Over the past few years, a troubling new trend at the international human rights level is being observed, where discourses on ‘protecting the family’ are being employed to defend violations committed against family members, to bolster and justify impunity, and to restrict equal rights within and to family life.
The campaign to "Protect the Family" is driven by ultra-conservative efforts to impose "traditional" and patriarchal interpretations of the family, and to move rights out of the hands of family members and into the institution of ‘the family’.
“Protection of the Family” efforts stem from:
rising traditionalism,
rising cultural, social and religious conservatism and
sentiment hostile to women’s human rights, sexual rights, child rights and the rights of persons with non-normative gender identities and sexual orientations.
Since 2014, a group of states have been operating as a bloc in human rights spaces under the name “Group of Friends of the Family”, and resolutions on “Protection of the Family” have been successfully passed every year since 2014.
This agenda has spread beyond the Human Rights Council. We have seen regressive language on “the family” being introduced at the Commission on the Status of Women, and attempts made to introduce it in negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Our Approach
AWID works with partners and allies to jointly resist “Protection of the Family” and other regressive agendas, and to uphold the universality of human rights.
In response to the increased influence of regressive actors in human rights spaces, AWID joined allies to form the Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs). OURs is a collaborative project that monitors, analyzes, and shares information on anti-rights initiatives like “Protection of the Family”.
Rights at Risk, the first OURs report, charts a map of the actors making up the global anti-rights lobby, identifies their key discourses and strategies, and the effect they are having on our human rights.
The report outlines “Protection of the Family” as an agenda that has fostered collaboration across a broad range of regressive actors at the UN. It describes it as: “a strategic framework that houses “multiple patriarchal and anti-rights positions, where the framework, in turn, aims to justify and institutionalize these positions.”
One of the follow up mechanisms to the Monterrey conference are the UN General Assembly High-level Dialogues on Financing for Development held every two years. In total eight roundtable meetings took place following the Dialogue on various issues including agricultural subsidies, trade, debt relief and funding of the MDGs. All the discussions focused on dealing with the structural hindrances on these issues that disadvantaged ‘developing’ nations.
Other follow up mechanisms to Monterrey included:
The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) special high-level meeting, held annually, with the leadership of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization and UNCTAD on the follow-up to the Monterrey Consensus. ECOSOC also devotes up to two days to deliberate the FfD agenda item during its substantive session.
Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters, the specialized United Nations tax body, addresses the various tax policy issues identified in the Monterrey Consensus and provides a framework for dialogue with a view to enhancing and promoting international tax cooperation among national tax authorities.
Charte communautaire pour les membres de l’AWID
Cocréer des espaces accueillants et sécurisés
La cocréation de nos réalités féministes commence par nous-mêmes, et nos façons de nous traiter les un·e·s les autres. Nous nous efforçons de créer et de protéger des espaces qui sécurisent et soutiennent nos communautés, à la fois en ligne et en personne.
Nous envisageons aussi les espaces sécurisés et accueillants, tout comme cocréés, et dont la possession est partagée. Nous attendons de nos membres qu'iels agissent de façon éthique, responsable et cohérente vis-à-vis des valeurs de l’AWID, et qu'iels assument une responsabilité collective pour garantir un environnement de respect mutuel et de solidarité.
Tou·te·s les membres de AWID sont invité·e·s à :
Se connecter avec les autres, contribuer à rompre l’isolement et à favoriser la solidarité. On peut facilement se sentir perdu·e et seul·e. Un peu de convivialité et de réactivité peut donc s’avérer utile.
Interagir et participer avec calme. Des différences d’opinions feront évidemment surface. Pensez alors à l’utilité de ces différences pour élargir vos réflexions et vos façons de voir le monde.
Contribuer à construire un espace qui reconnaît et valide de multiples expériences de vie ainsi qu'une diversité de corps et d’expressions de genre. Reconnaissez que nous portons tou·te·s des identités intersectionnelles.
Utiliser un langage inclusif. Respectez la façon dont les gens souhaitent être désignés en termes d’identité ou d’expression de genre (comme les pronoms), et recourez au langage inclusif.
