Philippe Leroyer | Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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

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.

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A sneak peak inside the report

The context

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Disintegration | Content Snippet FR

Mercredi une note arrive
avec une adresse au dos.

    17 h, ce soir.

L’écriture sur l’invitation—
frêle et brusque—
je l’ai vue cinq fois en cinq ans.

Mon corps se réveille,
fébrile. 

Je dois d’abord me baiser moi-même. 

La marée est haute ce soir et
je
jouis.

Je veux tout ralentir,
goûter le temps et l’espace, les graver
en mémoire.

*

Je ne suis jamais allée dans cette partie de la ville auparavant.
Les endroits inconnus m’excitent,
la façon dont les membres et les veines et les os
résistent à la pourriture,
leur sort incertain.

Arrivée à la porte, je réfléchis à deux fois.
Le couloir est tout noir
et ça me fait faire une pause.

De l’autre côté,
un portail d’odeurs et de couleurs
s’ouvre comme une malédiction,
dans un après-midi ensoleillé.

La brise
fait danser mes cheveux,
pique leur curiosité,
les obligent à se déplacer.

J’entends le fauteuil roulant vrombir,
façonnant les ombres.
Puis je les vois :
un visage de lynx
et un corps comme le mien
et je me retrouve à désirer les deux
de nouveau.
 
La créature me fait signe d’approcher.

Ses gestes écrivent une phrase;
tandis que je m’avance,
je note ses détails :

    flétrir, chair, bonheur

À sa commande, la vigne recouvre le couloir
étreignant des pierres chaudes,
serpentant le long du mur.

Cela devient un verbe,
« escalader »,
et je suis réorientée quand leurs griffes pointent
vers le lit de vigne au centre.

J’entends les roues derrière moi,
puis ce son.
Il résonne
comme aucun autre.
Ses longues ailes noires
montent vers le plafond
puis iel se précipite vers l’avant.

La vision féline scrute chaque détail,
chaque changement,
chaque désir.

Le désir peut-il liquéfier vos muscles? 

      Peut-il agir plus doux que le 
      plus puissant des tranquillisants?

Un lynx coud le monde
à travers nos différences,
tissant de la dentelle autour de mes genoux.

Le désir peut-il écraser la distance du monde, comprimant les secondes?

Iel se rapproche encore,
oeil de lynx rencontrant oeil humain,
reniflant l’air,
transformant le corps en
urgence.

Iel a battu des ailes.
Remuées,
les vignes s’emmêlent autour de ma taille/de mes pertes.

Sa langue amincit le temps,
terrains mouvants,
apaise, avec sa magie,
ce qui remue dessous.

      Je vois le monde en toi, 
      et le monde est épuisé.

Puis iel plaide :

      Laisse-moi me régaler de toi.