Joan Kagezi
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
Our values - bodily autonomy
Autonomía corporal, integridad y libertades
Celebramos el derecho de todas las personas a elegir sus identidades, relaciones, metas, trabajos, sueños y placeres, y lo que hacen con su mente, cuerpo y espíritu. Trabajamos por el acceso a los recursos, a la información, y a ambientes seguros y habilitantes que permitan que esto suceda.
Não me sinto à vontade para partilhar o nome do meu grupo e as nossas informações de contacto com a AWID. Devo preencher o inquérito ainda assim?
Absolutamente, estas perguntas são opcionais, e valorizamos o seu direito de permanecer anónimo. Queira preencher o inquérito independentemente da sua decisão de partilhar o nome do seu grupo, organização e/ou movimento e as respetivas informações de contacto connosco.
Holding up the Skies
A Film Series on Feminist Realities from Africa and the African Diaspora
by Gabrielle Tesfaye
When I created my short animation film, The Water Will Carry Us Home, my mind was plugged into a magical world of fearless resilience and ancestral mermaids who transformed their deepest scars into a new generation of life. Set during the time of the transatlantic slave trade, I was pulled to show this history of African enslavement in a different way than it has ever been told on screen. I wanted to give my ancestors the commemoration they never received. I was motivated to reclaim the history that continues to paint us as helpless victims. Essentially, I wanted to tell the truth. To reclaim and reimagine our history and perspective, means to simultaneously heal our generational traumas that exist today. It is this important work that so many women through the African continent and the African diaspora are doing today, igniting our collective Feminist Realities.
In the making of the film I researched religiously, and in what was written, I saw what was not. There were many times I felt I was hitting a wall trying to find something that was not there, and it was in those voided places that I realized the storytellers of today are filling the voids. I found the most useful stories in contemporary art, film, and African diaspora folklore.
“... a truly unique, raw and representation of feminist power in action.”
- Hers is Ours Collective, organizers of the Outsider Moving Art & Film Festival
The Water Will Carry Us Home carried itself around the world into the hearts of the Diaspora. It also led me here, as the curator of the African and Diaspora film screenings of AWID’s Co-Creating Feminist Realities initiative. Whilst curating this collection of films, I looked for stories that were completely unique, raw and representational of feminist power in action. Consisting of three shorts and one feature, they reveal stories through many communities in Africa and the diaspora, including Ethiopia, Uganda, The Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa and Kenya. These films reposition African women as what they truly are- self governing and empowered through the unfiltered lens of their work.
“An incredibly beautiful, attentive, finely observed telling of the connection between Africa and its Diaspora formed form the trans Altantic slave trade. The visual universe it creates is just gorgeous… an echo of the fusion of spiritual traditions and non-linear time that speak to how we are still experiencing the moments of the past that formed 'new' worlds of diaspora blackness.”
- Jessica Horn, PanAfrican feminst strategist, writer and co-creator of the temple of her skin
Our short documentary film, Women Hold Up the Sky, created by the WoMin African Alliance, tells the story of women activists in Uganda and the Democractic Republic of Congo who are actively reclaiming their land rights, threatened by mining and other extractives in their homes. The film not only exposes the corruption of extractivism, but finally shares what we have been missing on screen - how grassroots African women are actively organizing, strategizing, and analyzing within their communities to create women-centred and community-driven alternatives. Margaret Mapondera of WoMin explains it beautifully, that they are the “custodians of lands, forests, waters, rivers and territories; the ways in which women hold and transmit the stories / herstories of our past and our futures; the powerful and transformative ways of being that women embody in their relationships to each other, to the environment and in themselves.”
“A refreshing and much-needed piece of cinema highlighting the many ways African women are coming together to create women-led and community-driven alternatives… The fight is on and
women hold the key.”
- Hers is Ours Collective, organizers of the Outsider Moving Art & Film Festival
Pumzi, created by critically acclaimed director Wanuri Kahiu, bridges Africa and science fiction around climate and environmentalism. Pumzi imagines a futuristic world where humankind has been forced to settle on another planet. While Pumzi seems afro-futuristic and new for Africa on the surface, Kahiu reveals the truth that science fiction and fantasy is something that has always existed in African storytelling, but never recognized. Kahiu creates a world where women are truth seekers and heroes who pioneer us into a new world, the opposite of images that position Africans as victims of war and destruction. Instead, Pumzi writes the narrative of African women being their own saviors and problem solvers, who stop at no cost to follow the cryptic visions they channel in their dreams.
“A pioneering African sci-fi film, situating women as scribes of the future and opening up our visions about other worlds, other universes we might occupy as Africans - always an important exercise as we imagine our way out of present crises.”