Écouter et adapter ses comportements et façons de communiquer si une personne mentionne son malaise. Ne posez pas d’autres questions que vous ne souhaiteriez vous voir poser.
Aider à défier les comportements oppressifs, qui comprennent le harcèlement, la violence verbale ou physique, la violation du consentement, et toute autre action qui perpétue le classisme, l'âgisme, le validisme, le racisme, la misogynie, l’hétérosexisme, la transphobie ou d’autres formes d'oppressions. Si besoin, n’hésitez pas à contacter l’équipe de l’AWID.
Avoir une parole et une écoute basées sur une ouverture d’esprit et de cœur, sans jugement.
Être honnête, ouvert·e et sympathique : Évoquez et partagez véritablement vos expériences, vos défis, vos espoirs et vos rêves, et votre vision pour votre propre vie et celle de votre communauté.
Pratiquer une écoute active et l’autoconscience : prenez conscience du temps et de l’espace que vous prenez ou laissez aux autres, pratiquez une écoute et un apprentissage sous forme active.
Être attentif·ve et reconnaître le travail et l’activisme des autres : Souvenez-vous que nous œuvrons tou·te·s collectivement au changement -- Assurez-vous de reconnaître la contribution des autres et de les citer au besoin, par exemple dans des discussions, des articles, des images, etc.
Rester en sécurité ! Nous vous invitons à prendre des mesures pour vous protéger en ligne et en personne, notamment si vous avez des raisons de croire que votre expression vous met en danger. Certains membres pourront utiliser des pseudonymes ou des photos de profil qui dissimulent leur identité. Pour plus d’informations, veuillez vous référer au kit (en anglais) « Digital Security First Aid Kit for Human Rights Defenders » (Kit de secours sur la sécurité numérique pour les Défenseur·e·s des droits humains) produit par l’Association pour le progrès des communications (APC).
Respecter les besoins de confidentialité des autres. Ne partagez ou ne transférez aucune information sans avoir obtenu une autorisation explicite.
Remarque :
L’AWID se réserve le droit de supprimer des commentaires, suspendre ou révoquer l’adhésion de membres en cas de violation des règles de la communauté. Les membres de l’AWID ne sont pas autorisés à représenter l’AWID à titre officiel, sauf mention écrite contraire. Les membres ne peuvent pas utiliser les espaces de l’AWID à des fins de prosélytisme ou de recrutement de membres pour rejoindre une organisation ou une croyance religieuse. Les membres ne peuvent pas utiliser les espaces de l’AWID pour demander des fonds à des fins personnelles, bien que les liens vers des actions de levée de fonds ou des campagnes de mobilisation soit autorisés.
«Yo no planeaba ser una cantante, el canto planeó estar en mí.» - Dorothy Masuka (entrevista de Mail & Guardian)
Dorothy Masuka, nacida en 1935 en Bulawayo (en ese momento Rodesia del Sur, ahora Zimbabue), creció en Sudáfrica, y se convirtió en una reconocida compositora, cantante de jazz, activista, y defensora ferviente de la lucha contra el apartheid. Definida como «una arquitecta del discurso de la música popular africana de liberación», Dorothy a menudo cantaba sobre política en lenguas indígenas africanas y, a través de todo su trabajo, confrontó las políticas racistas del gobierno sudafricano.
Una de estas canciones, titulada «Dr. Malan» (por el político pro-apartheid D.F. Malan) fue prohibida. Luego, en 1961, grabó «Lumumba», una canción sobre el asesinato del líder anticolonial Patrice Lumumba. El trabajo y el activismo de Dorothy atrajeron la atención de la División Especial de la policía sudafricana, y fue forzada a un exilio político que se prolongaría durante tres décadas. Durante ese tiempo, trabajó con grupos independentistas, incluido el Congreso Nacional Africano. En 1992, cuando el apartheid comenzó a desmoronarse y Nelson Mandela fue liberado de prisión, Dorothy regresó a Sudáfrica.
Su trabajo incluye la primera canción que grabó, en 1953, titulada «Hamba Notsokolo», que fue un éxito durante la década de 1950, y hoy es un clásico muy valorado. También escribió «El Yow Phata Phata», una canción que fue adaptada por Miriam Makeba, quien hizo de «Pata, Pata» un hit internacional.
