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
AWID IN 2015: Building Collective Impact
In 2015 AWID grew and diversified.
We ramped up preparations for the 13th AWID international Forum, focused a lot of energy on the Post 2015 Development Agenda and Financing for Development processes, and continued the core work of our priority areas:
- Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms
- Women Human Rights Defenders
- Economic Justice
- Resourcing Women’s Rights
- Young Feminist Activism
A sneak peak inside the report
The context
- We continue witnessing the rapid breakdown in democracy and democratic institutions, with spaces for dissent shrinking.
- Multiple and concurrent systemic crises (energy, food, finance and climate) continue to deepen inequalities and pose major challenges.
- Corporations are a leading power in determining the development agenda.
- Violence against WHRDs remains an urgent problem.
- Religious fundamentalisms are pervasive and increasingly powerful.
- New forms of online gender-based violence have emerged.
In response, we are moving out of our silos.
Increasingly, women’s rights and other movements worldwide are articulating the systemic and intersectional nature of these and other problems. We are making better connections with the agendas of other social and environmental movements for solidarity, alliance building and collective responses. We are also seeing greater visibility of these movements fighting for justice on the ground.
Our Impact
- For effective strategizing and advocacy, we need facts
- To exchange knowledge and join hands in solidarity, we need a strong online community
- To build our collective power, we need to work together
- To influence international processes, we need to increase our access and voice
- To reposition power we need to give visibility and emphasize the important role that feminist and women’s rights movements are already playing
Our Members
As at 31st December, 2015 we had:
Read the full report
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Centro de la ciudad de São Paulo
Fuente: Censo de População de Rua, Prefeitura de São Paulo
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Gracias por visitar AWID.
Les agradecemos su interés por visitar el sitio web de AWID. Para obtener más información sobre nuestro trabajo, visiten https://www.awid.org/es
Saidoo Ali Warsame
Snippet - CSW68 - March 12 - FR
Jour 2
12 Mars
Fatima Mernissi
Annual Report 2010
Our 2010 Annual Report highlights the major accomplishments of each of our strategic initiatives during the year.
Along with activity highlights, we include a brief analysis of the impact of our initiatives as well as reflections from our members and partners that further illustrate the relevance of AWID’s work and its connection to broader women’s rights movements.
This interactive document is complete with links to our websites and recent publications with in-depth information on the issues we address in the report.
Snippet FEA Occupation’s kitchen Instagram (FR)
Campagne publicitaire d'Ocupação 9 de Julho :
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Les Femmes Maintiennent les Soins | Les Soins Soutiennent la Vie | La Vie Soutient l'Économie | Qui s'Occupe des Femmes ? | Pas Une de Moins1 | Ensemble | Déjeuner du Dimanche
1Nenhuna a menos se traduit littéralement par « pas une femme de moins » ou « ni una menos » en espagnol - un célèbre slogan féministe en Amérique latine qui a émergé en Argentine en réponse à l'augmentation de la violence sexiste.
Ressources des mouvements féministes
L'enquête "Où est l'argent?" #WITM est maintenant en ligne ! Plongez dans l'enquête et partagez votre expérience du financement de votre organisation avec des féministes du monde entier.
En savoir plus et participer à l’enquête!
Les mouvements féministes, en faveur des droits des femmes et leurs allié-e-s du monde entier s’opposent au pouvoir et imaginent de nouvelles politiques de libération. Des ressources économiques et politiques aux actes quotidiens de résistance et de survie, les contributions qui viennent nourrir ce travail revêtent de nombreuses formes.
L’initiative de l’AWID, Ressources des mouvements féministes (Resourcing Feminist Movements, RFM), met en lumière l’écosystème de financement actuel, qui va des modèles d’attribution des ressources auto-générée aux voies de financement officielles.
A travers nos recherches et analyses, nous examinons de quelles façons les pratiques de financement pourraient mieux servir nos mouvements. Nous faisons une étude critique des contradictions propres au “financement” de la transformation sociale, compte tenu notamment de la répression politique croissante, des programmes anti-droits et du pouvoir grandissant des entreprises. Mais surtout, nous élaborons des stratégies collectives en appui à des mouvements fleurissants, solides et résilients.
Nos Actions
Reconnaissant la richesse de nos mouvements et répondant au contexte actuel, nous oeuvrons à:
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Créer et élargir les alternatives : Nous développons les pratiques de financement qui accordent une place prépondérante aux priorités des activistes et impliquons un large éventail de donateurs et d’activistes dans la création de nouveaux modèles dynamiques d’attribution de ressources en faveur des mouvements féministes, en particulier dans un contexte qui voit l’espace de participation de la société civile diminuer considérablement.
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Enrichir nos connaissances : Nous explorons, échangeons et consolidons nos connaissances sur la façon dont les mouvements attirent, organisent et utilisent les ressources qui leur sont nécessaires pour entreprendre des changements significatifs.
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Plaider : Nous travaillons en partenariat, comme avec le Count Me In! Consortium, afin d’influencer les programmes de financement et permettre aux mouvements féministes d’être en dialogue direct pour déplacer le pouvoir et l’argent.
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She has worked relentlessly for three decades towards the safeguarding of human rights, women’s rights and peace-building in conflict areas on the Pacific Coast of Colombia.
Clemencia has made significant contributions to the fight for truth, reparations and justice for the victims of Colombia’s civil war. She received the National Award for the Defense of Human Rights in 2019, and also participated in the campaign of newly elected Afro-Colombian and long-time friend, vice-president Francia Marquez.
Although Clemencia has faced and continues to face many hardships, including threats and assassination attempts, she continues to fight for the rights of Afro-Colombian women and communities across the country.
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Margarita Salas Guzmán
Biography
Margarita is a feminist and LGBTIQA activist from Latin America; her passion is social transformation and collective wellbeing. She holds degrees in Psychology, Communications and Public Administration, as well as certificates in Public Policy, Leadership, Management & Decision Making. In her professional capacity, Margarita has had extensive experience with grassroots organizations, national and regional NGOs, universities and the public sector, developing facilitation, capacity building, political advocacy, communications & policy assessment.
Position
Special Projects Manager
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Snippet FEA Metzineres activists (ES)
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Activistas de Metzineres en acción |
Maria do Espírito Santo da Silva
