Saskia Poldervaart
Women Human Rights Defenders
WHRDs are self-identified women and lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LBTQI) people and others who defend rights and are subject to gender-specific risks and threats due to their human rights work and/or as a direct consequence of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
WHRDs are subject to systematic violence and discrimination due to their identities and unyielding struggles for rights, equality and justice.
The WHRD Program collaborates with international and regional partners as well as the AWID membership to raise awareness about these risks and threats, advocate for feminist and holistic measures of protection and safety, and actively promote a culture of self-care and collective well being in our movements.
Risks and threats targeting WHRDs
WHRDs are exposed to the same types of risks that all other defenders who defend human rights, communities, and the environment face. However, they are also exposed to gender-based violence and gender-specific risks because they challenge existing gender norms within their communities and societies.
By defending rights, WHRDs are at risk of:
- Physical assault and death
- Intimidation and harassment, including in online spaces
- Judicial harassment and criminalization
- Burnout
A collaborative, holistic approach to safety
We work collaboratively with international and regional networks and our membership
- to raise awareness about human rights abuses and violations against WHRDs and the systemic violence and discrimination they experience
- to strengthen protection mechanisms and ensure more effective and timely responses to WHRDs at risk
We work to promote a holistic approach to protection which includes:
- emphasizing the importance of self-care and collective well being, and recognizing that what care and wellbeing mean may differ across cultures
- documenting the violations targeting WHRDs using a feminist intersectional perspective;
- promoting the social recognition and celebration of the work and resilience of WHRDs ; and
- building civic spaces that are conducive to dismantling structural inequalities without restrictions or obstacles
Our Actions
We aim to contribute to a safer world for WHRDs, their families and communities. We believe that action for rights and justice should not put WHRDs at risk; it should be appreciated and celebrated.
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Promoting collaboration and coordination among human rights and women’s rights organizations at the international level to strengthen responses concerning safety and wellbeing of WHRDs.
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Supporting regional networks of WHRDs and their organizations, such as the Mesoamerican Initiative for WHRDs and the WHRD Middle East and North Africa Coalition, in promoting and strengthening collective action for protection - emphasizing the establishment of solidarity and protection networks, the promotion of self-care, and advocacy and mobilization for the safety of WHRDs;
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Increasing the visibility and recognition of WHRDs and their struggles, as well as the risks that they encounter by documenting the attacks that they face, and researching, producing, and disseminating information on their struggles, strategies, and challenges:
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Mobilizing urgent responses of international solidarity for WHRDs at risk through our international and regional networks, and our active membership.
Related Content
Why should I consider responding to the survey?
There are many reasons why your response to the WITM survey matters. The survey offers the opportunity to share your lived experience of mobilizing funding to support your organizing; claim your power as an expert on how money moves and who it reaches; and contribute to collective and consistent advocacy to funders moving more and better funding. Over the last two decades, AWID’s WITM research has proven to be a key resource for activists and funders. We wholeheartedly invite you to join us in its third iteration to highlight the actual state of resourcing, challenge false solutions, and point out how funding must change for movements to thrive and meet the complex challenges of our times.
English title
This is a French article
- created from the French site
AWID為何選擇台北作為此次國際論壇的舉辦地點呢？
我們認為在亞太區域，台北最能讓我們為全球女性主義社群打造一個安全又可「造反」的空間。
即將召開的論壇與會者多元，台北提供了相當穩定與安全的環境。同時也具備穩健的勤務服務能力，方便許多旅客來往（提供國際論壇與會者便利的電子簽證流程）
當地的女性主義運動社群也歡迎論壇到來並積極與全球女性主義者串連。
Obiageli “Oby” Nwankwo
Con una carrera jurídica que abarcó más de 30 años, Oby era conocida en toda África y en el mundo como una defensora de la justicia de género y los derechos humanos.
Fundó y fue Directora Ejecutiva del Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC), una ONG nigeriana que patrocina capacitaciones y actividades de creación de redes para miembrxs de la sociedad civil, parlamentarixs y otrxs actores clave, para promover los derechos humanos, la buena gobernanza y el acceso a la justicia y el estado de derecho.
Oby es afectuosamente recordada por lxs activistas de Nigeria como una «extraordinaria activista que mostraba energía y pasión por la lucha por la igualdad de género y la justicia de género en Nigeria y en toda África».