- Jessica Horn, PanAfrican feminst strategist, writer and co-creator of the temple of her skin
Our feature film of the program, Finding Sally is set in 1970’s Ethiopia during the time of The Red Terror war, documenting the striking history of director Tamara Mariam Dawit’s activist aunt, Sally Dawit. Throughout the film we learn of Sally’s incredible journey as a young and courageous woman activist navigating one of the most violent times of Ethiopian history. Sally’s story not only reveals the gravity of this time, but the reflection of her own personal evolution as a young woman. Dawit was intentional to tell the film through the lens of women, untouched by male voices. Due to so much Ethiopian history being told by men, the making of this powerful story preserved its reality of honoring the feminist perspective. Dawit explains, “Women in revolution and war are often only included as someone's spouse or someone who did cooking or typing work. I wanted to look at the activism around the revolution only through the memories and voices of women.” Finding Sally demonstrates the reclamation of history sought by current filmmakers today. It is an igniting of feminist power and our connected realities throughout time.
“The responsibility falls on us, to remember these women that came before us and their brilliant work so they are not forgotten like the thousands of women already forgotten while fighting the good fight. Sally is such a woman and may she never be forgotten.”
- Hers is Ours Collective, organizers of the Outsider Moving Art & Film Festival
Register here to watch this film from June 18-22
These films have became a part of my own psyche, empowering me to continue building powerful alternatives towards justice from within. They affirm that I am a woman among a world of women, holding up the skies and actively building indestructible Feminist Realities. These films are more than stories of African women - they are globally relatable, inspiring and set the example of Feminist Realities for all of us around the world.
Gabrielle Tesfaye:
Gabrielle Tesfaye is an interdisciplinary artist versed in painting, animation, film, puppetry and interactive installation. Her work is rooted in the African diaspora, Afro-futurism, ancient art practices and cultural storytelling.
Gabrielle Tesfaye is an interdisciplinary artist versed in painting, animation, film, puppetry and interactive installation. Her work is rooted in the African diaspora, Afro-futurism, ancient art practices and cultural storytelling.
Follow us on Social Media to receive news about upcoming events and screenings:
Facebook: @AWIDWomensRights
Instagram: @awidwomensrights
Twitter ENG: @awid
Twitter ES: @awid_es
Twitter FR: @awid_fr
LinkedIn: Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)
Snippet FEA Union Otras Photo 4 (FR)
Mena Mangal
Mena Mangal était une éminente journaliste de télévision, défenseure des droits des femmes et conseillère culturelle du Wolesi Jirga, la chambre basse du parlement national afghan.
Pendant plus d’une décennie, Mena a travaillé pour Ariana TC, la chaîne en pashto Lamar de Tolo TV et la chaîne de télévision nationale privée Shamshad TV. Mena était principalement présentatrice d’émissions sur les droits des femmes et la culture.
« La défenseure des droits des femmes Wazhma Frogh a dit que Mangal « se faisait entendre » et s’exprimait ouvertement en faveur de la défense de son peuple. »
Loin des écrans, elle dirigeait également des plateformes sur les réseaux sociaux, promouvant les droits à l’éducation et au travail des filles et femmes afghanes. Sur le plan de sa vie privée, Mena a longuement écrit sur le mariage arrangé qu’elle a été forcée d’accepter en 2017, et le long processus qui s’en est suivi pour finalement obtenir le divorce.
Dans un post sur Facebook, Mena avait écrit qu’elle recevait des menaces de mort de sources inconnues, mais qu’elle continuerait néanmoins son travail.
Elle a été attaquée le 11 mai 2019 par des hommes armés inconnus et tuée en plein jour et dans un espace public, dans le sud-est de Kaboul.
« La situation nous inquiète, car elle a un impact direct sur les femmes qui travaillent en dehors de la maison... Les femmes journalistes changent de profession du fait de l’augmentation des risques auxquels elles sont confrontées. » - Robina Hamdard, défenseure des droits des femmes à Kaboul
Membership why page - Angelina Mootoo quote
En rejoignant l’AWID, j’espère pouvoir contribuer à la mobilisation du mouvement féministe. Pas seulement pour les femmes privilégiées, mais pour TOUTES les femmes et activistes féministes..- Angelina Mootoo, féministe intersectionnelle et caribéenne, Guyane/USA
متى ستكون نتائج الاستطلاع جاهزة؟
سنقوم بتحليل الردود على الاستطلاع للوصول للاستنتاجات الأساسية والنتائج خلال المنتدى العالمي ل AWID في بانكوك، وعن طريق الانترنت في ديسمبر (كانون الأول) 2024. الرجاء التسجيل هنا لحضور المنتدى.
