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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

¿Qué hará diferente a este Foro?

Con una asistencia de hasta 2500 participantes presenciales y 3,000 conectadxs de manera virtual, este será el Foro de AWID más grande hasta ahora. Vislumbramos múltiples espacios para establecer conexiones significativas, aprender, intercambiar ideas, tener conversaciones estratégicas, sanar y celebrar. Es la primera vez que nos reunimos en este espacio desde la pandemia, y estamos muy deseosxs de hacerlo.

Lorena Borjas

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Category
LGBTQI Rights
Region
North America
Date of birth
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Disease

Lorena Borjas, a trans Latina woman and activist, lived and worked in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, New York City. In those streets, she looked after her community for years, advocating for trans and immigrant rights, supporting survivors of human trafficking and abuse, campaigning for sex workers’ rights and those of people living with HIV and AIDS.

Lorena was strong and tireless in her fight to support, defend, and have the back of those most marginalized and discriminated by transphobia, misogyny and racism. 

“She pushed us to shine authentically, to become a scream of subversion that says, ‘I am here, and I deserve happiness, too.’” - Cecilia Gentili, a trans activist and Lorena’s friend

Having faced numerous traumas and hardships herself, as a trans immigrant woman and victim of human trafficking, Lorena pulled knowledge and emotional memory from the well of her experiences in order to help build and strengthen the community she was part of and which was part of her. Some of the ways she did this was to organize and mobilize support ranging from providing condoms and connecting trans women to different services, to setting up an HIV testing clinic in her own home. 

"She was such a beautiful soul who helped others when her journey was difficult and painful as an immigrant, as a trans immigrant. She believed the trans community needed love, acceptance, and compassion, and she gave it all.” - Luchia Dragosh, QPTV Supervising producer of a documentary about Lorena 

In more than 25 years of activism, she also founded the Lorena Borjas Community Fund together with Chase Strangio (lawyer and trans rights activist). The Fund helps the many different members of her community (and especially trans persons) dealing with immigration challenges to avoid the cycle of arrest-jail-deportation. 

Lorena passed away in March 2020 of complications from COVID-19. 

Her enormous and beautiful legacy will be taken forward through the streets of Queens by the network and community she co-created. 

“We will pick up her work where she left it, work that is essential to the well-being of “mis pajaras” as she called the trans girls of Queens under her wing.” - Cecilia Gentili 

Tributes: 

"Lorena brought light to us when we were living through a very dark time here in New York. She brought us light when we were dealing with the crack epidemic, when we were dealing with the AIDS crisis, dealing with changes in immigration policies." - Cristina Herrera, founder and CEO of Translatina Network and Lorena’s friend

"Lorena has done more than anyone else I know to shine a light on the epidemic of trafficking in transgender communities and to help other trans women escape exploitation."  - Lynly Egyes (represented Borjas on behalf of the Transgender Law Center)

Watch a documentary about Lorena Borjas 

Read a postscript in The New Yorker about Lorena Borjas 

Read an opinion piece in the New York Times by Cecilia Gentilin

ours chapter 3

Chapter 3
Anti-Rights Discourses

Anti-rights discourses continue to evolve.  As well as using arguments related to religion, culture, and tradition, anti-rights actors co-opt the language of social justice and human rights to conceal their true agendas and gain legitimacy.

Read more
 

Las organizaciones, ¿pueden afiliarse a AWID?

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Si, alentamos la afiliación institucional

Actualmente contamos en nuestra membresía con cientos de organizaciones destacadas e innovadoras que trabajan en temas relacionados con los derechos de las mujeres y el desarrollo. Los criterios de afiliación son los mismos que para las personas a título individual, aunque las cuotas y los beneficios son diferentes, con el fin de atender a las necesidades de las instituciones afiliadas.

Conoce más sobre la membresía institucional de AWID

Clone of Snippet - Intro WITM - FR

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!
 

Learn more about the insights

Comment puis-je financer ma participation au Forum de l'AWID ?

Si votre groupe ou votre organisation est récipiendaire de fonds, vous feriez bien de vous entretenir dès maintenant avec votre organisme de financement pour savoir si ce dernier est en mesure de prendre en charge votre voyage et votre participation au Forum. De nombreuses institutions planifient leur budget pour l'année prochaine dès le début de l'année 2023, aussi vaudrait-il mieux ne pas reporter cette discussion à l'année prochaine.

