Marisela Escobedo Ortiz
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.
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Snippet FEA 1 of 3 trans and travesti people (ES)
1 de cada 3 personas trans y travesti en Argentina vive en un hogar de bajos ingresos.
Snippet - WITM Who should - RU
КОМУ СТОИТ ПРОЙТИ ЭТОТ ОПРОС?
Опрос предназначен для групп, организаций и движений, работающих исключительно или главным образом по вопросам защиты прав женщин, ЛГБТКИ+, гендерной справедливости во всех контекстах, на всех уровнях и во всех регионах. Если одно из этих направлений является основным видом деятельности вашей группы, коллектива, сети или любого другого типа организации – независимо от того, зарегистрирована она или нет, недавно создана или существует уже давно, мы приглашаем вас принять участие в этом опросе.
* На данном этапе мы не ожидаем ответов от частных лиц или женских и феминистских фондов.
Узнайте больше об опросе:
загляните в часто задаваемые вопросы
Mary Assaad
Experte en développement social et anthropologue de formation, Mary était surtout connue pour être une pionnière de la lutte contre les mutilations génitales féminines (MGF).
Née au Caire en 1922, les travaux de Mary en matière de développement ont commencé tôt, dès son adhésion à la YWCA (Association chrétienne des jeunes femmes). Mary était membre du Conseil œcuménique des Églises et s'est progressivement intéressée aux questions relatives à la santé des femmes. Sa longue lutte contre les MGF a porté ses fruits en 2008, lorsque l'Egypte a finalement criminalisé cette pratique.
On se souvient d'elle comme d'une mentor pour de nombreuses féministes et militant-e-s égyptien-ne-s
Nana Abuelsoud
Biography
Nana es una organizadora feminista e investigadora en derechos reproductivos y políticas demográficas que reside en Egipto. Es miembro de RESURJ (organización feminista por la justicia sexual y reproductiva), del Órgano Asesor del Proyecto A del Líbano y de la Comisión de la Comunidad de Mama Cash. Nana tiene una maestría en Salud Pública del Instituto KIT y la Universidad Vrije de Ámsterdam. En su trabajo, da seguimiento y contextualiza las políticas demográficas nacionales, al tiempo que reúne información para abordar la eugenesia moderna, las ayudas internacionales de carácter regresivo y el autoritarismo. Anteriormente, formó parte de la Fundación de Ginebra para la Educación y la Investigación Médica, la Iniciativa Egipcia para los Derechos Personales y el Colectivo Feminista Ikhtyar de El Cairo.
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Carta de amor a los movimientos feministas #6
Sobre el amor por un movimiento
¿Cómo comienza un movimiento?
los fantasmas nos expulsan de una casa, una familia, y una nación
llegamos fatigadas a un espacio (a veces un domicilio real) pero fundamentalmente a un estado de ser
precedidas por una estrella fugaz
quizás nuestra llegada no está acompañada por la fatiga,
quizás está acompañada por el miedo
quizás nuestra llegada no está acompañada por el miedo
quizás está acompañada por la rabia
ante cuestiones que siguen repitiéndose:
una puñalada en el corazón (léase pena)
una bala en la espalda (léase traición)
desapariciones forzadas
cuerpos sentenciados por el matrimonio, la desfiguración y la fatiga crónica,
sin embargo, llegamos, nos reunimos, susurramos, hablamos y lloramos.
Así es como nuestros movimientos comienzan cuando llegamos unas a otras
Nos convertimos en semillas,
Así es como nuestros movimientos comienzan cuando nos plantamos unas a otras
Convirtiéndonos en flores, a veces solo espinas, a veces frutas,
somos el oasis de las otras
para cantar por las batallas
para preparar remedios
para ubicar los rostros de nuestras amantes, la forma de sus sonrisas, el sonido de su risa
el secreto de convertir los silencios en lenguaje
las detalladas instrucciones de las brujas
nuestro movimiento es para todas nosotras,
cuando llegamos como semillas con el propósito de florecer.
Sara AbuGhazal
www.badiya.blog
Susana Chavez
Snippet FEA Trans and Travesti people (FR)
LE QUOTA D'EMPLOI TRANS
n'est pas respecté par les entreprises
Snippet - WITM To make - PT
Para dar ênfase à complexidade do financiamento de várias formas de organização feminista;
Peni Moore
Peni was a radical feminist philosopher, poet, writer, playwright and songwriter.
As the first coordinator for the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, she left a legacy that was infused with her deep concern for women’s human rights, justice and peace. Peni’s commitment to social, economic and ecological justice and her outstanding work gained local and international respect. She was one of the first in mainstream feminist movements in Fiji to work with, and beside LGBTQI people as a real accomplice, and provided practical assistance to the early Fiji sex worker movement.
Her colleagues described her as a formidable individual and visionary leader for change. She inspired many by her creativity and courage. Her work provided platforms for people to be heard, attain new skills and forge new pathways both at the personal and community level.
