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
نحن نعيد إعطاء المال لشركائنا/شريكاتنا ونعرّف عن أنفسنا كنسويات و\ أو صندوق نسائي. هل علينا تعبئة الاستطلاع؟
كلا. نقدّر عملكم/ن لكننا لا نطلب في هذه المرحلة من الصناديق النسوية والنسائية تعبئة الاستطلاع. نشجعكم/ن على مشاركة الاستطلاع مع شركائكم/ن و شبكاتكم/ن النسوية.
Snippet FEA Union Otras (EN)
UNION OTRAS
The Sex Workers' Trade Union Organisation (Organización de Trabajo Sexual, OTRAS) is the first union of sex workers in the history of Spain. It was born out of the need to ensure social, legal and political rights for sex workers in a country where far-right movements are on the rise.
After years of struggles against the Spanish legal system and anti-sex workers groups who petitioned to shut it down, OTRAS finally obtained its legal status as a union in 2021.
Its goal? To decriminalize sex work and to ensure decent working conditions and environments for all sex workers.
The union represents over 600 professional sex workers, many of whom are migrant, trans, queer and gender-diverse.
Principios de participación para el Festival
¡Bienvenidxs a Crear | Résister | Transform: un festival para movimientos feministas!
Principios de participación para el Festival
AWID está comprometida con la creación de un espacio virtual que nos invite y desafíe a todxs a funcionar desde un lugar de valentía, curiosidad, generosidad y responsabilidad compartida.
Te invitamos a crear conjuntamente con nosotrxs espacios libres de acoso y violencia, donde todas las personas sean respetadas en su identidad y expresión de género, raza, capacidad, clase, religión, idioma, etnia, edad, ocupación, tipo de educación, sexualidad, tamaño corporal y apariencia física. Espacios donde reconozcamos las desigualdades que prevalecen en nuestro mundo, y nos esforcemos por transformarlas.
Queremos crear un espacio donde:
- podamos estar “presentes”:
Esto significa escucharnos, comprendernos y vincularnos. Sentirnos cerca, a pesar de la virtualidad. Para eso, contaremos con interpretación y abriremos canales (como el chat y otras herramientas) para reaccionar y compartir. Para lograr escucharnos mejor, les invitamos a utilizar audífonos o auriculares durante la sesión. Si puedes hacerlo, te sugerimos cerrar tus correos electrónicos y cualquier otra posible distracción mientras estás en la conversación.
- todas las formas de conocimiento son valoradas:
Celebremos los distintos saberes y las múltiples formas en que estos se expresan. Nos acercamos al espacio con curiosidad y apertura para aprender de otrxs y permitiéndonos desaprender y reaprender a partir del intercambio, sentando las posibilidades para la construcción colectiva de conocimiento.
- todxs nos sintamos bienvenidxs:
Estamos comprometidxs con un enfoque holístico de la accesibilidad, conscientes de las diferentes necesidades físicas, mentales, de idioma y de seguridad. Queremos un espacio que acoja a gente de contextos, creencias, capacidades y experiencias diversas. Seremos proactivxs, pero también te pedimos que nos comuniques tus necesidades, para que, dentro de nuestras posibilidades, nos ocupemos de satisfacerlas.
- todxs nos sintamos segurxs y respetadxs:
Asumimos compromisos individuales y colectivos de respetar la privacidad y contar con el consentimiento de otrxs para difundir imágenes o contenido generado durante la conversación.
Crear un ambiente más seguro, respetuoso y disfrutable para las conversaciones es responsabilidad de todxs.
Cómo reportar
Si notas que alguien se está comportando de forma discriminatoria u ofensiva, por favor, contacta a la persona de referencia que se indicará al comienzo de la sesión.
Cualquier participante que se exprese con lenguaje opresivo o imágenes ofensivas será eliminadx de la videoconferencia y no será admitidx nuevamente. No interactuaremos con esa persona de ninguna manera.
Our values - bodily autonomy
Bodily autonomy, integrity and freedoms<
We celebrate everyone's right to choose their identities, relationships, goals, work, dreams and pleasures, and what they do with their mind, body and spirit. We believe in working towards access to resources, information and safe and enabling environments that allow this to happen.
Juana Ramírez Santiago
Juana fue una de las fundadoras y era actualmente integrante de la junta directiva de la Red de Mujeres Ixiles de Nebaj, una organización por los derechos de las mujeres indígenas que es parte de la Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras de Derechos Humanos (IM-Defensoras).
También era partera y madre de siete hijxs. Había recibido amenazas de muerte que fueron denunciadas ante la Fiscalía. Juana es la tercera defensora de derechos humanos indígena asesinada en el área durante 2018. El Ombudsman de Guatemala informa que un total de 20 defensorxs de derechos humanos fueron asesinadxs este año en el país.
Juana Ramírez Santiago fue baleada de muerte por atacantes desconocidos mientras cruzaba un puente en Nebak, Quiché, Guatemala. Están en curso las investigaciones para identificar a los perpetradores.
На каких языках проводится опрос?
На данный момент опрос в KOBO доступен на арабском, английском, французском, португальском, русском и испанском языках. В начале опроса у вас будет возможность выбрать нужный вам язык.
Snippet FEA Union Otras Photo 4 (ES)

