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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
Aïssata Kane
Aïssata Kane, surnommée affectueusement “Yaye Kadia” (Mère Kadia), a de tout temps été une féministe engagée dans la défense des droits des femmes africaines, et particulièrement mauritaniennes.
Au cours de sa carrière politique, en 1975, elle fut nommée ministre de la protection de la famille et des affaires sociales et travailla avec ardeur à l’amélioration du statut des femmes dans son pays; c’était la première fois qu'une femme occupait un tel poste.
Ce travail consista notamment à promouvoir l’éducation des filles et des femmes, à lutter contre la pratique du gavage sur les jeunes femmes, à faire pression pour l’inclusion d’une disposition sur les droits maritaux et à plaider en faveur de la création d’un quota de représentation féminine au Parlement.
“[Aïssata] a réalisé toutes ses passions avec humilité, courage et détermination. Elle ne voulait déranger personne avec ce combat qu’elle menait sur tous les fronts à la fois.” Ball Halimata Dem, la nièce d’Aïssata
Ayant fondé l'Union nationale des femmes de Mauritanie (UNFM), elle avait cocréé et publié pour elles le magazine Marienou, dédié à l’émancipation des femmes mauritaniennes. Aïssata dirigea également plusieurs organisations sous-régionales et locales, notamment en tant que présidente de l'Association internationale des femmes francophones (AIFF) et, en écologiste résolue, fut présidente de l'Association pour la protection de l'environnement en Mauritanie (APEM).
En 2018, on lui décerna le Prix de la Femme africaine pionnière. Ce prix honore son engagement à faire progresser le statut de la femme en Mauritanie et reconnaît son grand leadership et son sens de l'innovation.
Aïssata est décédée le 10 août 2019.
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2. Frame your research
A framework for your research will guide throughout your research process, and the framing document you develop can also serve as a concept note to advisors and partners, and a funding proposal to potential donors.
Before conducting any research:
- Set the goals of your research
- List the key questions you want your research to answer
- Write out the type of data you will need to obtain and review to answer your key questions
- Define the final products you will produce with your research
Your research framing may evolve over time as you refine your questions and gather new information. However, building an initial research framing will allow you to work from a solid foundation.
Goals
To create a strong foundation for your WITM research, it is important to clarify what you hope to accomplish.
For example, one goal of AWID’s WITM global research was to provide rigorous data to prove what we already knew anecdotally: that women’s rights organizations are discrepantly underfunded. With this data, we felt we would be better positioned to influence funders in their decision-making.
Your goals could be to:
- Generate hard data on funding realities and trends to prove or disprove existing myths.
- Gain deeper insight into differences between the perspectives of donors and women’s rights organizations.
- Influence donors in grant-making.
- Add crucial input to key funding debates.
- Explore collaboration between donors and women’s rights organizations on issues that emerge from the research.
Key questions
Frame your research process with key questions that only your research can answer and limit those questions to a specific time frame (e.g. past five years, past year, etc.).
Consider the following points:
- What exactly do you want to learn more about and what is the hypothesis you would like to test? Writing this out will assist you in your thought process.
- Is there existing research on this? If research already exists, it may not make sense to conduct new WITM research unless you feel like the existing research is not extensive or specific enough.
- What time frame do you want to cover in your analysis? For example, will your research analyze only the past year, or several previous years, such as the past five years?
- Are you planning to repeat your survey to collect data in the future?
Choosing a specific timeframe for your research can result in more precise findings than working with an open-ended timeframe. Also, deciding whether you will repeat this research at regular intervals will allow you to set up data collection benchmarks for easy replication and comparison over time.
These were the key questions that guided AWID’s WITM research process:
- What is the current state of women’s organizations’ financial sustainability across the world?
- What external and internal trends are impacting donors’ funding decisions to support women’s organizations and movements?
Type of data
Now that you determined your key questions, you can determine what kind of data will help you answer your key questions. This will allow you to plan the rest of your schedule for your WITM research.
For example, will you conduct a survey that covers an extensive portion of your priority population? Will you analyze the applications that funders are receiving from a certain region? Will you also conduct interviews (recommended)? By determining the types of data you need, you can reach out to external parties who will provide this data early on, and plot out your full schedule accordingly. Some suggested sources of data could be:
- Surveys you create for women’s rights organizations and donors
- Application and grantmaking data from donors funding cycles
- Interviews of prominent activists, organizations, and donors
- Donor data from membership organizations and networks, such as the Foundation Center, regional or national donor affinity groups.
Diverse data sets are a great way to create robust and rich analysis.
The data from AWID’s 2011 Global Survey formed the backbone of our analysis in Watering the Leaves, Starving the Roots report. However, we also collected data from interviews and interactions with several actors in the field, ranging from donors to activists and women’s rights organizations.
