Tuğçe Albayrak
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
Priority Areas - Homepage - Es
Áreas prioritarias
Membership why page - Loyiso Lindani
Tengo la convicción de que las mujeres empoderadas dotan de empoderamiento a otras mujeres, y es por ello que la he pasado tan bien como afiliada de AWID. Todo lo que sé y lo que entiendo de feminismo e interseccionalidad se ha ampliado gracias a los contactos que tuve como parte del Equipo de la Calle de la Comunidad AWID. Espero que más mujeres se sumen y compartan temas e ideas que ayuden a otras mujeres.- Loyiso Lindani, Sudáfrica.
Diakite Fatoumata Sire
Diakite was actively involved in advocating for women in political and public life in Mali.
She worked to support training of women candidates in elections, and spoke out against the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). She was a strong proponent of reproductive health and rights.
Snippet FEA Title Main (FR)
Les Économies Féministes
QUE NOUS ADORONS
Upasana Agarwal
About Upasana Agarwal
Upasana is a non binary illustrator and artist based out of Kolkata, India. Their work explores identity and personal narratives by using a visual remnant or evidence of the contexts they work with. They are especially drawn to patterns which to them communicate complex truths about the past, present and future. When Upasana is not illustrating they organise and run a queer and trans community art centre in the city.
FRMag - Freeing the Church
Libérer l’église et décoloniser la bible pour les femmes de Papouasie occidentale
par Rode Wanimbo
Seigneur, nous sommes indignes. C’est nous qui avons péché car Ève a mangé le fruit dans le jardin d’Eden. (...)
< illustration : « Offrandes pour les vies Noires » par Sokari Ekine
Tonya Gonella Frichner
Snippet - Blog post Quote_EN
"We believe that this is the time for us to continue to organize from a place of solidarity, hope and radical imaginations."
- Beijing+30 & CSW: Feminist meaning-making at a time of polycrisis
Andaiye
Andaiye in Swahili means ‘a daughter comes home’. Born Sandra Williams on 11 September 1942 in Georgetown, Guyana, she changed her name to ‘Andaiye’ in 1970 as the Black Power movements swept her country and the wider Caribbean region.
Andaiye was seen as a transformative figure on the frontlines of the struggles for liberation and freedom. She was an early member and active in the leadership of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), a socialist party in Guyana which fought against authoritarian rule and continued throughout her life to focus on justice for the working-class and rural women’s rights and on bridging ethnic barriers between Indo and Afro-Guyanese women.
Andaiye was a founding member of Red Thread Women, an organization that advocated for women’s care work to be fairly remunerated, worked at the University of the West Indies and with CARICOM. Never afraid to challenge governments, she pointed out gender imbalances in state boards, laws that discriminated against sex workers, called for abortion rights in Jamaica and spoke out against trade agreements such as the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) that allowed for the free movement of women domestic migrant workers but did not give their children the same rights.
Andaiye published several scholarly essays, wrote newspaper columns and also edited the last books of Walter Rodney, the Guyanese political activist and fellow WPA leader, who was assassinated in 1980. A cancer survivor, Andaiye was one of the founders of the Guyana Cancer Society and the Cancer Survivors’ Action Group. She also served on the executive of the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA), as a Director of Help and Shelter and as Board Member of the Guyana National Commission on Women. She received a number of awards, including the Golden Arrow of Achievement in Guyana (the fourth highest national award).
Andaiye passed away on 31 May 2019 at the age of 77. The subsequent tributes that flowed in from activists, friends and those inspired by her life spoke eloquently to her amazing legacy and her beautiful humanity.
Here are but a few:
“Andaiye had a profound effect on me...she was so many things, an educator, fighter, she taught me to be self-critical, to think more clearly, she taught me about survival, about incredible courage, about compassion, about going beyond external appearances and treating people as people and not being distracted by status, class, race...anything.”
- Peggy Antrobus, Feminist Activist, Author, Scholar, Barbados
“The kind of confident idealism Andaiye expressed, this willingness to confront the world and a stubborn belief that you could actually change it... That politics of hope...How else to honour her life, legacy and memory but to keep doing the work ethically and with ongoing self-critique? And to put women’s caring work at the center of it.”
- Tonya Haynes, Barbados
“I can hear her quip at our collective keening. So through the tears I can laugh. Deep bows to you beloved Andaiye, thank you for everything. Love and light for your spirit’s journey. Tell Walter and all the ancestors howdy.” - Carol Narcisse, Jamaica
Snippet - That Feminist Fire Logo (EN)
Entender el contexto de las amenazas anti-derechos
Capítulo 2
El creciente poder de los actores anti-derechos no se está desarrollando en un vacío. Entender el auge del ultranacionalismo, del poder corporativo irrestricto, del incremento de la represión y de la disminución del espacio cívico resulta clave para contextualizar las amenazas anti-derechos que enfrentamos actualmente.
Danger - Trump and the Far Right.