Arraigados en la resistencia, la música y el activismo de Dorothy (popularmente conocida como «Auntie Dot» [«Tía Dot»]) estaban entretejidos, y dejaron un legado magnífico e inspirador.
Dorothy falleció en Johannesburgo el 23 de febrero de 2019 a la edad de 83 años, por problemas de salud.
📅 Martes 11 de marzo de 2025
🕒 De 06:00 a 08:00 p. m.,
🏢 Chef's Kitchen Loft with Terrace, 216 East 45th St 13th Floor New York
Organiza: AWID
Snippet Forum Quoate Nicky Mcintyre (ES)
Todos nuestros procesos de cambio se basan en las relaciones que construimos en espacios como los Foros de AWID donde se baila juntxs, tu humor se trasluce, tu yo real, cuentas historias... eso es lo que hace la diferencia. - Nicky Mcintyre, Estados Unidos
El tema del Cuarto Diálogo de Alto Nivel sobre la Financiación para el Desarrollo, que tuvo lugar el 23 y 24 de marzo de 2010, fue El Consenso de Monterrey y la Declaración de Doha sobre la financiación para el desarrollo: estado de la aplicación y labor futura. Contó con cuatro mesas redondas sobre: la reforma de los sistemas monetario y financiero internacionales; el impacto de la crisis financiera en la inversión extranjera directa; el comercio internacional y las corrientes de capitales privados; y el rol de la cooperación financiera y técnica para el desarrollo, incluyendo las fuentes innovadoras de financiación para el desarrollo, en el impulso de la movilización de recursos financieros nacionales e internacionales para el desarrollo.
También tuvo lugar un diálogo interactivo oficioso con diversos actores centrado en la relación entre la financiación para el desarrollo y la realización de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio.
Introduction to the films from Nuestramérica
By Alejandra Laprea
What a difficult task, that of condensing all the power and diversity of voices being raised in Latin America to tell the other stories emerging in this vast territory, to speak of the feminist realities we are building in our movement and other community-based organizations.
I spent a long time trying to establish parameters for the search and selection of these films, with the idea that they would enable you to get a little closer to so many dreams and projects that are slowly coming into being in the territories Nuestroamericanos, of our Americas, as we like to call them ourselves. It was a tough job trying to establish parameters, such as geographic location, linguistic justice, and representation of diverse communities — Indigenous, Afro-descendants, migrants — and the many causes and claims for which they raise their voices. I arrived at the conclusion that making such a compilation would be the work of years, one of those projects always under construction.
And so I decided to search for works that have emerged out of organizing and activism, as well as films that will perhaps spark major debates that we are yet to have.
In this selection of films you will find the voices of filmmakers who are not content with simply recording the feminist realities that palpitate in every corner of this vast and diverse territory. These are works that from their very conceptualization are questioning for what, by whom, and how films and videos are made. They understand film to be an instrument of struggle, something more than images to be enjoyed on a screen. These are individual or collective filmmakers who see film and video making as an instrument to promote discussion, open a debate, and thus serve as a resource for popular and feminist pedagogies.
Seen in this light, this small film selection is a journeythrough feminist realities on two levels; on one level are the stories you will see, and on another level, there is the experimentation of filmmakers who are seeking and creating other feminist realities through the ways in which they are making films and telling stories.
Enjoy this journey through films that Resist, Create, and Transform.
Lima is Burning
Direction: Giovana García Soto
Docu-fiction
Spanish with English subtitles
In Lima is Burning our work plays with documentary and fiction to take us into the life of Gía, a non-binary person, who uses performance art as a tool to denounce and transgress, as a vital manifesto against transfobia in every space, including gays spaces. With Gía we also take a look at transfeminism as a safe community in which Gía feels embraced, where she shares feelings and affections.
Giovana Garcia Sojo is a young peruvian audiovisual producer, specialized in low-budget production, creation for children and adolescents in cinema and cinematographic script by the International School of Cinema and Television - EICTV in San Antonio de Baños - Cuba. Giovana has developed her path as a director towards women and feminized identities, Lima is Burning is one of her first works.
