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
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Membership why page page - to join as a member block
Afiliación paso a paso
- Lee y acepta las directrices sobre los Valores y la Comunidad de AWID.
- Completa el formulario de inscripción e indica tu contribución al menos a uno de los tipos de acción propuesta.
- Verifica tu casilla de correo donde recibirás un paquete de bienvenida digital con la confirmación de tu membresía.
- Completa tu compromiso de contribución según el(los) tipo(s) de acción que hayas escogido en el formulario de inscripción.
Наша группа не имела ежегодного финансирования в период с 2021 по 2023 год. Можем ли мы пройти опрос?
Да, мы хотим получить ваш ответ, независимо от того, сколько раз (один, два или три) вы получали финансирование в период между 2021 и 2023 годами.
Carol Thomas
Carol Thomas was a trailblazer for women’s sexual and reproductive rights in South Africa. A gifted gynecologist and founder of the WomenSpace, she practiced and advocated for non-traditional ways of delivering healthcare to women, offering services that were high quality, empathetic and accessible.
“She entered into not only the joy of pregnancies and new babies, but the anxieties of infertility and premature deliveries and female cancers, the heartbreak of miscarriages and stillbirths.” Helen Moffett
Carol thought in new paradigms that centered the needs of women with the least access to services and rights in society:
“The prevailing socio-economic environment that we find ourselves in means that women bear a disproportionate burden of disease and unemployment…As a black, previously disadvantaged woman I have a good sense of what is happening in our communities.” - Carol Thomas
Carol’s innovative and multi-award-winning social venture “iMobiMaMa” used mobile kiosks and interactive technology to connect women directly with antenatal and reproductive health services, information and support in communities all over South Africa.
Carol supported women both in wanted and unwanted pregnancies, mentoring many nurses and doctors during her lifetime.
She was also described as the go-to gynecologist “for trans folks who could have affirming care. She got it right when so many did not have the language or pronouns. Her warm blankets, listening and saying just what you needed to hear was so comforting.” -Marion Lynn Stevens
Carol Thomas was described as being at the height of her professional career when she died on 12 April 2019 of complications following a double lung transplant.
The tributes that poured in following her unexpected death referred to her as many things:
“a role model, warrior woman, innovator, dynamic leader, mould-breaker, dynamo, brilliant scientist, compassionate doctor.”
Undoubtedly, Carol Thomas will be remembered and honored for being all of this and much more.
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Membres du syndicat OTRAS
Shaimaa El-Shabbagh
Join the Feminist Realities journey (Forum page)
Rejoignez l'aventure des réalités féministes
Le Forum de l’AWID n’est qu’une étape dans l’aventure des Réalités féministes. Parcourons ce chemin ensemble et explorons notre pouvoir en action !
A minha participação é confidencial?
É claro que sim. As suas respostas serão eliminadas no final do processamento e da análise dos dados, e só serão usadas para fins de investigação. Os dados NUNCA serão divulgados fora da AWID e serão processados apenas por colaboradores e consultores da AWID que trabalham no projeto WITM connosco. Damos prioridade à sua privacidade e ao seu anonimato. Consulte a nossa política de privacidade detalhada aqui.
Principios de participación para el Festival
¡Bienvenidxs a Crear | Résister | Transform: un festival para movimientos feministas!
Principios de participación para el Festival
AWID está comprometida con la creación de un espacio virtual que nos invite y desafíe a todxs a funcionar desde un lugar de valentía, curiosidad, generosidad y responsabilidad compartida.
Te invitamos a crear conjuntamente con nosotrxs espacios libres de acoso y violencia, donde todas las personas sean respetadas en su identidad y expresión de género, raza, capacidad, clase, religión, idioma, etnia, edad, ocupación, tipo de educación, sexualidad, tamaño corporal y apariencia física. Espacios donde reconozcamos las desigualdades que prevalecen en nuestro mundo, y nos esforcemos por transformarlas.
Queremos crear un espacio donde:
- podamos estar “presentes”:
Esto significa escucharnos, comprendernos y vincularnos. Sentirnos cerca, a pesar de la virtualidad. Para eso, contaremos con interpretación y abriremos canales (como el chat y otras herramientas) para reaccionar y compartir. Para lograr escucharnos mejor, les invitamos a utilizar audífonos o auriculares durante la sesión. Si puedes hacerlo, te sugerimos cerrar tus correos electrónicos y cualquier otra posible distracción mientras estás en la conversación.
- todas las formas de conocimiento son valoradas:
Celebremos los distintos saberes y las múltiples formas en que estos se expresan. Nos acercamos al espacio con curiosidad y apertura para aprender de otrxs y permitiéndonos desaprender y reaprender a partir del intercambio, sentando las posibilidades para la construcción colectiva de conocimiento.
- todxs nos sintamos bienvenidxs:
Estamos comprometidxs con un enfoque holístico de la accesibilidad, conscientes de las diferentes necesidades físicas, mentales, de idioma y de seguridad. Queremos un espacio que acoja a gente de contextos, creencias, capacidades y experiencias diversas. Seremos proactivxs, pero también te pedimos que nos comuniques tus necesidades, para que, dentro de nuestras posibilidades, nos ocupemos de satisfacerlas.
- todxs nos sintamos segurxs y respetadxs:
Asumimos compromisos individuales y colectivos de respetar la privacidad y contar con el consentimiento de otrxs para difundir imágenes o contenido generado durante la conversación.
Crear un ambiente más seguro, respetuoso y disfrutable para las conversaciones es responsabilidad de todxs.
Cómo reportar
Si notas que alguien se está comportando de forma discriminatoria u ofensiva, por favor, contacta a la persona de referencia que se indicará al comienzo de la sesión.
Cualquier participante que se exprese con lenguaje opresivo o imágenes ofensivas será eliminadx de la videoconferencia y no será admitidx nuevamente. No interactuaremos con esa persona de ninguna manera.
AWID IN 2015: Building Collective Impact

