Confronting Extractivism & Corporate Power

Women human rights defenders (WHRDs) worldwide defend their lands, livelihoods and communities from extractive industries and corporate power. They stand against powerful economic and political interests driving land theft, displacement of communities, loss of livelihoods, and environmental degradation.


Why resist extractive industries?

Extractivism is an economic and political model of development that commodifies nature and prioritizes profit over human rights and the environment. Rooted in colonial history, it reinforces social and economic inequalities locally and globally. Often, Black, rural and Indigenous women are the most affected by extractivism, and are largely excluded from decision-making. Defying these patriarchal and neo-colonial forces, women rise in defense of rights, lands, people and nature.

Critical risks and gender-specific violence

WHRDs confronting extractive industries experience a range of risks, threats and violations, including criminalization, stigmatization, violence and intimidation.  Their stories reveal a strong aspect of gendered and sexualized violence. Perpetrators include state and local authorities, corporations, police, military, paramilitary and private security forces, and at times their own communities.

Acting together

AWID and the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD-IC) are pleased to announce “Women Human Rights Defenders Confronting Extractivism and Corporate Power”; a cross-regional research project documenting the lived experiences of WHRDs from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

We encourage activists, members of social movements, organized civil society, donors and policy makers to read and use these products for advocacy, education and inspiration.

Share your experience and questions!

Tell us how you are using the resources on WHRDs Confronting extractivism and corporate power.

◾️ How can these resources support your activism and advocacy?

◾️ What additional information or knowledge do you need to make the best use of these resources?

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Thank you!

AWID acknowledges with gratitude the invaluable input of every Woman Human Rights Defender who participated in this project. This project was made possible thanks to your willingness to generously and openly share your experiences and learnings. Your courage, creativity and resilience is an inspiration for us all. Thank you!

Related Content

Trans* rights require stronger protection

These transgender women were murdered because of their activism and their gender identity. There are insufficient laws recognizing trans* rights, and even where these laws exist, very little is being done to safeguard the rights of trans* people. Please join AWID in honoring these defenders, their activism and legacy by sharing the memes below with your colleagues, networks and friends and by using the hashtags #WHRDTribute and #16Days.


Please click on each image below to see a larger version and download as a file 

 

¿Cuántas preguntas contiene la encuesta?

La encuesta contiene 47 preguntas en total, de las cuales 27 son de respuesta obligatoria* y las 20 restantes son opcionales. La mayoría de las preguntas de la encuesta son de opción múltiple. Invitamos a responder la totalidad de las preguntas.

2007: se intensifica la participación de la sociedad civil con la creación del WWG sobre FpD

En octubre de 2007 se creó el Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development [Grupo de Trabajo de Mujeres sobre Financiación para el Desarrollo, WWG on FfD en inglés], una alianza entre organizaciones y redes por los derechos de las mujeres cuyo objetivo es defender y promover avances en cuanto a igualdad de género, empoderamiento de las mujeres y derechos humanos en los procesos de la ONU relacionados con la FpD.

Tercer Diálogo de Alto Nivel sobre la Financiación para el Desarrollo, 23 al 25 de octubre de 2007

  • En el tercer panel de alto nivel, la participación de la sociedad civil se incrementó exponencialmente. Además de las seis mesas redondas, hubo audiencias para la sociedad civil y el sector empresarial.
  • AWID leyó en plenaria la declaración de la sociedad civil que pedía a los gobiernos prestar una mayor atención a la importancia de las organizaciones por los derechos de las mujeres como agentes del desarrollo y a la necesidad de promover nuevos mecanismos de financiación para las mujeres en los países en desarrollo y los menos desarrollados. Esta declaración exhortó a los gobiernos a brindar un mayor apoyo a la arquitectura de género de la ONU para que el sistema en su conjunto pudiera avanzar en sus compromisos en materia de igualdad de género, empoderamiento de las mujeres y derechos humanos, incluyendo los derechos económicos, sociales, culturales y ambientales de todas las personas.

Snippet FEA Audio A Caring Economy (ES)

Escucha esta historia aquí:

1. Gather your resources

This section highlights key resources recommended by AWID so you can conduct your own WITM research.

