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
Snippet - Intro WITM - EN
Where is the Money for Feminist Organizing? Survey Results
Thanks to our global feminist community! From May to August 2024, nearly 1,200 organizations working for Women's rights, gender justice, and LBTQI+ equality shared their experiences in the WITM survey. The results offer a unique picture of how feminist movements are resourced and where gaps remain.
Stay tuned for the upcoming report for more analysis!
Snippet FEA Barcelona, Spain (ES)
Barcelona, España
Metzineres
Lxs Mujerxs Toman Drogas.
SUPÉRALO
我正在嘗試提交提案,但在線表格不好用怎麼辦?
對於與“論壇活動徵集”有關的任何問題,請與我們聯繫,請使用“論壇活動徵集”作為您電子郵件的主題。
Moushmi Narain
Snippet - WITM To make - ES

Para darle visibilidad a la complejidad de la dotación de recursos para las diversas formas de organización feministas.
Matrine Chuulu
Snippet FEA Metzineres has supported (FR)
Depuis sa fondation,
Metzineres a accompagné plus de
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383 personnes. |
註冊費用是多少?
開放報名時會公布。
Matilde Lindo Crisanto
Snippet - WITM About the survey - EN
ABOUT THE SURVEY
- GLOBAL & DIVERSE: Reflecting on resourcing realities of feminist organizing at a global scale and disaggregated by region
- CONTEXTUALIZED: Centering voices, perspectives and lived experiences of feminist movements in all their richness, boldness and diversity in their respective contexts
- CO-CREATED: Developed and piloted in close consultations with AWID members and movement partners
- COMPLEMENTARY: Contributing to and amplifying existing evidence on the state of resourcing for feminist, women’s rights and gender justice organizing by activists, feminist funders and allies
- MULTI-LINGUAL: Accessible in Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
- PRIORITIZING PRIVACY & SECURITY: We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of your data. Read our Privacy Policy to learn more about the measures we take to ensure the protection of your information
- ACCESSIBLE: Accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive abilities, taking approximately 30 minutes to complete
- REPLICABLE: Replicable by movements in their respective contexts; WITM survey tools and datasets will be publicly available to support more feminist research and collective advocacy.
Efigenia Vásquez Astudillo
Clone of Snippet FEA Environments Of Shelter (FR)
Metzineres fournit les types de soutien suivants, connus sous le nom de
Environnements d'abri :
![]() La Couverture
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![]() La puissante
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![]() Le lierre
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![]() Le hurlement
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![]()
Production et entrepreneuriat |
![]() L’Artisan·e
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論壇將包括哪些語言?
英文、法文、西班牙文和中文
Nasreen Pervin Huq
Snippet - WITM Acknowledgements - EN
Acknowledgements
AWID gratefully acknowledges the many people whose ideas, analysis and contributions have shaped the “Where is the Money for Feminist Organizing?” research and advocacy over the years.
First and foremost, our deepest thanks goes to the AWID members and activists who engaged in WITM consultations and piloted this survey with us, sharing so generously of their time, analysis and hearts.
Our appreciation to feminist movements, allies and feminist funds, including but not limited to: Black Feminist Fund, Pacific Feminist Fund, ASTRAEA Lesbian Foundation for Justice, FRIDA Young Feminist Fund, Purposeful, Kosovo Women’s Network, Human Rights Funders Network, Dalan Fund and PROSPERA International Network of Women's Funds - for your rigorous research on the state of resourcing, sharp analysis and continued advocacy for more and better funding and power for feminist and gender justice organizing in all contexts.
Join the global community of feminists speaking up about the state of resourcing, demanding more and better funding and power for feminists everywhere
Halla Barakat
Snippet FEA EoS Artisana (EN)

Artisana
Art and creativity
透過CfA提交活動提案後續?
- 活動提案最初將由AWID工作人員進行篩選。
- 然後,入圍的提案企劃者受邀參加票選,在入圍的活動中進行選擇。票數最高者會納入論壇活動。AWID可能會在決選做一些調整,以確保我們的活動議程在各個地區、擁護族群、議題和方法之間具適當平衡。
- 我們的論壇內容與方法委員會將與獲選的提案企劃者聯繫,協助他們進一步規劃活動。
我們屆時會於網站上公告徵選結果。
Women’s Rights & Gender Equality in focus on TheGuardian.com
The in-focus section features the pressing issues affecting women, girls and transgender people around the world, and shines a spotlight on the critical work being carried out by women's rights movements.
AWID and Mama Cash are advisory partners who offer ideas to the Guardian editorial team and help link the Guardian team with diverse women’s rights advocates, organizations and movements around the world.
With the Guardian’s global reach of over 82 million unique browsers a month and its position of influence with policy makers, AWID and Mama Cash see this partnership as an important opportunity to:
- bring a rights based analysis to a broad and powerful audience
- increase the visibility of diverse women’s rights organizing and make the case for the key role they play in advancing women’s rights
- raise the visibility of women human rights defenders at risk
- influence key global development policy processes and debates and support more diverse voices to frame debates and set priorities about women’s, girls and transgender people’s rights and the changes that are needed at global, regional and national levels.

If you would like to share suggestions for women’s rights issues, strategies, process or events that you would like to see covered by the in-focus section, you can pitch your ideas here. All suggestions collected through this online form will be shared directly with the Guardian editorial team.The Guardian is solely responsible for all journalistic output and all editorial content is strictly independent.
If you have questions about this project, email: contact@awid.org and/or hello@mamacash.org.