In 2015 AWID grew and diversified.
We ramped up preparations for the 13th AWID international Forum, focused a lot of energy on the Post 2015 Development Agenda and Financing for Development processes, and continued the core work of our priority areas:
- Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms
- Women Human Rights Defenders
- Economic Justice
- Resourcing Women’s Rights
- Young Feminist Activism
A sneak peak inside the report
The context
- We continue witnessing the rapid breakdown in democracy and democratic institutions, with spaces for dissent shrinking.
- Multiple and concurrent systemic crises (energy, food, finance and climate) continue to deepen inequalities and pose major challenges.
- Corporations are a leading power in determining the development agenda.
- Violence against WHRDs remains an urgent problem.
- Religious fundamentalisms are pervasive and increasingly powerful.
- New forms of online gender-based violence have emerged.
In response, we are moving out of our silos.
Increasingly, women’s rights and other movements worldwide are articulating the systemic and intersectional nature of these and other problems. We are making better connections with the agendas of other social and environmental movements for solidarity, alliance building and collective responses. We are also seeing greater visibility of these movements fighting for justice on the ground.
Our Impact
- For effective strategizing and advocacy, we need facts
- To exchange knowledge and join hands in solidarity, we need a strong online community
- To build our collective power, we need to work together
- To influence international processes, we need to increase our access and voice
- To reposition power we need to give visibility and emphasize the important role that feminist and women’s rights movements are already playing
Our Members
As at 31st December, 2015 we had:

