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

Read in: English French Spanish

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

Snippet - CSW68 - March 12 - EN

Day 2

12th March

Snippet FEA Intro (FR)

Venez découvrir les économies féministes que nous ADORONS.

Quand nous parlons d'économie, nous parlons de comment nous organisons nos sociétés, nos foyers et nos lieux de travail. Comment vivons-nous ensemble? Comment est-ce que nous produisons la nourriture, organisons les soins, ou assurons notre santé et celle de nos communautés? L'économie concerne également la manière dont nous accédons et gérons les ressources, et nos relations avec les autres, avec nous-mêmes et avec la Nature.

Les féministes ont construit des alternatives économiques aux systèmes capitalistes d'exploitation depuis des lustres. Ces alternatives existent ici et maintenant, et elles sont les piliers des mondes plus justes et plus durables dont nous avons tant besoin et que nous méritons.

Nous sommes ravi·es de vous présenter certaines de ces alternatives économiques féministes et les collectifs à travers le monde qui nous inspirent.

Snippet - CSW68 - Challenging Corporate Power - ES

Desafiar el poder empresarial

para reducir la pobreza y fortalecer los derechos humanos

📅 Miércoles 13 de marzo
🕒 10:30 a. m. - 12:00 p. m. EST
Organizan: AWID, Red-DESC, Franciscan International y Womankind Worldwide como parte de Feministas por un Tratado Vinculante
🏢 Church Center de las Naciones Unidas, 777 United Nations Plaza, piso 11, Nueva York

Declaraciones

Nota de Prensa: Más de 700 organizaciones de derechos de las mujeres y feministas exigen el fin de la asociación de ONU Mujeres con BLACKROCK

Snippet FEA Occupation’s kitchen (EN)

Photo of a wall with a graffiti which says “Luta’
Photo of people in facemasks and aprons cooking together
Photo of a black woman in a red apron and black facemask, holding a book
Photo of a group of 4 of people wearing facemasks, demonstrating food and books

Women and collaborators at the occupation’s kitchen
Photo of two black women cooking

Snippet - Centers activists - EN

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

Snippet FEA Housing is a right (ES)

Three-fold horizontal graphic: 1st of a brown-skinned woman on the right side, she is sitting on a pink carpet and is wearing a pink shirt and yellow dress; 2nd two women of color looking at each other and touching their shoulders, they are on a pink background; 3rd - graphic version of three women cooking.

La vivienda es un derecho | El cuidado sostiene la vida

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

Snippet FEA Clemencia (FR)

Nous sommes ravis de vous présenter Clemencia Carabalí Rodallega, une extraordinaire féministe afro-colombienne.

Elle a travaillé sans relâche pendant trois décennies pour sauvegarder les droits humains, les droits des femmes et la consolidation de la paix dans les zones de conflit sur la côte pacifique de la Colombie.

Clemencia a apporté une contribution significative à la lutte pour la vérité, la réparation et la justice pour les victimes de la guerre civile en Colombie.

Elle a reçu le Prix national pour la défense des droits humains en 2019 et a également participé à la campagne de la nouvelle élue afro-colombienne et amie de longue date, la vice-présidente Francia Márquez.

Bien que Clemencia ait rencontré et continue de rencontrer de nombreuses difficultés, notamment des menaces et des tentatives d'assassinat, elle continue de se battre pour les droits des femmes et communautés afro-colombiennes à travers le pays.

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

Snippet FEA Aura Roig (EN)

Meet Aura Roig, the visionary feminist activist, anthropologist, director and founder of the Metzineres cooperative.

She spent the last two decades researching, designing and implementing drug policies from the perspective of harm reduction, human rights and intersectional feminism.

Having experienced and learned from communities who use drugs around the world, she returned to Barcelona and created Xarxa de Dones que Usen Drogues (the Network of Women Who Use Drugs, XADUD). XADUD was a space of mutual support and solidarity with the struggle to secure rights for marginalized groups, which later became the Metzineres cooperative.

Aura is currently working on expanding the Metzineres model to provide support to bigger constituencies, while also extensively documenting their prolific journey and learnings.