Cristina Bautista

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Category
Derechos económicos, sociales y culturales
Region
América Latina
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Asesinato

“Si nos mantenemos en silencio, nos matan. Si hablamos (nos matan) también. Así que, hablemos” Cristina Bautista, 2019.

Cristina Bautista fue una integrante de la comunidad Indígena Nasa, cuyo hogar se sitúa en la región del norte del Cauca, en Colombia. Cristina formó parte de la resistencia Nasa como líder y defensora de los derechos de la tierra, pero también como trabajadora social y gobernadora de la reserva Indígena Nasa Tacueyó.

Incansable defensora de los derechos del pueblo Nasa, Cristina habló alto y claro sobre la violencia dirigida contra su comunidad. En un discurso ante las Naciones Unidas, Cristina reclamó la protección de las vidas de las mujeres indígenas, y su participación en las diferentes esferas de la vida. En 2017, Cristina entró en el programa de Becas Indígenas de la Oficina de Derechos Humanos de la ONU y en 2019 recibió una subvención del Fondo de Contribuciones Voluntarias de la ONU para los Pueblos Indígenas.

"Me gustaría sacar a la luz la situación actual de los pueblos indígenas en Colombia, el asesinato de líderes indígenas, la represión de las protestas sociales. El acuerdo de paz, en lugar de ayudar, lo que ha hecho es reforzar el conflicto y la explotación de territorios sagrados en Colombia... En la situación actual, en casi todas las naciones indígenas, como mujeres, estamos trabajando para encontrar un futuro mejor para nuestras familias. No quiero que más mujeres del campo vivan en estas circunstancias. Las  mujeres indígenas necesitamos oportunidades para participar en la vida política, económica, en la sociedad y en la cultura. Hoy me da fuerzas ver a todas estas mujeres aquí y ver que no estoy sola". - Cristina Bautista, 2019

El 29 de octubre de 2019, Cristina fue asesinada junto a cuatro guardias indígenas desarmados en un ataque que, supuestamente, fue llevado a cabo por miembros armados del grupo disidente de las FARC "Dagoberto Ramos".

Según Global Witness, "en los últimos años el asesinato de líderes comunitarios y sociales ha aumentado dramáticamente en Colombia".

"La comunidad Nasa ha alertado repetidamente a las autoridades sobre las amenazas que reciben y que ponen en peligro su seguridad. Sin embargo, a pesar de los esfuerzos que ponen los sucesivos gobiernos colombianos, los pueblos indígenas siguen corriendo grandes riesgos, especialmente, las figuras clave religiosas o comunitarias como Cristina Bautista". - Reunión informativa de la ONU para la prensa (en inglés), 1 de noviembre de 2019.

Puede ver un discurso de Cristina Bautista de agosto de 2019 en el que Cristina denuncia otros casos precedentes de asesinatos a guardias indígenas

Primer: Spot key groups and debunk their narratives

Cartilla:

Cómo identificar a los principales grupos y refutar sus narrativas

¿Es usted una persona que diseña políticas en la ONU y quiere saber quiénes son los principales grupos anti-derechos y frente a qué discursos mantenerse alerta? ¿O unx feminista que busca argumentos para refutar esos discursos rápidamente? Esta cartilla de 8 páginas le ofrece información importante de un vistazo.

Acceder a la cartilla

Je voudrais travailler pour les droits des femmes. Par où commencer ?

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Snippet - COP30 Intro

Join the feminist movement reclaiming climate action from corporate capture

With 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists at last year's COP29, we're heading alongside other feminists to Belém, Brazil for COP30, from 10 November – 21 November 2025, where we will continue to denounce false solutions, call out corporate capture, demand that States uphold their commitments under the Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities and push for feminist economic alternatives.

$2.7 trillion for the military. $300 billion for climate justice. We're here to flip the script.

Actions Hubs Tools

Follow the campaign

Will there be pre-Forum regional, thematic or other convenings?

We believe so! It is still very early in the planning process, so please stay tuned as plans are forming.

