrales, incluyendo la adivinación con la borra del café y, más recientemente, el trabajo con esencias de plantas y flores para el cuidado y la sanación comunitaria.

Nicole’s creative practice is rooted in re-membering and re-gathering her ancestral knowing, including coffee divination and more recently working with plants and flower essences for community care and healing.