Yo, Imposible / Being Impossible
Director: Patricia Ortega
Fiction
Spanish with English subtitles
Patricia Ortega, director of «Yo, Imposible» [“Being Impossible”] explores through the character of Ariel, a young girl whose intersex body was surgically violated as a child, the many ways that society attempts to normalize sexual and gender diversity.
The film tells the story of how Ariel discovers she was born intersex and subjected to several surgeries to normalize her genitals. This discovery leads the character to rediscover her body and reconstruct her identity. The audience is led to question a society dominated by heteronormativity which renders others invisible and condemns them to a life of unhappiness.
Patricia Ortega is a Venezuelan filmmaker living in Argentina who studied at the International School of Film and Television in Cuba, where she specialized in film directing. Patricia uses fiction to address extreme situations that women or feminized bodies go through, and how they overcome them.
«Yo, Imposible»' takes a position vis-à-vis the dominant conception of a world in which only the masculine and feminine exist, which makes others invisible. “They are not sick. They are just genetically different. Interventions are done on their genitals and bodies through hormones without their consent, which is a violation of their human rights and identity, forcing them to fit into established categories'' - Patricia Ortega
Cubanas, mujeres en revolución [Cuban Women in Revolution]
Director: Maria Torrellas Liebana
Documentary
Spanish with English subtitles
María Torrellas narrates the story of the Cuban Revolution through the women who brought it to life, Vilma Espín, Celia Sánchez, and Haydee Santamaría, among others.
For women, telling the story of the Cuban Revolution is not something of the past, but a daily struggle that Torrellas shows through the voices of Cuban rural women, professionals, students, and workers in the present. In “Cuban Women in Revolution” we encounter the current challenges facing Cuban women such as the persistence of old prejudices, new forms of violence, and the constant challenge of creating new feminist realities for themselves and the next generations in a territory besieged by USA imperialism for more than 70 years.
Maíia Torrellas
María Torrellas is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. She has a long trajectory of filmmaking and has won, among others, the Santiago Alvarez in Memoriam award for her documentary “Memoria de una hija de Oshun” [Memory of a Daughter of Oshun].
“In the documentary I have woven together the struggles of yesterday’s heroines with those of today’s women. The women tell their own stories and also describe those whose struggles they most admire. It made an impression on me to hear the words ‘The Revolution gave us everything’ or ‘What would have become of my family without the Revolution?’ from voices of compañeras who are poor, rural, or Black.” - María Torrellas
Serie documental Cuidanderas [Mini documentary series Women Healers/Carers]
Directors: Gabriela Arnal and Marzel Ávila for Fondo de Acción Urgente - LAC
Ecuador 2019
Spanish with English subtitles
CUIDANDERAS joins the words cuidar (to care for) and curanderas (women healers) synthesizing the identities of a series of women in Latin American territories, women who put their bodies and all their energy into protecting the Commons, what Pachamama gives us, with the commitment that we use it as wisely as the rest of living beings doThis mini series of documentary films presents the stories of three collectives of Latin American women who are committed to caring for their territories, healing their bodies, and confronting extractivist and racist projects in Ecuador, Colombia, and Bolivia.
GUARDIANAS DE LA AMAZONIA [GUARDIANS OF THE AMAZON]
Province of Orellana, Ecuador. For centuries the Waorani women have been engaged in a struggle for their territory in the Amazon and the preservation of their Indigenous culture. Today they confront threats by the oil industry and their death-production model. From the jungle, leaders from the Waorani Women’s Association of the Ecuadoran Amazon (AMWAE, in Spanish) share the motivation behind their resistance and show their greatest power: their inexhaustible joy.
COMADRES DEL PACÍFICO COLOMBIANO [BLACK SISTERHOOD OF THE PACIFIC]
Buenaventura, Colombia. In the largest and most violent port city in Colombia, plagued by decades of armed conflict, racism, and machismo, a group of women refuse to give in to fear and continue to resist in the face of adversity. The Butterflies with New Wings network is made up of Black women from the Pacific coast of Colombia who work together to protect their territory, recuperate their ancestral traditions, and heal the wounds of systematic and structural violence.