Paulina Cruz Ruiz

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Category
Droits économiques, sociaux et culturels
Region
Amérique latine
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Assassinat

Paulina Cruz Ruiz, originaire de Rabinal dans la région de Baja Verapaz au Guatemala, était une défenseuse des droits humains au pouvoir ancestral Maya Achí (autochtone). Elle participait activement à la mobilisation et à la résistance communautaires, notamment via des mesures juridiques contre des projets miniers sur des territoires autochtones, aux effets sévères et néfastes pour leur tissu socioenvironnemental. 

« Le modèle d’industrie extractive promu par le gouvernement guatémaltèque et la construction de projets de développement à grande échelle sur des terres autochtones, sans le consentement des communautés, est source de litiges constants avec les mouvements de résistance. » - Minority Rights Group International (groupe international pour les droits des minorités)

Paulina a également participé à la Marche pour la dignité, la vie et la justice, durant laquelle des milliers de guatémaltèques ont initié, le 1er mai 2019, une marche de huit jours contre la corruption et l’impunité face aux poursuites et aux assassinats de défenseur·e·s des droits humains, des terres ainsi que de leaders paysan·ne·s et autochtones.   

Paulina a été assassinée le 14 septembre 2019 près de chez elle, dans le village de Xococ. 

D’après Minority Rights Group International, « l’une des problématiques constantes qui affecte le plus les communautés mayas tient dans l’accroissement des activités de l’industrie minière. »

En savoir plus sur les mayas au Guatemala (en anglais)

En savoir plus sur la Marche pour la dignité, la vie et la justice (en anglais)

Nos droits en danger – Rapport sur les tendances 2017 de l'OURs

Rapport

Nos droits en danger – Rapport sur les tendances 2017 de l’OURs

Le premier rapport de l’Observatoire sur l’universalité des droits (OURs) - disponible en anglais et en espagnol - compile les informations disponibles sur les tendances antidroits dans les sphères internationales. Découvrez les principaux groupes religieux, les discours et les tactiques antidroits à l’œuvre au sein de l’ONU.

Obtenir le rapport Obtenir le rapport (en anglais)

2002: Discussions on the Financing for Development agenda begin

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The Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development marked the beginning of discussions on the Financing for Development agenda.

  • The Monterrey Consensus was adopted at this first international conference on Financing for Development. It was the first United Nations hosted summit-level meeting to address key financial and related issues on global development.
  • The Conference and its preparatory process saw unprecedented cooperation between the United Nations and the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) as part of efforts to promote greater coherence and consistency among the international monetary, trade and financial systems and institutions.
  • Monterrey also marked the first time that financing for development debates took place between governments, representatives of civil society and the business sector. These actors moved the discussion beyond a ‘technical’ focus, to look at how to mobilize and channel financial resources to fulfill the internationally agreed development goals of previous UN conferences and summits of the 1990s, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
  • The Women’s Caucus noted the historical significance of the conference stating that it had the potential to address structural challenges that continue to hamper development but also raised concern over the effects of increased militarisation and fundamentalism on women, despite the fact that the Monterrey Consensus assumed that the global economic and financial system worked for all.
  • Learn more about the six Monterrey themes and the conference follow up mechanisms: Gender Issues and Concerns in Financing for Development by Maria Floro, Nilufer Çagatay, John Willoughby and Korkut Ertürk (INSTRAW, 2004) 

Snippet - COP30 - International Eco-Socialist Encounter - EN

International Eco-Socialist Encounter

Panels, workshops, plenaries and spaces for exchange between collectives, activists and organizations in struggle to collectively walk the path towards an agenda and a program of struggle for ecosocialism.

📅 November 8 - November 11, 2025
📍 Buenos Aires, Argentina

Register here

Soy parte de un fondo o donante individual. ¿Cómo puedo apoyar al Foro de AWID?

Te invitamos a que te pongas en contacto con nosotrxs para explorar formas de colaborar de manera más significativa con el Foro.

Snippet Kohl - Plénière: La révolution sera féministe — ou il n’y aura pas de révolution

Plénière: La révolution sera féministe — ou il n’y aura pas de révolution

Avec Manal Tamimi, Bubulina Moreno, Karolina Więckiewicz et Anwulika Ngozi Okonjo..

YOUTUBE | SOUNDCLOUD (anglais)