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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

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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 - CSW69 - Feminist Solidarity Space - ES

Espacio de solidaridad feminista

✉️ Requiere inscripción previa para grandes grupos. Entrada libre para grupos reducidos. Reserven aquí

📅Martes 11 de marzo de 2025
🕒 de 12:00 a 02:00 p.m. y de 04:00 a 06:00 p.m., EST
🏢 Chef's Kitchen Loft with Terrace, 216 East 45th St 13th Floor New York

Organiza: AWID

2008: The Doha International Conference takes place with limited achievements

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Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development, Doha, Qatar

Mirna Teresa Suazo Martínez

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Category
Droits économiques, sociaux et culturels
Region
Amérique latine
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Assassinat

Mirna Teresa Suazo Martínez faisait partie de la communauté garifuna (afro-descendante et autochtone) Masca et vivait sur la côte nord des Caraïbes du Honduras. Elle était leader de sa communauté et fervente défenseure du territoire autochtone, une terre qui a été violée le jour où l'Institut national agraire du Honduras a accordé des licences territoriales à des personnes extérieures à la communauté. 

Ce fait déplorable a été à l'origine de harcèlements, d'abus et de violences répétés contre Masca, où les intérêts économiques de différents groupes se sont heurtés à ceux des forces armées et des autorités honduriennes. Selon l'Organisation fraternelle noire du Honduras (OFRANEH), la stratégie de ces groupes consiste à expulser et exterminer la population autochtone. 

« Masca, la communauté garifuna située près de la vallée du Cuyamel, se trouve dans la zone d’influence de l’une des villes présumées modèles, une situation qui a déclenché des pressions territoriales le long de la côte garifuna. » - OFRANEH, 8 septembre 2019

Mirna Teresa, présidente du conseil d'administration de la communauté de Masca à Omoa, avait elle aussi fermement rejeté la construction de deux centrales hydroélectriques sur la rivière Masca, qui porte le même nom que sa communauté.

« La communauté garífuna attribue l'aggravation de la situation dans leur région à son opposition à l'exploitation touristique, à la monoculture de palmiers africains et au trafic de drogue, tandis qu'elle cherche parallèlement à construire une vie alternative au travers de la culture de la noix de coco et d'autres produits d'autoconsommation ». - Voces Feministas, 10 septembre 2019 

Mirna Teresa a été assassinée le 8 septembre 2019 dans son restaurant « Champa los Gemelos ». 

Elle est l'une des six femmes défenseures garifunas à avoir été assassinées rien qu'entre septembre et octobre 2019. Selon l'OFRANEH, les autorités n'ont pas mené d'enquête sur ces crimes.

« En ce qui concerne les communautés garífuna, une grande partie des homicides sont liés au régime foncier et à la gestion des terres. Cependant, les querelles entre les organisations criminelles ont abouti à des meurtres, à l’instar de ceux ayant eu lieu récemment à Santa Rosa de Aguán ». - OFRANEH, 8 septembre 2019

Exposición en el Jardín de los Placeres

Exposición en el Jardín de los Placeres

Estas obras son un trabajo colaborativo de fotografías e ilustraciones realizadas por Siphumeze y Katia durante el confinamiento. Muestran narrativas negras queer de sexo y placer, bondage, sexo seguro, juguetes, salud mental y sexo, y mucho más. Fueron creadas para acompañar la antología Touch.

Visitar la exposición

Snippet - Resources to rally - ES

Recursos para movilizarnos durante la CSW69

2014: comienza el proceso preparatorio para la 3a Conferencia Internacional sobre FpD

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Octubre de 2014: Inicio del proceso preparatorio intergubernamental para la tercera Conferencia Internacional sobre la Financiación para el Desarrollo

