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

Read in: English French Spanish

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 - WITM Provide members - EN

Provide AWID members, movement partners and funders with an updated, powerful, evidence-based, and action-oriented analysis of the resourcing realities of feminist movements and current state of the feminist funding ecosystem.

Identify and demonstrate opportunities to shift more and better funding for feminist organizing, expose false solutions and disrupt trends that make funding miss and/or move against gender justice and intersectional feminist agendas.

Articulate feminist visions, proposals and agendas for resourcing justice.

START THE SURVEY

Snippet intro text_Festival (EN)

Our festival featured 130 speakers, facilitators & artists from 43 countries, spread across 40+ sessions!

L’AWID peut-elle financer mon projet de développement ?

Read in: English French Spanish

Non, l’AWID n’est malheureusement pas un organisme de financement.

Nous ne pouvons pas examiner les propositions ou les demandes de financement.

Nous vous invitons à consulter notre liste de bailleurs fonds pouvant potentiellement financer votre organisation pour les droits des femmes

Voir notre liste de bailleurs de fonds (en anglais)

Plus de ressources sont disponible depuis la page de Domaine prioriataire Ressources des mouvements féministes

Who should participate in the survey?

Groups, organizations and/or movements working specifically or primarily for women, girls, gender justice, LBTQI+ and allied people’s rights in all regions and at all levels, both newly formed and long-standing.

Snippet SM CTA_Fest (EN)

Follow us on social media and share about your favorite moments from our festival:

Facebook: @AWIDWomensRights
Instagram: @awidwomensrights
Twitter ENG: @awid
LinkedIn: Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)

I am new to this field and there are lots of terms that I find confusing. Can you help?

Read in: English French Spanish

Nuestra agrupación, organización o movimiento no ha tomado ni movilizado financiamiento de donantes externos, ¿deberíamos responder la encuesta?

¡Sí! Reconocemos y valoramos las distintas razones por las que los feminismos en sus contextos respectivos no cuentan con financiamiento externo, ya sea por no reunir los requisitos para solicitar donaciones o para recibir dinero del exterior, o bien porque se financian con recursos generados de manera autónoma como estrategia política en sí misma. Deseamos saber de ustedes con independencia de su experiencia de financiamiento externo.

Snippet Video C&H (ES)

Estoy viviendo una situación de violencia en una o más de mis relaciones, ¿AWID puede abogar en mi nombre?

Read in: English French Spanish

AWID no es una organización que brinde servicios directos ni que defienda casos individuales

Te recomendamos buscar asesoría legal y ponerte en contacto con un refugio para mujeres o un centro de referencia en tu área.

Las "HotPeachPages" son un recurso en línea que ofrece enlaces a albergues para mujeres en todo el mundo. AWID no puede dar fe de la exactitud o la calidad de las instituciones que aparecen en esos listados, pero podría ser un buen lugar por donde empezar si no conoces organizaciones en tu zona.

Quelles sont les langues officielles de l’enquête WITM?

À l’heure actuelle, l’enquête est disponible sur KOBO en français, anglais, arabe, espagnol, portugais et russe. Vous pouvez choisir votre langue au début du questionnaire.

Snippet FEA FIGHT LIKE SOMEONE WHO CARES (FR)

São Paulo, Brésil

COZINHA OCUPAÇÃO 9 DE JULHO

Lutte comme quelqu'un·e qui

PREND SOIN

2007: la participation de la société civile est renforcée par la création du WWG sur le FdD

Read in: English French Spanish

Le Groupe de travail des femmes sur le financement du développement   (Women's Working Group on Financing for Development – WWG on FfD) , une alliance composée d’organisations et de réseaux de défense des droits des femmes,  a été créée en octobre 2007 pour mener, dans le cadre des processus des Nations Unies sur le FdD, des activités de plaidoyer en faveur de l’égalité de genre, de l’autonomisation des femmes et des droits humains.

Troisième Dialogue de haut niveau sur le financement du développement, 23-25 octobre 2007

  • Le troisième Dialogue de haut niveau sur le financement du développement a été l’occasion d’un regain de participation de la société civile. En plus des six tables rondes, des audiences ont été consacrées à la société civile et au secteur privé.
  • Lors de la séance plénière, l’AWID a prononcé une déclaration au nom de la société civile  appelant les gouvernements à accorder une attention plus soutenue au rôle important en tant qu’agentes de développement que jouent les organisations de défense des droits des femmes et à la nécessité de favoriser la mise en œuvre de nouveaux mécanismes de financement destinés aux femmes dans les pays en développement et dans les pays les moins avancés. Cette déclaration exhortait les gouvernements à apporter un soutien plus important à l’architecture de genre des Nations Unies, de façon à ce que le système,  dans son ensemble,  puisse progresser dans son engagement en faveur de l’égalité des genres, de l’autonomisation des femmes et des droits humains, en ce qui concerne notamment  les droits économiques, sociaux, culturels et environnementaux de toutes les personnes.