Upasana Agarwal



À propos d’Upasana Agarwal

Membership why page - Angelina Mootoo quote
Al unirme a AWID, espero poder ayudar a la movilización del movimiento feminista. No solo para las mujeres privilegiadas, sino para TODAS las mujeres y activistas feministas.- Angelina Mootoo, feminista interseccional y caribeña, Guyana/EEUU
Claudia House Morcom
Ana M. Tallada Iglesia
Ana était un ardente défenseure des droits des femmes et travaillait avec un large éventail de femmes au sein d’organisations de terrain ainsi que dans le secteur privé.
Elle croyait en la construction de ponts entre les secteurs. Ana était membre du Réseau national de promotion de la femme (RNPM) et participait activement à l'élaboration de nombreux programmes sociaux traitant de questions telles que la santé et les droits sexuels et reproductifs.
Devo fazer alguma preparação para responder ao inquérito?
Tendo em conta que o inquérito WITM foca-se nas realidades do financiamento de organizações feministas, a maioria das perguntas aborda o tópico do financiamento do seu grupo entre 2021-2023. Será preciso ter essas informações facilmente acessíveis para preencher o inquérito (por exemplo, os seus orçamentos anuais e as principais fontes de financiamento).
Snippet FEA Principles of Work (FR)
Principes
DE TRAVAIL
Anti-Rights Tactics, Strategies, and Impacts
Chapter 5
Anti-rights actors adopt a double strategy. As well as launching outright attacks on the multilateral system, anti-rights actors also undermine human rights from within. Anti-rights actors engage with the aim of co-opting processes, entrenching regressive norms, and undermining accountability.

Photo-OP // the first anniversary of the EU signature to the Council of Europe Convention to prevent and combat gender-based violence and domestic violence, the so-called Istanbul Convention
Anti-rights actors’ engagement in international human rights spaces has a principal purpose: to undermine the system and its ability to respect, protect and fulfill human rights for all people, and to hold member states accountable for violations. Some anti-rights tactics operate from outside the UN and include delegitimization and political pressure to defund the UN, or to withdraw from international human rights agreements. In recent years, anti-rights actors have also gained increasing influence inside the UN. Their inside tactics include training of delegates, distortion of human rights frameworks, watering down human rights agreements, infiltrating NGO committees, applying for ECOSOC status under neutral names, infiltrating youth spaces, and lobbying to place anti-rights actors in key positions.
Table of Contents
- Institutionalization of Anti-rights Actors in UN Mechanisms
- Opting-out and Delegitimization
- Lowering HR Standards
- Co-optation - Building a Parallel HR Framework
- Exercise: Yes, they are strong, but so are we!
- Exercise: Holding Governments Accountable
Questions (Forum page)
Des questions ?
Vous avez des questions concernant le Forum de l’AWID ou les activités connexes ? Nous avons des réponses !