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Special Focus

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

Women Human Rights Defenders

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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.

  • 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.

  • 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;

  • 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:

  • Mobilizing urgent responses of international solidarity for WHRDs at risk through our international and regional networks, and our active membership.

Related Content

Type

We re-grant money to grantee partners and identify as a feminist and/or women’s fund, should we take the survey?

No, we very much appreciate your work but are not asking for responses from women’s and feminist funds at this time. We do encourage you to share the survey with your grantee partners and feminist networks.

Snippet FEA NSS has a vision of an Africa (ES)

“Nous Sommes la Solution tiene una visión de una África donde, en solidaridad, las mujeres rurales involucradas en la toma de decisiones puedan cultivar, procesar, vender y consumir productos de la agricultura familiar preservando el medio ambiente, para un desarrollo sostenible, armonioso y duradero”.

¿Dónde y cuándo tendrá lugar el próximo Foro de AWID?

Read in: English French Spanish

El 14o Foro internacional de AWID tendrá lugar del 20 al 23 de septiembre de 2021 en Taipéi, Taiwán.

Descubre más

Guadalupe Campanur Tapia

Read in: English French Spanish
Category
Environnement
Region
Amérique latine
Cause of death / disappearance

Assassinée

Guadalupe était une activiste environnementale impliquée dans la lutte contre le crime à Cherán, au Mexique.

En 2011, Guadalupe a aidé à renverser le gouvernement local. Elle participait à des patrouilles de sécurité locale, notamment dans les forêts municipales et faisait partie des dirigeant-e-s autochtones de Cherán qui ont appelé les gens à défendre leurs forêts contre l’abattage implacable et illégal. Son travail pour les aînés, les enfants, les travailleurs-euses a fait d'elle une icône dans sa communauté.

Elle a été assassinée à Chilchota, au Mexique, à environ 30 kilomètres au nord de Cherán, sa ville natale.

 

 

Guadalupe Campanur Tapia, Mexico

En su lucha por los derechos humanos enfrentan la injusticia en América Latina

Este año honramos a 19 defensoras de la región de América Latina y el Caribe. De ellas, 16 fueron asesinadas, incluyendo a 6 periodistas y 4 defensoras LGBTQI. Únete a nosotras en la conmemoración de  sus vidas y trabajo,  compartiendo los memes aquí incluidos con tus colegas, amistades y redes; y tuiteando las etiquetas #WHRDTribute y #16Días.

Por favor, haz click en cada imagen de abajo para ver una versión más grande y para descargar como un archivo.

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¿Puedo acceder a la encuesta y responderla desde el teléfono?

Sí, es posible acceder a la encuesta mediante un teléfono inteligente.

Snippet FEA Objectives NSS - Traditional Knowledge (FR)

LES SAVOIRS TRADITIONNELS

Brown hands with yellow seeds in the palms
Utiliser et promouvoir les savoirs et pratiques traditionnels transmis de génération en génération, qui soutiennent la souveraineté alimentaire et la préservation des semences paysannes

Llamados a la participación

¿Qué significado tiene para ti el Día de la Mujer?

Ursula K Le Guin

Read in: English French Spanish
Category
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Region
North America
Date of birth
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Natural

Ursula was an American novelist who worked mainly in the genres of fantasy and science fiction.

She found fame with The Left Hand Of Darkness, which imagines a future society where people are ambisexual – they have no fixed sex. It explores the effects of gender and sex in society, and was one of the first major feminist science fiction books. Ursula was inspiring in her subversive and original writing, and also for the themes of feminism and freedom she held so dearly.

In a 1983 address at Mills College in California, she told graduates: “Why should a free woman with a college education either fight Macho-man or serve him? Why should she live her life on his terms? I hope you live without the need to dominate, and without the need to be dominated.”

 

 

Ursula K Le Guin, USA

WHRDs from the South and Southeast Asian region

7 Women Human Rights Defenders from across the South and Southeast Asian region are honored in this year’s Online Tribute. These defenders have made key contributions to advancing human and women’s rights, indigenous people’s rights, and the right to education. These WHRDs were lawyers, women’s rights activists, scholars, and politicians. Please join AWID in commemorating t their work 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

 

Aurai-je l’occasion de faire part de mon opinion sur des questions qui ne sont pas incluses dans l’enquête?

Oui, nous vous invitons à détailler des points importants pour vous en répondant à la ou aux questions ouvertes à la fin de l’enquête.

Snippet FEA Get Involved Story 2 (EN)

GET INVOLVED!

You can follow Nous Sommes la Solution
on Facebook and support their work by donating here.

Appels à participation

Rejoignez l'aventure des Réalités féministes

Liliana Bodoc

Read in: English French Spanish
Category
Derechos sexuales y reproductivos
Region
América Latina
Cause of death / disappearance

Natural

Liliana fue una maestra argentina, una tejedora y una escritora muy reconocida.

Su trilogía La saga de los confines recibió varios premios y es única en el género fantástico por su uso y reimaginación de la mitología de los pueblos indígenas de América del Sur.

El compromiso de Liliana con el feminismo se expresaba en las diversas, ricas y fuertes voces de mujeres en su escritura y especialmente en su extensa obra para lectorxs jóvenes. También tomó posición públicamente en favor del aborto, la justicia económica y la equidad de género.

 

Liliana Bodoc, Argentina

Before you begin

Before starting the WITM research methodology, it is important you prepare the background and know what to expect.

Capacity

With AWID’s WITM research methodology, we recommend that you first review the entire toolkit.

While this toolkit is designed to democratize WITM research, there are capacity constraints related to resources and research experience that may affect your organization’s ability use this methodology.

Use the “Ready to Go?” Worksheet to assess your readiness to begin your own WITM research. The more questions you can answer on this worksheet, the more prepared you are to undertake your research.

Trust

Before beginning any research, we recommend that you assess your organization’s connections and trust within your community.

In many contexts, organizations may be hesitant to openly share financial data with others for reasons ranging from concerns about how the information will be used, to fear of funding competition and anxiety over increasing government restrictions on civil society organizations.

As you build relationships and conduct soft outreach in the lead-up to launching your research, ensuring that your objectives are clear will be useful in creating trust. Transparency will allow participants to understand why you are collecting the data and how it will benefit the entire community.

We highly recommend that you ensure data is collected confidentially and shared anonymously. By doing so, participants will be more comfortable sharing sensitive information with you. 

First step

1. Gather your resources

We also recommend referring to our “Ready to Go?” Worksheet to assess your own progress.

Is my participation confidential?

Absolutely. Your responses will be deleted at the end of data processing and analysis, and used for research purposes only. Data will NEVER be shared outside of AWID and will be only processed by AWID staff and consultants working on the WITM project. We prioritize your privacy and security. Our detailed privacy policy is available here.

Snippet FEA argentina history cooperatives (ES)

Argentina tiene una larga historia de cooperativas autogestionadas y lugares de trabajo controlados por lxs trabajadorxs.

En 2001, el país vivió una de las peores crisis económicas de su historia.

Como respuesta a la recesión y como forma de resistencia y resiliencia, lxs trabajadorxs de todo el país comenzaron a ocupar sus lugares de trabajo.

La Cooperativa Textil Nadia Echazú fue la primera cooperativa creada por y para personas trans y travesti en busca de autonomía económica y condiciones de vida dignas.

Proporciona oportunidades de trabajo, acceso a la seguridad social, ingresos sostenibles y derechos económicos para las comunidades a las que sirve.