  • Se dio inicio a un proceso preparatorio facilitado por el embajador George Wilfred Talbot, de Guyana, y el embajador Geir O. Pedersen, de Noruega, destinado a encaminar las discusiones con miras a la tercera Conferencia Internacional sobre la FpD, que tendrá lugar en Adís Abeba, Etiopía, en julio de 2015.
  • Como parte de esos preparativos se realizaron dos rondas de sesiones informales sustantivas en la sede de la ONU en Nueva York, que aportaron insumos para las sesiones de redacción del Documento Final de la Conferencia.
  • El WWG se reactivó, con el objetivo de incorporar las perspectivas feministas y de derechos de las mujeres a esas discusiones y deliberaciones, antes y durante la tercera Conferencia Internacional sobre la FpD. AWID, Mujeres por el Desarrollo Alternativo para una Nueva Era (DAWN) y el Feminist Task Force [Grupo de Trabajo Feminista, FTF en inglés] están coordinando el Grupo en conjunto.
  • El WWG tuvo dos intervenciones orales durante la primera ronda y aportó comentarios escritos a la segunda ronda de sesiones sustantivas informales. En todos los casos enfatizó que la desigualdad de género estaba siendo invisibilizada, al igual que otras formas de discriminación y de desigualdad. También subrayó las relaciones de poder entre los géneros y sus intersecciones con otras categorías como raza, discapacidad, etnia, edad, riqueza e identidad sexual, que apuntalan la distribución desigual de oportunidades y recursos en sociedades de todo el mundo.
  • Las organizaciones de la sociedad civil plantearon sus preocupaciones acerca del espacio para su participación en las dos sesiones sustantivas informales y señalaron el riesgo de que se restringiera el espacio de la sociedad civil para intervenir en las negociaciones sobre el Documento Final de la tercera Conferencia Internacional en enero de 2015.

Stacey Park Milbern

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Category
Civil & Political Rights
Region
North America
Date of birth
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Natural

“I do not know a lot about spirituality or what happens when we die, but my crip queer Korean life makes me believe that our earthly bodyminds is but a fraction, and not considering our ancestors is electing only to see a glimpse of who we are.” - Stacey Park Milbern

Stacey Park Milbern was a self-identifying queer disabled woman of colour and a trailblazer. A long-standing and respected organizer and leader in the disability rights and justice movement, she also advocated for the rights of many different communities, not just her own. Stacey’s activism had mighty roots in her experience at the intersections of gender, disability, sexuality and race.

Stacey, along with some friends, co-created the Disability Justice Culture Club, a group working to support various and especially vulnerable communities, including helping homeless people gain access to resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

She was also a co-producer of an impact campaign for Netflix’s documentary “Crip Camp”, a board member of the WITH Foundation, and led organizations at local, state and national levels. Stacey wrote beautifully and powerfully:

“My ancestors are people torn apart from loves by war and displacement. It’s because of them I know the power of building home with whatever you have, wherever you are, whoever you are with. My ancestors are queers who lived in the American South. It’s because of them I understand the importance of relationships, place and living life big, even if it is dangerous. All of my ancestors know longing. Longing is often our connecting place...” - Stacey Park Milbern

She was born in Seoul, Korea and grew up in North Carolina, later  continuing her journey in the San Francisco Bay Area. Stacey passed away of complications from surgery on her 33rd birthday on 19 May 2020. 

Read an essay by Stacey Park Milbern
Listen to an interview with Stacey Park Milbern
#StaceyTaughtUs: Record your story for the Disability Visibility Project

Tributes:

“She was, a lot of people would say, a leader. She kind of encompassed all of it. You know, sometimes there's like a lead from the front, lead from the middle, lead from the back. And she was just somehow able to do all of that.” - Andraéa LaVant, disability rights activist

“What a blow to lose Stacey when our communities need her leadership more than ever, and at a time when her strength, insight, and grit were receiving increased recognition outside of disability circles, giving her a greater platform to advance her life’s work...We will not have the gift of learning where her charismatic leadership would have taken us. But let there be no doubt: What Stacey gave us, in a relatively short time, will continue benefiting others for years to come.” - Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)

Nicole Barakat Snippet FR

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.

Visiter l’exposition

Snippet - Homepage CSW69_FR

AWID à la CSW69 Beijing+30 | #FreezeFascisms

Notre présence collective perturbe les mécanismes d’exclusion des institutions dans ces espaces tout en soutenant les mouvements qui s’organisent autour d’alternatives féministes aux systèmes d’oppression.