Hoy en día, una cantidad considerablemente mayor a la mitad de la población mundial está gobernada por líderes de extrema derecha. En este escenario, lxs defensorxs de derechos humanos y lxs feministas están trabajando arduamente para «mantenerse firmes» y proteger el multilateralismo y el sistema internacional de derechos humanos. También enfrentan el riesgo de que su compromiso acarree represalias violentas. Al mismo tiempo, estas instituciones están cada vez más sujetas a los intereses del sector privado. Las grandes empresas (en particular, las corporaciones transnacionales) están ocupando asientos en la mesa de negociación y posiciones de liderazgo en una gran cantidad de instituciones multilaterales, incluida la ONU. Este nexo de ultranacionalismo, espacio cívico restringido y captura corporativa está teniendo un tremendo impacto sobre la posibilidad de que, alguna vez, logremos obtener derechos humanos para todxs.
Índice de contenidos
- Nacionalismo y ultranacionalismo
- Captura corporativa: el poder corporativo irrestricto está poniendo los derechos en riesgo
- Represalias y espacio cívico restringido para lxs activistas feministas y lxs defensorxs de los derechos humanos de las mujeres y personas LGBTIQ+
- Historia de movimiento de resistencia: El artículo 16 de la CEDAW: un camino hacia la reforma de las leyes de familia discriminatorias en contextos musulmanes
FRMag - Ashawo Work na Work
“Ashawo Work na Work”: How Young Ghanaian Feminists Are Making Feminist Futures A Reality
by Fatima B. Derby
In 2017, the AWID #PracticeSolidarity campaign highlighted how young feminists could build feminist futures by showing up for one another, being in cross-regional conversations with one another, marching in solidarity with other activists and collaborating between movements. (...)
< artwork: “Let it Grow” by Gucora Andu
Barbara Bergmann
Snippet - CSW69 - OURs & friends - EN
OURs & friends at the Feminist Solidarity Space
✉️ By invitation only
📅 Tuesday, March 11, 2025
🕒 2.00-4.00pm EST
🏢 Chef's Kitchen Loft with Terrace, 216 East 45th St 13th Floor New York
Organizer: Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs) Consortium
Paula Andrea Rosero Ordóñez
"[Ella] era una persona que se caracterizaba por su arduo trabajo a favor de la defensa de los derechos humanos y la construcción de la paz en Nariño, especialmente en el municipio de Samaniego-Nariño". - Jorge Luis Congacha Yunda para Página10.
Paula Andrea Rosero Ordóñez fue abogada de primera instancia en la oficina del Ministerio Público en Samaniego, Nariño, la principal agencia de defensa de los derechos de la ciudadanía en Colombia.
Paula se especializó en los derechos civiles y políticos, las problemáticas de la impunidad y la justicia, y contribuyó a descubrir abusos de poder, incluida la corrupción. Paula participó también en proyectos para la consolidación de la paz en su ciudad natal, Samaniego, a través del Consejo Municipal de Paz y la Junta Municipal de Mujeres.
Paula recibió amenazas de muerte tras exponer el manejo irregular de los recursos y de denunciar actos de corrupción en el Hospital Lorencita Villegas del municipio nariñense. Fue asesinada el 20 de mayo de 2019, cuando dos hombres se acercaron y le dispararon a corta distancia.
Snippet Forum Stories Gen Intro (FR)
Que représentent les Forums de l’AWID pour celles et ceux qui y ont assisté ? Quelle est cette magie qui opère lorsque des féministes du monde entier se rassemblent pour célébrer, élaborer des stratégies, apprendre et partager leurs joies ?
L’AWID s’est entretenue avec plus de quarante participant·es aux Forums pour connaître le récit de leur transformation personnelle en tant qu’activistes, celle de leur organisation et des mouvements auxquels elles et ils appartiennent. Elles et ils nous ont également dit ce que nous devrions conserver et renforcer pour les prochains Forums, ce qui distingue les Forums de l’AWID, et ce que nous pouvons améliorer.
Ce rapport contient des enseignements et d’inestimables conseils pour toute personne prévoyant d’organiser des rassemblements régionaux et thématiques en personne, et pour nous-mêmes alors que nous planifions le 15e Forum international de l’AWID.
Faites défiler pour en savoir plus!
Promouvoir les programmes féministes : principales avancées en matière de genre et de sexualité
Chapitre 1
Alors que les fondamentalismes, les fascismes et autres systèmes d’oppression se métamorphosent et trouvent de nouvelles tactiques et stratégies pour consolider leur pouvoir et influence, les mouvements féministes persévèrent et célèbrent leurs victoires nationales, régionales et internationales.
A group of women re-enact the 1956 women's march to Pretoria protesting against pass laws.
La [MB1] reconnaissance en 2019 par le Conseil des droits de l’Homme du droit à l’intégrité et à l’autonomie corporelles, par exemple, a marqué une étape cruciale. Des résolutions du Conseil sur la discrimination envers les femmes et les filles admettent cependant un recul lié à des groupes de pression rétrogrades, des conceptions idéologiques ou un détournement de la culture ou la religion pour s’opposer à l’égalité de leurs droits. Des avancées féministes sont aussi notées dans le travail des Procédures spéciales, qui soulignent notamment l’obligation des États de contrer les doctrines de l’idéologie du genre, rappellent à l’ordre les antidroits qui détournent des références à la « culture », et signalent que les convictions religieuses ne peuvent pas servir à justifier la violence ou la discrimination.
Sommaire
- Niveau national
- Sphères mondiales
- Exercice : Cartographions et célébrons nos victoires!