Final products
In addition to allowing you to set your schedule, creating an initial plan of what products you will develop will also allow you to work out what resources you need.
For example, will you only produce a long research report or will you also create infographics, brochures and presentations? Depending on your products, you may need to hire a design firm, plan events and so on.
These products will also be the tools you use to achieve your goals, so it is important to keep those goals in mind. For example, is your WITM research exclusively intended as an advocacy tool to influence funders? In that case, your products should allow you to engage with funders at a deep level.
Some sample products:
- Long report for dissemination with key funders and organizations.
Historically, AWID WITM research has centered on a long report, from which AWID distilled other smaller products - see rest of list. - Infographic for viral distribution online
- Short animation demonstrating key findings
- Short brochure(s) distilling your findings and messages
- Articles and blog posts on key findings to draw interest to your larger report
- Seminars or webinars presenting key findings.
Conclusion: Framing your research will give you the big picture
Framing your research to cover goals, key questions, types of data, and final products will allow you to create a well-planned schedule, prepare your resources in advance, and plan a realistic budget.
This will make interactions with external partners easier and allow you to be nimble when unexpected setbacks occur.
Previous step
Next step
Estimated time:
• 1 month
People needed:
• 1 or more Research person(s)
Resources available:
• AWID Research Framing: sample 1
• AWID Research Framing: sample 2
Previous step
Next step
Ready to Go? Worksheet
Evelinda Ramirez Reyes
Barbara Allimadi
Barbara Allimadi was a political and human rights activist from Uganda. In 2012, she co-organized a protest against a televised police assault of Ingrid Turinawe, an opposition politician who had her breast squeezed by a police officer.
During the protest, Barbara, along with other fellow activists stripped to their bras in front of the Central Police Station in Kampala. This came to be known as the infamous ‘bra protest’ in Uganda.
“We settled on the bra protest. We thought it would be most appropriate for what had happened. It’s not like we were saying we don’t respect ourselves. We were disgusted by what had been done.” - Barbara Allimadi, 2013 (Daily Monitor)
With a Degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the London Metropolitan University, Barbara was a network engineer in the United Kingdom and an avid fan of reggae music. She returned to Uganda In 2007, when her mother passed away.
In 2019, she was appointed Coordinator for International and Diaspora Affairs at the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), a political party launched that year by an opposition leader.
“We want security of life and property, not pain, injury and even death at the hands of security forces who are meant to protect us. Most importantly, we want a stable and enabling environment where we can realize our dreams and aspirations.” - Barbara Allimadi, ANT video
Barbara passed away on 27 April 2020.
Tributes:
“I was so proud of my sister for many things but in particular her fearless pursuit of peace, democracy, justice and equality in Uganda. At the height of her activism she led many marches on the streets of Kampala, to police stations, and Parliament.” - Doris Allimadi, Barbara’s sister
“It is with deep sadness that we have learnt of the untimely passing of Barbara Allimadi. She has been a valiant, relentless and courageous force for the liberation movement of Uganda. Our deepest condolences to her family. She will be sorely missed.” - Akina Mama wa Afrika (tweet on 28 April 2020)
“The passing on of Barbara is so sad for us and her entire family. She dedicated herself to fighting for justice, freedom and rights of others while serving in the civil society until she recently joined us at the party.” Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu, ANT national coordinator
“A beautiful, charming, funny, charismatic and inspirational sister. My children lost their aunty. Uganda lost a brave and courageous freedom fighter. Barbara once said, ‘As long as there is still breath in you, keep working towards your dreams.’” - Doris Allimadi, Barbara’s sister
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6. Conduct desk research
Desk research can be done throughout your research. It can assist you with framing, help you to choose survey questions and provide insights to your results.
In this section
- Giving context
- Building on existing knowledge
- Potential sources for desk research
1. Donors’ websites and annual reports
2. Online sources of information
Giving context
Conducting desk research throughout your research process can assist you with framing, help you to choose survey questions and provide contextual clarity or interesting insights to your survey results, such as comparing similarities and differences between your survey results and information produced by civil society and donors.
Perhaps you notice trends in your survey data and want to understand them.
For example, your survey data may reveal that organization budgets are shrinking, but it cannot tell you why this is happening. Reviewing publications can give you context on potential reasons behind such trends.
Building on existing knowledge
Desk research also ensures you are building your research on the existing knowledge regarding your topic, confirming the validity and relevance of your findings.
They may be complimentary or contradictory to existing knowledge, but they must speak to existing data on the topic.
To ensure comprehensive research of the entire funding landscape related to your topic, look at a diverse set of funding sectors.
You can consider:
- Women’s Funds
- Private and Public Foundations
- International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs)
- Bilateral and Multilateral Agencies
- Private Sector Actors
- Individual Philanthropists
- Crowdfunders
Include any other relevant sectors to this research.
