Philippe Leroyer | Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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

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

Snippet FEA Environments Of Shelter (ES)

Metzineres proporciona los siguientes tipos de apoyo, conocidos como

Entornos de Cobijo:

Snippet - Centers activists - EN

Centers activists’ voices and experiences to analyze how money moves and who it is reaching

這次論壇有什麼不同?

我們一直努力確保論壇是由合作夥伴、運動和我們的優先群體共同來開發。

對於即將舉行的論壇,我們旨在加深和增強共同創造與合作的精神和實踐。我們還認識到有必要在多樣的聲音和體驗之間取得平衡,讓參與者和工作人員有調整呼吸、休息和享受一些空閒時間的空間。

該論壇將在以下方面有所不同:

  • 特別有組織條理的論壇活動大幅減少,因為我們希望人們有時間去參與、體驗、消化資訊和彼此交談等。這是溝通的關鍵:您可以參加論壇、積極活躍參與,不必協助推動特別有組織的活動(或「場次」)。
  • 我們將擁有開放空間(至少會有一個下午沒有任何有組織的活動),而且整個論壇過程中都將有可供使用的物理空間鼓勵人們自己組織會議等。
  • 我們有一個內容和方法委員會,由來自不同地區的女權主義者組成,他們在參與式方法上頗有建樹,以創新和吸引人的方式參與並支持我們的論壇活動。

 

Snippet FEA Occupation’s kitchen Instagram (FR)

Campagne publicitaire d'Ocupação 9 de Julho :

Les Femmes Maintiennent les Soins | Les Soins Soutiennent la Vie | La Vie Soutient l'Économie | Qui s'Occupe des Femmes ? | Pas Une de Moins1 | Ensemble | Déjeuner du Dimanche

1Nenhuna a menos se traduit littéralement par « pas une femme de moins » ou « ni una menos » en espagnol - un célèbre slogan féministe en Amérique latine qui a émergé en Argentine en réponse à l'augmentation de la violence sexiste.

Snippet - WITM To Strengthen - EN

To strengthen our collective voice and power for more and better funding for feminist, women's rights, LBTQI+ and allied organizing globally

我如何資助自己參加AWID論壇?許多活動家負擔不起論壇費用,AWID是否可以提供一些幫助?

請訪問“資助建議”頁面,以獲取一些想法和靈感,瞭解如何為參與論壇提供資金,裡面也包括AWID能提供的部分資金支持

Snippet FEA EoS The Howl (FR)

Three arms with fist raised: one black, pink, and the last one in purple

Le hurlement
Participation et activisme

Snippet - WITM Survey will remain open - ES

¡Ve ahora el seminario web!

El 11 de julio de 2024, tuvimos una conversación increíble con grandes feministas sobre el estado del ecosistema de financiación y el poder de la investigación "¿Dónde está el dinero?".

Le agradecemos de manera especial a Cindy Clark (Thousand Currents), Sachini Perera (RESURJ), Vanessa Thomas (Black Feminist Fund), Lisa Mossberg (SIDA) y Althea Anderson (Hewlett Foundation).

Recuerda: ¡la encuesta permanecerá abierta hasta el 31 de agosto de 2024!

Ver la grabación

這次論壇會召開會前會嗎?

全球和區域的合作夥伴已就論壇會前會的一些想法與我們聯繫,我們將很快分享有關這些想法的更多信息。

如果您打算在論壇之前組織會前會,請告訴我們!

聯繫我們


由諮詢小組組織,AWID資助的2016年黑人女權主義論壇(BFF)湧現出許多美好的事物。BFF產生了一些獨立組織包括巴西的黑人女權組織。儘管今年我們不會再舉辦BFF,但我們仍致力於與有興趣繼續圍繞黑人女權主義組織開展工作的任何人分享一些重要的經驗。

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. 

View Guardian Hub

Snippet FEA What if we perceived land (EN)

What if we perceived land and Nature not as private property to exploit, but as a whole to live in, learn from, and harmoniously coexist with? What if we repaired our relationships with the land and embraced more sustainable alternatives that nurture both the planet and its communities?

Nous Sommes la Solution (We Are the Solution, NSS) is one of many women-led movements striving to do this. This is their story.

Snippet - WITM RESOURCES - EN

Resources