#MeToo in China
En China, el movimiento #MeToo [«Yo También»] se encendió en enero de 2018, empujado por el ímpetu del movimiento #MeToo de todo el planeta. Fue una respuesta a los problemas culturales y sistémicos relacionados con el género y el poder dentro de China. Las bases del movimiento habían sido establecidas durante décadas, y los muchos años de debate y promoción de la igualdad de género, finalmente, hicieron erupción con tremenda fuerza en toda la sociedad. El movimiento #MeToo fue impulsado fundamentalmente por jóvenes, que incluyen a innumerables mujeres anónimas y sus aliadxs, en busca de oportunidades para hacer realidad el principal «sueño chino»: transformar a China en un país con igualdad de género.
En China, el contexto para el movimiento #MeToo es extremadamente adverso: el Estado de derecho, la justicia y la transparencia de las acciones gubernamentales y la libertad de expresión no pueden darse por descontados, pero estos son precisamente los objetivos por los cuales lucha el movimiento. Ha sido, desde el principio, una lucha intensa, y cada víctima o activista que se visibiliza corre enormes riesgos: desde ser silenciadx o humilladx o de sufrir represalias hasta poner en peligro su seguridad. Todos los éxitos del movimiento #MeToo han sido logrados por quienes son lo suficientemente valientes como para asumir los costos de manifestarse y desafiar la censura.
La exhibición «#MeToo in China» fue inaugurada en 2019 y recorrió cinco ciudades. Su objetivo es dar mayor prominencia a las experiencias personales de lxs víctimas y lxs activistas, para inspirar al público a unirse a la lucha a través del contacto con estas historias. La exposición misma se ha convertido en parte de la lucha #MeToo: ha debido enfrentar desafíos en su itinerario por toda China y, en más de una ocasión, fue amenazada con la clausura.
Snippet FEA Principles of Work S4 (EN)
HORIZONTALITY
Ruby Montour
Jaitun
Jaitun, commonly referred to as ‘Amma’, was committed to ensuring the reproductive rights of women and girls in India. She was particularly dedicated to advocating for those living in poverty and who are most marginalized, including Dalit and Muslim women and girls.
Jaitun was the vital force behind the case Jaitun v Janpura Maternity Home & Ors. Her perseverance for justice led to a ground-breaking judgment issued by the High Court of Delhi, holding the Indian government accountable for failing to deliver a number of its legally-binding obligations such as reproductive health care and the right to food.
Her daughter Fatema who was living under the poverty line was denied reproductive services and had to deliver her child in public, under a tree. At the time, both Jaitun and Fatema were homeless as a result of their home being demolished by the government as part of redevelopment and gentrification in New Delhi.
“The judgment has since been used by countless lawyers and activists globally, including the Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, not only as a source of inspiration but as a solid springboard to further justice.” - Jameen Kaur
Jaitun has inspired many other women living in poverty to claim their rights. She passed away in 2017.
“In Jaitun’s death, we have now lost an inimitable warrior for justice, but her spirit of defiance lives on.” - Jameen Kaur
“In my 18 years as a human rights advocate, I have not met a woman that has inspired and moved my spirit in the same way Amma did. Her roaring courage; her imitable humour - we used to compare her to the Bollywood actress Hema Melini - as she would be upset we had spent so much time away from her - she would say, with a twinkle in her eye, ‘You have forgotten Amma, Amma is not speaking to you’ and then with great dramatics turn her back, only to turn around laughing and stretching her arms out for a hug. Her kindness and ultimately her love and joy for love and the right for all of us to live with dignity. I miss her terribly.” - Jameen Kaur
“Where is the Money for Women’s Rights?" AWID’s WITM Toolkit (landing page intro)
A new edition of the Where is the Money? research is underway.
Learn more.A Do-it-Yourself Research Methodology
AWID offers the WITM Toolkit to support individuals and organizations who want to conduct their own research on funding trends for a particular region, issue or population by adapting AWID’s research methodology.
AWID’s WITM Toolkit builds on 10 years research experience. AWID’s WITM research and WITM Toolkit is a political and practical demonstration of the resources and steps it takes to conduct solid action-research.
Learn more about the context around the WITM research methodology
The Resourcing Feminist Movements team also offers technical and political support before and during the research process. Review the toolkit and contact us at fundher@awid.org if you need more information.