Participez aux conversations du 10 au 21 mars 2025 pour, collectivement, faire de la CSW69 un espace de résistance et de solidarité.

En savoir plus

Juin 2015

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Tenue des autres sessions de rédaction du document final d’Addis-Abeba

Pour plus d’informations, voir le « guide du routard des OSC » (le CSO Hitchhiker’s Guide – en anglais).

Add your own propositions

Please take a look at the existing propositions for inspiration before submitting your own idea. Someone might already be thinking along the same lines! Send your proposition to contribute@awid.org.

We will review and include new propositions on this webpage as they come.

Snippet - Impactmapper’s Database blurb - En

Impact Mapper's Logo

 

 

2025 Funding Database by ImpactMapper

Explore 150+ regularly updated funding opportunities in this searchable database, created in response to cuts in development aid. Filter by issue, region, funder type, and eligibility.

Subscribe to their database here

What is the 14th AWID Forum theme?

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The 14th Forum theme is “Feminist Realities: our power in action”. 

We understand Feminist Realities as the different ways of existing and being that show us what is possible, despite dominant power systems, and in defiance and resistance to them.  We understand these feminist realities as reclamations and embodiments of hope and power, and as  multi-dimentional, dynamic and rooted in specific contexts and historical moments.

Read more about Feminist Realities

 

Snippet Festival Day 2,3 (ES)

Day, Jour, Día 2 - Sept. 2, 2021
¿Pansexual, ginasexual o abrosexual ?
Una inmersión en lo queer, el placer y la sexualidad positiva

ver panel (inglés)

Tierras y territorios liberados:
Una conversación panafricana

Luam Kidane, Thousand Currents
Mariama Sonko, Nous Sommes la Solution
Yannia Sofia Garzon Valencia, VigiaAfro
Nomsa Sizani, Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA

ver conversación (inglés)
 

Twitter chat:

#SexteaComoFeminista

HOLAA Africa Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women

#MuéstrameMás
Day, jour, día 3 festival - Sept. 3, 2021
Solidaridad Feminista cruzando fronteras:
Palestina, Myanmar y más allá

Nino Ugrekhelidze, AWID
Sandie Hanna, With and For Girls Fund
Areen Hawari, Mada alCarmel Arab Research Center
Tin Tin Nyo, Burmese Women’s Union
Nandar, Purple Feminists Group

Ver panel (inglés)
 

Resistir contra la criminalización:
La organización feminista por la justicia sexual y reproductiva y la integridad corporal

Nana Abuelsoud, Resurj
Sibusiso, Resurj
Inas, Resurj
Mari-Claire, Resurj
Oriana, Vecinas Feministas
Andrea Paola Hernandez, Injusta Justicia
Jasmine George, Hidden Pockets

Ver panel (inglés)

 

Instagram Live:

Juguetes sexuales y discapacidad

Makgosi Letimile
videos en inglés

Parte 1 Parte 2

Snippet2 - WCFM With smart filtering - EN

With smart filtering for Who Can Fund Me?  Database, you can search for funders based on:

What will be different about this Forum?

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We have always worked towards ensuring that our Forums are co-developed with partners, movements and our priority constituencies.

For our upcoming Forum, we aim to deepen and strengthen that spirit and practice of co-creation and collaboration. We also recognize the need to improve the balance between the inclusion of many voices and experiences with room for participants and staff to breathe, take pause and enjoy some downtime.

This Forum will be different in the following ways: 

  • We will have far less organized Forum activities because we want people to have time to engage, experience, process, talk to each other, etc.  This is key to communicate: you can come to the Forum, be very engaged and active and not facilitate any organized activity (or “session”).
  • We will have Open Spaces - at least one whole afternoon without any organized activities - but also physical spaces available throughout the Forum for people to self-organize meetings, etc.
  • We have a Content and Methodology Committee made up of feminists from different regions with expertise on participatory methodologies to support us and all those leading activities at the Forum to use creative and engaging  formats for the Forum activities.