HERMANAS DEL ALTIPLANO [SISTERS OF THE HIGHLANDS]
Indigenous, rural, and regantes (women in charge of irrigation) in Bolivia are calling for the care and protection of bodies-earth-territories, as they are faced with an extractive production model which threatens their lives, health, physical and sexual integrity, and the survival of their communities and territories. The Network of Defenders of Mother Earth is made up of women from 12 Indigenous communities who are defending the right to water and denouncing mining companies’ violations of human rights and the rights of Nature while working to recuperate their ancestral ways of knowledge and practices of collective care.
“CUIDANDERAS, a combination of the words cuidar (to care for) and curanderas (women healers), presents the stories of Latin American women defenders who are caring for their territories and healing their bodies. The collective power of these women has changed the history of their communities in Ecuador, Colombia, and Bolivia as they confront extractivist and racist production models.”
Yo aborto, tú abortas, todxs callamos [I abort, you abort, we all keep silent]
Director: Carolina Reynoso
Argentina 2013
Spanish
If there is one thing that has marked feminist movements across the continent of Latin America that is the call for abortion to be made available, safe, and free. From North to South feminist movements are rising up and taking to the streets fighting for the liberation of our first territory, our bodies, which is why this selection must include a documentary on abortion to fully understand the power of the women of Nuestramérica.
Yo aborto, Tu Abortas, Todxs Callamos [I abort, you abort, we all keep silent] presents the stories of seven women from different social classes, including the director of the documentary herself, who reflect on something they have all experienced in their own bodies: clandestine abortion.
Through their stories, the film aims to bust myths regarding the voluntary interruption of pregnancy, de-stigmatize the topic, and show one of the most common forms of violence in the Americas in a new light.
Carolina Reynoso
Director, researcher, and producer of feminist films. She is also a feminist activist who organizes workshops on screenwriting from a gender perspective so that more films are made showing other counterhegemonic realities and stories. Carolina Reynoso strikes a balance between activism and creation in each one of her works.
“We are a group of filmmakers who make documentaries in order to continue fighting to make abortion available, safe, and free in Argentina. The film presents the testimonies of seven women from different social classes, including the director of the documentary herself, who reflect on something they have all experienced in their own bodies: clandestine abortion.” -The filmmaking team
Historias Urgentes: Resistencia en ollas Comunes [Urgent Stories: Resistance in the Soup Kitchens]
Nosotras Audiovisuales, collective of Chilean women filmmakers
Chile 2020
Spanish
“Urgent Stories” is a series created by women to make their needs and important experiences visible to the people living in the territories that today comprise Chile. This film series aims to keep alive the flame ignited by the social uprising of October 2019, the flame ofChile in all its diversity that woke up and said, ‘Enough!’
«Resistencia en ollas comunes» [Resistance in the Soup Kitchens] is the first of these “Urgent Stories.” Through the voices of four women from Iquique, Valparaiso, Chillan and Santiago, it shows how by collectively assuming care work they are on the front lines of resistance, creating other feminist realities for themselves and the communities where Latin American women live.
Nosotras audiovisuales
This organization was formed in 2017 to link together women involved in the Chilean filmmaking scene. It helps women filmmakers to network, collaborate, and share information along with their works and perspectives on the field.
Nosotras Audiovisuales contributes to the Chilean uprising by documenting it and collectively generating new material.
Se trata de Mujeres [It’s about Women]
Micol Metzner
Argentina 2019
Spanish
Based on her personal experience, director Micol Metzner presents a film mixing documentary with fiction, aligning her filmmaker’s voice with that of thousands of women who have been victims of trafficking across the continent and showing how solidarity among women is the best form of protection.
Micol Metzner
Filmmaker trained at the Instituto de Arte Cinematográfico de Avellaneda [Avellaneda Institute of Film Arts]. Art director and editor. Metzner belongs to the Video Cluster of the City of Buenos Aires, a community space and multisectorial cooperative for independent projects.
She facilitates filmmaking workshops in working class neighbourhoods and spaces of enclosure (youth group homes and women’s prisons). She is a member of the film production house MVM.