For example, you may decide that it is also important to research local non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Potential sources for desk research (non-exhaustive)
1. Donors’ websites and annual reports
These are direct sources of information about what funders are actually doing and generally contain information on policies and budgets. Researching this before interviewing donors can result in more focused questions and a stronger interview.
2. Online sources of information
- Alliance Magazine
- Council on Foundations newsletter
- Devex blog & bulletins
- Foundation Center news
- Articles written by activists and organizations in your survey population
- AWID’s Donor list
- Philanthropy Journal
- Institute of Development Studies
Previous step
Next step
Estimated time:
• 1-2 months
People needed:
• 1 or more research person(s)
Previous step
Next step
7. Synthesize your research findings
Ready to Go? Worksheet
Keila Almanza
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Oui, n’hésitez pas à le faire! Nous vous encourageons à communiquer le lien vers l’enquête à vos réseaux. Plus les points de vue exprimés et collectés seront divers, plus notre compréhension du paysage du financement de l’organisation des mouvements féministes sera exhaustive.
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¿Cómo se originó este proyecto?
Pensamos que la economía, el mercado, el sistema financiero y las premisas sobre las que se basan son todas áreas fundamentales para la lucha feminista.
Por eso, nuestra visión de una economía justa va más allá de promover los derechos y el empoderamiento de las mujeres en una economía de mercado, sino que busca evaluar el rol que juegan las opresiones de género en dar forma al modelo económico y ver como podemos transformarlo para garantizar la justicia de género y económica.
El proceso
No estamos comenzando de cero ni estamos solas en nuestro intento de presentar propuestas feministas para una economía justa. Muchas de nuestras propuestas ya han sido presentadas o existen en la práctica de las diversas comunidades que confrontan y desafían a los sistemas económicos dominantes basados en el mercado y el crecimiento.
También somos concientes de las limitaciones que algunas alternativas presentan para abordar las injusticias del actual sistema capitalista a escala global. No siempre las propuestas a nivel micro son la respuesta a los problemas macro, si bien representan espacios importantes de resistencia y construcción de movimientos.
Metas
Sin embargo, las alternativas feministas para una economía justa son fundamentales para socavar el sistema y para aprender a generar cambios transformadores y sistémicos. No podemos presumir de ofrecer un relato exhaustivo ni completo acerca de cómo crear un modelo económico feminista justo, o varios modelos de esa clase. Lo que sí podemos hacer es recoger elementos de diálogos con otros movimientos (sindicales, ambientales, rurales y de campesinxs) para formular propuestas que nos permitan acercanos a esa visión.
¿Qué queremos cambiar?
El modelo neoliberal que dirige la economía global ha demostrado una y otra vez su incapacidad para hacer frente a las causas estructurales de la pobreza, las desigualdades y la exclusión. Lo que en realidad ha hecho el neoliberalismo ha sido contribuir a crear y exacerbar esas injusticias.
En estas últimas tres décadas, las políticas dominantes para el desarrollo se han caracterizado por la globalización, liberalización, privatizaciones, financialización y ayudas condicionadas, y han destrozado los medios de vida de la población. El recorrido de estas políticas también ha estado marcado por la profundización de desigualdades, las injusticias con marca de género y la destrucción ambiental que el mundo ya no puede continuar soportando.
Hay quienes no dudan en sostener que el crecimiento económico, que debe ser facilitado dando plena libertad a las grandes corporaciones y empresas, puede generar y sostener una una marea alta que (con el tiempo) levante todos los barcos.
Sin embargo, la noción de desarrollo que ha prevalecido durante las últimas décadas, construida sobre la premisa de un crecimiento económico ilimitado, está atravesando una crisis ideológica.
El mito del crecimiento económico como panacea para todos nuestros problemas está perdiendo cada vez más prestigio.
Ver también
Piera Oria
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لمشاركة تجاربكم/ن المعاشة بما يتعلق بتمويل منظمتكم/ن
Snippet Intro The Feminist Realities Magazine (FR)
Magazine des Réalités Féministes
À l’AWID, nous concevons ces réalités féministes comme les exemples vivants des mondes que nous savons possibles. Nous concevons ces diverses réalités féministes comme des revendications et des incarnations d’espoir et de pouvoir. Elles sont ancrées dans les multiples manières de vivre, de penser et de faire autrement, que ce soit au niveau des expressions quotidiennes de nos modes de vie ou nos manières d'être en relations les un.e.s avec les autres ou au niveau de systèmes alternatifs de gouvernance et de justice.
Les Réalités féministes combattent les systèmes de pouvoir dominants tels que le patriarcat, le capitalisme et la suprématie blanche.
Télécharger le magazine complet (PDF)