¿Cómo se inició AWID?
AWID surgió en 1982 y se ha ido transformando con el paso de los años en una verdadera organización mundial.
Saber más de nuestra historia
Leer «From “WID” to “GAD” to Women’s Rights: The First Twenty Years of AWID» (en inglés)
We Are the Ones We Have been Waiting For!
We’re beginning a new year--2023. COVID-19 continues to infect and re-infect many, many people around the world. We are witnessing the resurgence of right-wing and fascist governments, even in places we may not have expected like Sweden. War, armed conflict, and dramatic increase in militarization, militarism, and military spending are enabling the unbridled capital accumulation by the few, with participation of seemingly “strange” alliances locking arms, both visibly and invisibly, where economic and political elites of the Global North and Global South are benefitting beyond our wildest imagination. In the meanwhile, our people and the natural environment pay enormous costs and suffer all the expected and unexpected consequences.
As all of you and all of us at AWID know, feminists in multiple movements around the world are resisting and organizing against multiple faces of tyranny, creating alternative structures, implementing grassroots strategies, and building transnational alliances. We are generating joy, inspiring one another, singing, and dancing within and against the prevailing culture of killing and cynicism that seems to have engulfed so much of the world.
We--Staff and Board--of AWID are prepared and inspired more than ever before to face challenges by strengthening our relationships with our members and organizational partners, meeting and getting to know those who we are yet to meet and do what we do best: support the global feminist movements. Although we were sad facing the departures of our beloved former Co-Eds Cindy and Hakima, our wonderful new Co-EDS Faye and Inna along with committed and creative staff have embraced the moment that encapsulates both opportunities and threats.
For sure, all of us at AWID and all our movement folks know: As the Caribbean US poet and activist June Jordan wrote to the South African women activists during the height of the apartheid regime, “We are the ones we have been waiting for”!
Rhonda Copelon
Snippet - WITM About the survey - PT
Sobre o inquérito
- GLOBAL E DIVERSO: Reflete sobre as realidades de financiamento da organização feminista em escala global e separadas por regiões
- CONTEXTUALIZADO: Dá enfâse às vozes, perspetivas e experiências vividas dos movimentos feministas com toda a sua riqueza, coragem e diversidade, nos seus respetivos contextos
- CRIADO EM COLABORAÇÃO: Desenvolvido e testado em colaboração conjunta com membres da AWID e parceires do movimento
- COMPLEMENTAR: Contribui para os testemunhos existentes e aprofunda os mesmos sobre o estado de financiamento para a organização feminista, de direitos das mulheres e de justiça de género por ativistas, financiadores feministas e aliados
- MULTILINGUE: Disponível em árabe, inglês, francês, português, russo e espanhol.
- CONFIDENCIAL: Damos prioridade à sua privacidade e ao seu anonimato. A AWID jamais divulgará informações sobre uma organização específica ou informações que permitam identificar uma organização através da respetiva localização ou características. A nossa política de privacidade detalhada está disponível aqui.
- ACESSÍVEL: Acessível para pessoas com uma variedade diversificada de habilidades auditivas, de movimento, visuais e cognitivas, sendo que demora aproximadamente 30 minutos a ser realizado.
- REPRODUZÍVEL: Pode ser reproduzido através dos movimentos nos seus respetivos contextos; ferramentas de inquérito e conjuntos de dados estarão disponíveis publicamente para abranger mais inquéritos e advocacia coletiva.
Carmen de la Cruz
Carmen tuvo una larga carrera en la defensa de los derechos de las mujeres tanto en organizaciones no gubernamentales como en el sistema de las Naciones Unidas.
Dio clases en varias universidades españolas y latinoamericanas y publicó numerosos artículos e informes sobre mujeres, género y paz en países en desarrollo. Sus escritos y reflexiones críticas repercutieron en toda una generación de mujeres jóvenes.
En sus últimos años, fue responsable del Área Práctica de Género en el Centro Regional para América Latina del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD), desde donde apoyó iniciativas muy valiosas en favor de la igualdad de género y los derechos humanos de las mujeres.
Quels sont les enjeux sur lesquels travaille l’AWID ?
L’AWID œuvre à renforcer la justice de genre et les droits humains des femmes.
Nous travaillons à renforcer les voix et l'impact des défenseuses des droits humains, des organisations et des mouvements.
Nos Domaines prioritaires sont étroitement liés aux réalités internationales. Ils sont le reflet de situations de plus en plus précaires qui sapent les droits des femmes à l’échelle mondiale.
- La justice économique
- Les ressources pour les droits des femmes
- S'opposer aux fondamentalismes religieux
- Les défenseuses des droits humains
- L'activisme des jeunes féministes
Who can fund my women’s rights organizing?
Our funder database is currently under revision. We know feminists still need and deserve more and better resources!
Please join our mailing list to stay informe about this update.
You can also become a member and find and create connections with feminists around the world.
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