Amanda Castro
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
Snippet FEA Objectives NSS - Traditional Knowledge (EN)
TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE
Teresa Scalzo, Esq.
Est-il possible de répondre en dehors de la plateforme KOBO et de vous transmettre mes réponses par courriel?
Sauf si vous avez des problèmes d’accessibilité et/ou que vous répondez aux questions de l’enquête dans une autre langue, nous vous encourageons fortement à utiliser KOBO pour une collecte et une analyse standardisées des données WITM.
2018: Supporting feminist movements to thrive and disrupt
This report looks back and celebrates the first year of AWID’s new strategic plan as we took our first steps towards our desired outcomes of supporting feminist movements to thrive, challenging anti-rights agendas and co-creating feminist realities.
We worked with feminists to disrupt anti-rights agendas, achieving important victories fought and won within the United Nations system when ground-breaking language on structural discrimination, sexual rights, and states’ obligations were included in a number of resolutions. Yes, the multilateral system is in crisis and in need of serious strengthening but these victories are important as they contribute to the legitimacy of feminist demands, providing feminist movements with more pressure points and momentum to advance our agendas.
We tried and tested different ways to build knowledge with feminist movements through webinars, podcasts and ‘live’ conversations. We developed facilitation guides with popular educators to reclaim knowledge in the interest of social and gender justice, even about a topic as seemingly opaque as illicit funding flows. We commissioned blogs and opinions about how feminist groups fund and resource themselves and threw light on the threats facing our human rights systems.
Within AWID, we practiced and learned from our shared leadership approach, and told the story of the trials and tribulations of co-leading a global, virtual organization. We don’t have a definitive answer to what feminist leadership looks like, but we know, a year on, that a continued commitment to collective experimentation and learning has enabled us to keep building an organization that we are all excited to contribute to.
As we look back on this year, we want to thank all our friends and supporters, colleagues and companions, who have given their time and shared their wealth of knowledge and wisdom with us. We want to thank our members who helped frame our strategic plan and joined us to make feminist demands. We could not do this work without you.
Snippet FEA NSS Quote (ES)
“Los saberes y prácticas indígenas siempre han apoyado la soberanía alimentaria, y ese saber está en manos de las mujeres […] El ecofeminismo para mí es el respeto por todo lo que tenemos a nuestro alrededor” -
Denis Ramirez Meza
Guadalupe Campanur Tapia
Guadalupe was an environmental activist involved in the fight against crime in Cherán, Mexico.
Guadalupe helped to overthrow the local government in April 2011 and participated in local security patrols including those in municipal forests. She was among the Indigenous leaders of Cherán, who called on people to defend their forests against illegal and merciless logging. Her work for seniors, children, and workers made her an icon in her community.
She was killed in Chilchota, Mexico about 30 kilometers north of her hometown of Cherá.
Will I have the opportunity to share my thoughts on issues not covered by the survey questions?
Yes, we invite you to share more on issues that are important to you by responding to the open question(s) at the end of the survey.
2022: Transitions, Inspiration & Collective Power
Our strategic plan “Feminist Realities” completed its final year at the end of 2022. For the past five years, this bold framework pushed us to go beyond feminist futures and to recognize the feminist solutions and ways of life that already exist in the here and now. Realities that must be uplifted, celebrated, and popularized. The Feminist Economies We Love multimedia story project and Our:Resource knowledge hub on autonomous ways to resource feminist activism are just two examples of this visionary work, always deeply collective with diverse feminist movements.
Download the full 2022 Annual review
2022 was a year of transitions in AWID.
With this reflection on the year, we invite you to celebrate with us beautiful closures and promising beginnings. Change and transitions are an inseparable part of life and movements, which we seek to embrace with intention and care.
Snippet FEA This is the story of the Nadia Echazú (FR)
Un lieu de travail n'a pas à fonctionner sur la base de la concurrence et du profit. Un lieu de travail ne devrait pas exploiter les gens au profit d’autrui. C’est pourquoi les communautés marginalisées en dehors des économies formelles construisent des modèles coopératifs alternatifs basés sur l'autonomie, la coopération, la coresponsabilité, l'autogestion et la solidarité.
Les lieux de travail et coopératives autogérés par les travailleur·euses ont toujours offert d'autres moyens de générer des opportunités d'emploi, des revenus, une sécurité sociale et des épargnes, tout en distribuant les revenus de manière plus communautaire, durable et sûre.
Mais le coopérativisme c'est bien plus qu'une opportunité d'emploi: c'est la réalisation des rêves et la construction d’économies féministes basées sur la solidarité et l'entraide. C'est la création d’un monde où nos vies, notre travail et nos communautés comptent.