Read the full report
Mereani Naisua Senibici
Mereani Naisua Senibici, también llamada "Sua", fue, durante mucho tiempo, integrante del movimiento de la Asociación Cristiana de Mujeres Jóvenes de Fiji (YWCA, por sus siglas en inglés).
Trabajó con diversos grupos de mujeres en entornos multirraciales, rurales y urbanos y se comprometió a apoyar y promover los derechos de las mujeres y las jóvenes.
En el YWCA de Lautoka, Sua trabajó con mujeres de ascendencia india, y se convirtió en una figura destacada en el desarrollo del deporte y de la participación de atletas mujeres y personas trans en Lautoka.
"Sua es muy querida por lxs integrantes del YWCA de Fiji, a causa de su dedicación y apoyo persistente a todo lo que la organización se ha esforzado por hacer". - Tupou Vere
Mereani formaba parte de House of Sarah [La Casa de Sarah] (HoS, por sus siglas en inglés ), una iniciativa de la Asociación de Mujeres Anglicanas (AAW), lanzada en 2009, que tenía por objetivos tanto sensibilizar sobre los problemas relacionados con la violencia de género, como brindar apoyo a las mujeres que sufren violencia. Mereani empezó como una voluntaria comprometida y ofreció apoyo a las mujeres de todo el Pacífico.
Mereani falleció en 2019.
"Una persona con don de gente y una trabajadora todoterreno en el empoderamiento de las mujeres y construcción de movimientos a nivel comunitario. Descansa en paz, Sua". - Tupou Vere
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ANTIRACISM
Catherine Han Montoya
Publications - Homepage - eng
Publications
Kindle for your feminist fire! Browse AWID’s research on funding, WHRDs, movement building, fundamentalisms, economic justice, feminist monitoring & evaluation and more
ما هو عدد الردود الذي ترغبون بجمعها؟
نهدف للوصول الى 2000 رد، وهذا تقريباً ضعف الردود التي جمعناها من استطلاع "أين المال" الأخير عام 2021.
Upasana Agarwal



À propos d’Upasana Agarwal

Annual Report 2010

Our 2010 Annual Report highlights the major accomplishments of each of our strategic initiatives during the year.
Along with activity highlights, we include a brief analysis of the impact of our initiatives as well as reflections from our members and partners that further illustrate the relevance of AWID’s work and its connection to broader women’s rights movements.
This interactive document is complete with links to our websites and recent publications with in-depth information on the issues we address in the report.
Sylvia Robinson
« La vie... c’est vivre dans la joie, se lever avec un but, sentir son énergie créative, répondre à son appel. » – Sylvia Robinson
Sylvia Robinson, infatigable leader et organisatrice communautaire, fut la fondatrice et directrice générale de l’Emergence Community Arts Collective (ECAC) à Washington, D.C.
Cet espace de performances créatrices foisonnantes rassemblait des initiatives d’éducation, d’engagement citoyen, d’arts, de services sociaux et spirituels et de pratiques de développement durable. Sylvia considérait cet endroit comme une maison où « il existe un équilibre et une synergie avec les activités dont les gens ont besoin pour entretenir la vie ».
Elle comptait également parmi les membres fondateur·trice·s du Georgia Avenue Community Development Taskforce, dans le nord-ouest de la capitale, un groupe de quartier actif dans le domaine de la justice sociale et de l’organisation qui veillait à ce que la communauté ait son mot à dire dans le redéveloppement et l’embourgeoisement du secteur.
« Nous demandons des logements abordables. Nous demandons que les petits commerces qui sont ici depuis longtemps ne soient pas balayés par de nouvelles enseignes. Nous demandons des espaces verts et des lieux où les gens peuvent se rencontrer. Nous demandons à ce que le paysage urbain soit amélioré, avec des rues en meilleur état et des éclairages publics. » – Sylvia Robinson, à propos du travail de la Taskforce
Avant de devenir organisatrice, et après avoir obtenu son diplôme en informatique, Sylvia avait travaillé dans le domaine des systèmes de contrôle du trafic aérien pendant plus d’une décennie. Elle s’est ensuite orientée vers le conseil relatif à la consommation d’alcool et de drogue, s’impliquant davantage dans le travail communautaire.
« Cette implication dans la communauté, c’était ma vocation. » – Sylvia Robinson
Née à Washington D.C. le 14 août 1961, Sylvia est décédée le 18 septembre 2017 après avoir lutté contre le cancer.
« L’esprit et l’héritage de Sylvia continueront d’inspirer cette communauté pour de nombreuses années. » – ECAC
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