“The production house MVM was born out of the necessity to express a lot of things that we regularly protest on the streets about while also doing it in a creative way through drawing, film, and photography.The production house MVM is a place that interrogates language, image, film from a feminist perspective. It is also a place for processing everything we have gone through and using art to make things sometimes to heal, sometimes to generate public debate as happened with this short film…I didn’t imagine that was going to happen, but when we showed it, a lot of things were set in motion. Discussions happen that are even more enriching than the short film itself. That this can happen based on something we made is so good…” - Micol Metzner
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Finding Sally (2020) Amharic | Anglais avec sous-titres anglais
Une enquête personnelle sur la vie mystérieuse de la tante de la réalisatrice Sally, une aristocrate éthiopienne devenue rebelle communiste qui a disparu après la révolution conduisant au renversement de l'empereur Haile Selassie.
Discussion en direct avec Tamara Dawit, réalisatrice de « Finding Sally »
Esther Mwikali habitait dans le village de Mithini, dans le comté de Murang’a au Kenya. Activiste des droits fonciers, importante et appréciée, elle travaillait sur les abus à l’égard de squatters vivant sur des terres revendiquées par des magnats. Esther a participé à une enquête qui comprenait également des violations de droits fonciers à Makaya par de puissants individus.
Suite à l’absence d’Esther lors d’une réunion de village, une équipe de patrouille est partie à sa recherche. Le 27 août 2019, deux jours après sa disparition, on retrouva son corps dans une ferme proche de sa propriété, montrant des signes de torture. Elle fut sauvagement assassinée.
« Esther était reconnue pour son travail auprès des membres de la communauté, empêchant les évictions de terres revendiquées des magnats. Les activistes du coin n’ont aucun doute sur le lien entre son meurtre et les luttes constantes pour les terres dans la région. C’est un tragique rappel de la fréquence alarmante d’assassinats extrajudiciaires régulièrement menés au Kenya » - Global Wittness Report, juillet 2020
« Nous associons la mort de Mwikali aux luttes pour les terres par ici. Nous demandons au gouvernement de mener une enquête sur ce sujet au plus tôt. » - James Mburu, porte-parole des squatters
« Des mesures devraient être prises à l’égard des individus suspectés d’avoir menacé les squatters, et notamment la famille Mwikali. » - Alice Karanja, National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders (coalition nationale des défenseur·e·s des droits humains)
« L’impact de son travail et sa ténacité demeureront encore en vie pour les prochaines décennies au Kenya. CJGEA console avec les personnes endeuillées et appelle à la justice. » - Center for Justice and Governmental Action (Centre pour la justice et l’action gouvernementale, CJGEA) communiqué de presse, 13 septembre 2019
Chaque Forum de l’AWID se déroule dans une région différente, et il était temps de retourner en Asie ! Nous avons visité de nombreux pays de la région, consulté des mouvements féministes et procédé à des évaluations détaillées de la logistique, de l'accessibilité, de la sécurité, des visas et bien d’autres choses encore. Finalement, le conseil d'administration de l'AWID a approuvé à l’unanimité Bangkok, en Thaïlande, comme étant la meilleure option. Nous sommes ravi·e·s de retrouver Bangkok, où le Forum de l’AWID avait déjà eu lieu en 2005.
Mars 2015: publication de la version zéro du document final
Publication de la version zéro du document final, mars 2015
La version zéro du document final (en anglais – datée du 16 mars), préparée par les co-facilitateurs, a été soumise à discussion pendant la seconde session de rédaction qui s’est tenue du 13 au 17 avril 2015.
Pendant la session inaugurale, le WWG a insisté sur la nécessité de mentionner, dans la version zéro, les ressources qui seraient spécifiquement consacrées à l’égalité des genres et à l’autonomisation des femmes, comme cela avait été prévu dans le Consensus de Monterrey et la Déclaration de Doha.
Ika Vantiani
“Bunga-Transgirl are girl” [«Bunga-Chica trans es chica»], collage analógico, 2020
En Indonesia, la bunga [flor] está a menudo asociada a las mujeres. Esto significa que una flor también puede ser asociada a las mujeres transgénero, porque las mujeres transgénero son mujeres. Son igual de bellas, igual de fuertes, y tanto las flores como las mujeres trans no viven solo esperando ser «recogidas», sino que crecen y florecen y mueren como quieren. Esta obra es un tributo a mis amigas mujeres transgénero, en el Día Internacional de la Visibilidad Transgénero.