Voici l'histoire de la Coopérative Textile Nadia Echazú, la première coopérative créée et dirigée par et pour les personnes travesti et trans en Argentine.
Emilia Quan
Winnie Madikizela- Mandela
A Winnie la han descripto como una «militante agitadora» que luchó contra el régimen del apartheid en Sudáfrica.
Fue encarcelada numerosas veces y en varias ocasiones fue encerrada en celdas de aislamiento. Ma’Winnie, como la recuerdan afectuosamente, era conocida por hablar abiertamente sobre los desafíos que las mujeres negras enfrentaron durante y después del apartheid, habiendo sido ella misma sometida a esas brutalidades como madre, esposa y activista durante la lucha. Fue más allá del concepto erróneo que sostiene que el liderazgo está basado en el género, la clase o la raza. A pesar de haber sido una figura controvertida, es recordada por muchxs por su nombre en xhosa, «Nomzamo», que significa «la que soporta las pruebas».
Ma’Winnie sigue siendo una inspiración para muchxs, especialmente las jóvenes sudafricanas.
Su muerte incentivó un creciente movimiento bajo el lema: «Ella no murió, se multiplicó».
¿Cómo presentarán y procesarán los datos que se recopilen en la encuesta?
Los datos se procesarán para fines estadísticos y así arrojar luz sobre el estado de la dotación de recursos para los movimientos feministas de todo el mundo, y solo se exhibirán de forma desglosada. AWID no divulgará información acerca de ninguna organización en particular ni publicará información que permita identificar a una organización por su ubicación o características sin el consentimiento acreditado de dicha organización.
Ritu
Biography
Ritu est une technologue féministe qui apporte son expérience au secteur non lucratif, animée par une passion pour l'utilisation d'approches innovantes pour trouver des solutions technologiques féministes. Titulaire d'un master en technologie des applications informatiques de l'Institut indien de technologie, son rôle au sein de l'AWID couvre un large spectre de responsabilités. De la supervision de la sécurité numérique et gestion des serveurs à l'administration des bases de données, en passant par le renforcement des capacités, l'évaluation technologique, la mise en œuvre de logiciels et de solutions cloud, Ritu veille à ce que l'infrastructure informatique de l'AWID soit résiliente et efficace. Avant de rejoindre l'AWID, elle a joué un rôle central dans l'avancement des initiatives technologiques des secteurs de la promotion de la santé et de l'environnement, alimentée par son engagement à tirer parti de la technologie pour le bien social.
Position
Cheffe Informatique
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Snippet FEA Life expectancy of a trans and travesti (EN)
Life expectancy of a trans and travesti person in Argentina is 37 years old - the average age for the general population is 77.
Fany Puyesky
Barin Kobane
Barin était membre de l’unité de combat exclusivement féminine des Unités de protection du peuple kurde (YPG).
Elle a été tuée alors qu’elle était en service actif.
La journaliste libanaise Hifaa Zuaiter a écrit : « Barin représente tout ce que nous avons entendu à propos du courage des femmes kurdes et sa mort représente bien plus que le meurtre d’un-e rival-e ou une perte résultant d’une lutte politique ou ethnique. L’exhibition monstrueuse de sa dépouille par un groupe de rebelles syriens provient du fait qu’en tant que femme combattant sur un champ de bataille réservé aux hommes, elle a osé menacer l’hégémonie masculine ».
Les réalités du financement et l’état du financement des mouvements féministes changent rapidement. Cette enquête a-t-elle une seule édition?
Non. L’enquête s’appuie sur les 20 années de mobilisation de l’AWID dans l’objectif d’obtenir davantage de financement de meilleure qualité pour des changements sociaux menés par des féministes. Cette enquête est la troisième édition de la recherche Où est l’argent pour l’organisation des mouvements féministes? Notre objectif est de mener une enquête WITM tous les 3 ans.
Marianne Mesfin Asfaw
Biography
Marianne Mesfin Asfaw is a Pan-African feminist who is dedicated to social justice and building community. She has a BA in Gender Studies and International Relations from the University of British Columbia (UBC), and an MA in Gender Studies and Law from SOAS University of London. She has previously worked in academic administration and international student support, and has worked as a researcher and facilitator in feminist and non-profit spaces. She has also worked and volunteered at non-governmental organizations including Plan International in administrative roles. Prior to taking up her current role she worked in logistics and administrative support at AWID. She is from Ethiopia, was raised in Rwanda and is currently based in Tkaronto/Toronto, Canada. She enjoys reading, traveling and spending time with her family and friends. In the warmer months she can be found strolling around familiar neighborhoods in search of obscure cafés and bookstores to wander into.
Position
Coordinator, Building Feminist Economies
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