Membership why page - Paz Romero
Cette communauté est un endroit de connexions, où l’on comprend nos combats individuels comme faisant partie de luttes mondiales, et où l’on peut même parfois danser ! Il n’existe aucun endroit de la sorte en ligne, où être en contact avec des activistes de terrain, qui viennent du monde entier, et forger de la solidarité et de la sororité..- Paz Romero, Argentina
Nicole Barakat
nous sommes infini·e·s
Une exposition de Nicole Barakat qui incarne sa reconnexion avec la diaspora d'objets provenant de ses terres ancestrales dans l'Asie du Sud-Ouest et l'Afrique du Nord.
Barakat présente une collection d'œuvres textiles en tant que manifestations de sa démarche consistant à travailler avec des objets déplacés, souvent volés, détenus dans les collections de musées occidentaux, notamment le Louvre, le British Museum et le Nicholson Museum.
Pour contourner les gardiens et pénétrer dans les vitrines contenant ces objets ancestraux, Barakat récupère des formes de connaissances précoloniales, non linéaires et réceptives qui sont souvent dévaluées et rejetées par les institutions coloniales et patriarcales. Elle utilise ainsi la cafédomancie, le travail du rêve, l'écoute intuitive et les conversations avec les objets eux-mêmes (source).
À propos de Nicole Barakat
Nicole Barakat est une artiste queer femme de la région d’Asie du Sud-Ouest et d’Afrique du Nord, née et vivant à Gadigal (dite Sydney, en Australie). Elle emploie des processus intuitifs et d’écoute profonde visant à transformer les conditions de la vie quotidienne. Son travail fait appel à des approches non conventionnelles de la création artistique, créant des œuvres complexes qui incarnent l'amour et la patience et caractérisent les pratiques textiles traditionnelles.
Ses œuvres comprennent des dessins en tissu et en papier cousus et découpés à la main, des formes sculpturales réalisées avec ses propres cheveux, du tissu et des matériaux végétaux, ainsi que des œuvres en direct où elle utilise sa voix comme matériau.
La pratique créative de Nicole s'enracine dans la re-mémoration et le re-couvrement de son savoir ancestral, y compris la cafédomancie et, plus récemment, le travail avec des plantes et des essences de fleurs pour le soin et la guérison de la communauté.
Snippet FEA No feminist economies without feminist unions (ES)
¡No hay economías feministas sin sindicatos feministas!
A través de la organización laboral y sindical, Sopo, Sabrina y Linda no solo luchan por los derechos de lxs mujeres, lxs trabajadorxs esenciales, lxs trabajadorxs migrantes y lxs trabajadores sexuales, sino por los derechos de todxs lxs trabajadorxs.
La lucha para acabar con la explotación de lxs trabajadores es una lucha feminista, y nos muestra que no hay economías feministas sin sindicatos feministas.
Vivian Stromberg
Isabel Cabanillas de la Torre
Isabel Cabanillas de la Torre fue una activista joven y una artista feminista muy querida de Ciudad Juárez, México, conocida por sus hermosos diseños evocadores de indumentaria pintada a manoen los que los ojos eran una característica emblemática de su trabajo. Sus murales transformaron los edificios abandonados y vacíos del centro de Ciudad Juárez, al sumarles vida y crítica política a sus paredes.
A través de su arte y de su activismo político, Isabel buscó llamar la atención sobre la violencia de género que se extendía por su ciudad natal. Colaboró como voluntaria con la red Mesa de Mujeres en el proyecto «Observatorio Ciudadano de Género», que monitoreaba la actuación de jueces, fiscales y defensorxs públicxs en casos de femicidios y otras violaciones a los derechos basadas en el género. Integró también «Hijas De Su Maquilera Madre», una colectiva feminista cuyo nombre alude a las hijas de madres que son trabajadoras de la maquila. Algunas de estas madres fueron las primeras víctimas de femicidio en Ciudad Juárez.
El último proyecto de Isabel (todavía en curso) fue una instalación artística para protestar contra una compañía canadiense que quería extraer cobre de los Médanos de Samalayuca.
El 18 de enero de 2020 Isabel fue atacada a balazos mientras volvía a su casa del centro de Ciudad Juárez en bicicleta, víctima, aparentemente, de un asesinato selectivo. Su cuerpo fue encontrado junto a su bicicleta.
El asesinato de Isabel desató una nueva ola de indignación contra los femicidios de la región: cientos de personas marcharon hacia el puente de la frontera entre EEUU y México, y lo bloquearon durante horas mientras cantaban «Ni una más», que es la protesta continua de las colectivas feministas contra los asesinatos de las mujeres en todo México. Solamente en 2019, 3.142 mujeres y niñas fueron asesinadas en el país; muchas de ellas fueron atacadas específicamente por su género.
Amaba andar en bicicleta.
«La bicicleta era un símbolo de libertad para ella. Simbolizaba ser libre en las calles.» - Marisol, amiga de Isabel