Sobre Ika Vantiani
Ika Vantiani es una artista, curadora y artesana de Yakarta, Indonesia. Su obra explora la idea de ser mujer en la sociedad actual, en la cual los medios de comunicación y el consumo están entretejidos. Ika usa la disciplina del collage, y la expande al arte callejero, a talleres e instalaciones. Integra colectivos artísticos tales como Micro Galleries, The Collage Club y It’s In Your Hands Collective.
Informe OURS 2021 Resumen
Derechos en riesgo: Hora de Actuar
Actualmente, una compleja red de actores anti-derechos, en constante evolución, está ejerciendo cada vez más influencia tanto en los espacios internacionales y regionales, como en las políticas nacionales. Los actores anti-derechos están ingresando en los espacios multilaterales (donde múltiples países se reúnen para la colaboración internacional), con el fin de transformarlos y socavarlos desde adentro. Emplean una variedad de discursos persuasivos para ganar legitimidad, a menudo cooptando el lenguaje de los derechos y la justicia para ocultar sus verdaderas agendas.
Este informe es el segundo de una serie de reportes sobre las tendencias en derechos humanos, producido por el Observatorio de la Universalidad de los Derechos (OURs, por sus siglas en inglés). Además del análisis sobre actores anti-derechos clave y sus discursos, estrategias e impactos, el informe presenta breves narrativas inspiradoras de acción feminista y ejercicios de construcción de conocimiento para ayudar a fortalecer nuestra resistencia colectiva.
El efecto sobre nuestros derechos ya ha sido grave, pero esto no ha terminado todavía. Todxs podemos hacer nuestra parte para resistir las agendas anti-derechos y reclamar nuestros derechos.
¡Únete hoy mismo al llamado a la acción colectiva!
Sara Hegazy, a bold Egyptian LGBTQI+ rights activist, lived in a society where the members of her community, their bodies and lives often face lethal prejudice. The roots of Sara’s resistance were in the deconstruction of a dominant, oppressive and patriarchal system, and its anti-rights actors.
"[In Egypt], every person who is not male, Muslim, Sunni, straight, and a supporter of the system, is rejected, repressed, stigmatized, arrested, exiled, or killed. This matter is related to the patriarchal system as a whole, since the state cannot practice its repression against citizens without a pre-existing oppression since childhood." - Sara Hegazy wrote on March 6, 2020
The suppression of Sara’s voice by the Egyptian government reached its violent peak in 2017, when she was arrested for raising a rainbow flag at the Mashrou’ Leila (Lebanese band whose lead vocalist is openly gay) concert in Cairo. What followed were charges of joining an illegal group along with “promoting sexual deviancy and debauchery”.
"It was an act of support and solidarity — not only with the [Mashrou' Leila] vocalist but for everyone who is oppressed...We were proud to hold the flag. We wouldn't have imagined the reaction of society and the Egyptian state. For them, I was a criminal — someone who was seeking to destroy the moral structure of society." - Sara Hegazy
Sara was jailed for three months, where she was tortured and sexually assaulted. In January 2018, after being released on bail, she sought asylum in Canada where she was safe but imprisoned by the memories of the abuse and violence her body and soul had gone through.
"I left this experience after three months with a very intense, serious case of PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder]. Prison killed me. It destroyed me." - Sara Hegazy told NPR
Sara took her own life on 14 June 2020, leaving a handwritten note in Arabic:
“To my siblings – I tried to find redemption and failed, forgive me.”
“To my friends – the experience [journey] was harsh and I am too weak to resist it, forgive me.
“To the world – you were cruel to a great extent, but I forgive.”
Her legacy and courage will be carried forward by those who love her and believe in what she fought for.
Tributes:
“To Sarah: Rest, just rest, spared from this relentless violence, this state-powered lethal patriarchy. In rage, in grief, in exhaustion, we resist.” - Rasha Younes, an LGBT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. Read the complete text
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