Snippet FEA EoS The Cover (FR)
La puissante
Autoprotection et renforcement
Zarema Sadulayeva
En nuestro caso, reorientamos dinero a nuestros socios beneficiarios y nos identificamos como fondo de mujeres/feminista, ¿deberíamos responder la encuesta?
No. Valoramos muchísimo su trabajo, pero no estamos buscando respuestas de fondos de mujeres/feministas por el momento. Alentamos a compartir la encuesta con sus socios beneficiarios y con sus redes feministas.
L’activisme au Moyen-Orient et en Afrique du Nord
Notre hommage en ligne met à l’honneur cinq défenseuses des droits humains assassinées au Moyen-Orient ou en Afrique du Nord. Ces défenseuses étaient avocates ou militantes et ont œuvré pour les droits des femmes ou pour les droits civils. Leur mort met en évidence les conditions de travail souvent difficiles et dangereuses dans leurs pays respectifs. Nous vous invitons à vous joindre à nous pour commémorer la vie, le travail et l’activisme de ces femmes. Faites circuler ces mèmes auprès de vos collègues et amis ainsi que dans vos réseaux et twittez en utilisant les hashtags #WHRDTribute et #16Jours.
S'il vous plaît cliquez sur chaque image ci-dessous pour voir une version plus grande et pour télécharger comme un fichier
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Laura Lee
Laura était une activiste et une avocate de premier plan qui a mené une campagne courageuse en faveur de la dépénalisation du travail du sexe en Irlande.
On se souvient d'elle comme « une combattante de la liberté pour les travailleurs et les travailleuses du sexe, une féministe, une mère pour certainEs et une amie nécessaire pour beaucoup ».
Laura militait pour que les personnes de l'industrie du sexe soient reconnu-e-s comme des travailleurs et travailleuses sujets de droits. Elle a activement milité en faveur de la dépénalisation, notamment en engageant une procédure judiciaire devant la haute cour de Belfast qui concernent des dispositions criminalisant l’achat de services sexuels. Laura a déclaré que son intention était de porter l'affaire devant la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme.
Snippet FEA Ecofeminism (EN)
WEST AFRICA
NOUS SOMMES LA SOLUTION
We are the Solution
ECOFEMINISM:
Respect for all we have around us
Ana Fabricia Cordóba Cabrera
Puis-je accéder à l’enquête et répondre aux questions depuis mon téléphone?
Oui, l’enquête est accessible depuis les téléphones intelligents.
WHRDs from Sub-Saharan Africa
In our 2015 Online Tribute to Women Human Rights Defenders No Longer With Us we are commemorating four women from Sub-Saharan Africa, three of whom were murdered due to their work and/or who they were in their gender identity and sexual orientation. Their deaths highlight the violence LGBT persons often face in the region and across the globe. Please join AWID in honoring these women, their activism 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
Razan Al-Najjar
Razan was a 21-year-old volunteer medic in Palestine.
She was shot as she ran toward a fortified border fence, in an effort to reach a casualty in the east of the south Gaza city of Khan Younis.
In her very last Facebook post, Razan said: “I am returning and not retreating,” adding: “Hit me with your bullets. I am not afraid.”
Snippet FEA Mariama Sonko (EN)
This is Mariama Sonko, an inspiring small-scale rural farmer, eco-feminist and a woman human rights defender.
She lives in Niaguiss, a town in the southwest of Senegal. Growing up in a family and community of rural farmers, she witnessed the essential role of women in food production and seed preservation from a very early age, while also being immersed in the rhythms and working of the land. Mariama has been defending local agricultural knowledge and peasant practices since the 1990s. As a mother of five children, the food she grows herself is the main source of sustenance for her family.
She is currently the president of “Nous Sommes la Solution'' and is involved in promoting agroecological practices and family farming, encouraging food sovereignty, biodiversity and farmer seed preservation, and demanding equitable access to resources and land for women across West Africa.
Source: AWID’s Feminist Realities Festival Crear | Résister | Transform - Day 2/ 2ème jour/ 2º día
Diana Staubli
Should I do any preparation to respond to the survey?
As the WITM survey is focused on resourcing realities for feminist organizations, most questions ask about your group’s funding between 2021–2023. You will need to have this information with you to fill out the survey (e.g., your annual budgets and key sources of funding).