In this section

People needed

  • 1 or more person(s) to lead overall implementation of research methodology and ensure all key pieces are on track (Sections 2-11)
  • 1 or more person(s) to conceptualize the key research objectives and guiding questions
  • 1 or more person(s) to refine and conduct the research methodology, including collecting data
  • 1 or more person(s) to conduct relevant qualitative and quantitative analysis of collected data
  • 1 or more person(s) to document and package research findings for desired audience(s)
  • 1 or more person(s) to serve as an editor to your final products
  • 1 or more person(s) to conduct outreach to spread the word about your survey and advocacy using your research results

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Potential expenses

  1. Staff and/or consultant salaries
  2. Data analysis software if conducting analysis of large dataset in-house. Options:
    - SPSS
    - Stata
    - R (this is free)
  3. Cost of producing publications and research products
  4. If desired, incentive prize that survey participants can win if they complete the survey
  5. If desired, incentives to offer your advisors

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Estimated time

  • For research process: 6 to 18 months, depending on size of dataset(s) and staff capacity
  • For advocacy: 1-2 years, as determined by your organizational goals

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Resources needed

  • List of advisor organizations, donors and activists
  • List of online spaces and events/networks to distribute your survey and present your survey results
  • List of donors, activists, and women’s rights organizations to interview
  • Prepared interview questions
  • List of publication sources to use for desk research

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Resources available

Online tools

Once you gather these resources, you can estimate the costs for your research using our “Ready to Go? Worksheet”

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Previous step

Before you begin

Next step

2. Frame your research


Previous step

Before you begin

Next step

2. Frame your research


The Ready to Go? Worksheet helps you estimate resources, staff and budget needed for your research

Download the toolkit in PDF

Dois-je répondre à toutes les questions en même temps, ou puis-je y répondre en plusieurs fois?

Au besoin, vous avez la possibilité de sauvegarder vos réponses en cours d’enquête, pour y revenir plus tard. KOBO enregistrera vos brouillons de réponses dans le coin supérieur gauche de la page de l'enquête et rechargera votre dossier lorsque vous reviendrez à l'enquête. Assurez-vous simplement de continuer à partir du même ordinateur et du même navigateur.

2013: le sixième Dialogue de haut niveau examine les progrès des OMD

Obiageli “Oby” Nwankwo

Avec une carrière juridique de plus de 30 ans à son actif, Oby était connue en Afrique et dans le monde comme une ardente défenseure de la justice de genre et des droits humains.

Elle a fondé le Centre de documentation et de développement des ressources civiles (CIRDDOC), une ONG nigériane qui sponsorise des formations et des activités de mise en réseau qui promeuvent les droits humains, la bonne gouvernance, l’accès à la justice et l’État de droit pour les membres de la société civile, les parlementaires, ainsi que d’autres parties prenantes concernées.

Au Nigeria, les activistes se souviennent d’Oby avec émotion, la qualifiant « d’activiste extraordinaire qui a fait preuve d’énergie et de passion pour lutter pour l’égalité de genre et la justice de genre au Nigéria et en Afrique »

 


 

Obiageli “Oby” Nwankwo, Nigeria

Snippet FEA Travesti (FR)

TRAVESTI :

une identité de genre latino-américaine

Le terme travesti désigne une identité de genre latino-américaine sans équivalent dans d'autres langues, et exclusivement féminine. C'est une personne désignée de genre masculin à la naissance qui s'identifie comme une femme.

Elles doivent toujours être adressées avec le pronom “elle”. Travesti n'est pas seulement une identité de genre située en dehors de la binarité de genre, c'est aussi une identité culturelle enracinée dans les mouvements latino-américains.

Le terme était initialement péjoratif, mais a ensuite été réapproprié comme symbole de résistance et de dignité. Chaque travesti est trans parce qu'elle ne s'identifie pas au genre désigné à la naissance, mais toutes les travesti ne se considèrent pas comme femmes trans, car travesti est déjà une identité de genre en soi.

Référence: Berkins, Lohana. (2006). Travestis: una Identidad Política . Trabajo presentado en el Panel Sexualidades contemporáneas en las VIII Jornadas Nacionales de Historia de las Mujeres/ III Congreso Iberoamericano de Estudios de Género Diferencia Desigualdad. Construirnos en la diversidad, Villa Giardino, Córdoba, 25 al 28 de octubre de 2006.

5. Conduct interviews

Interviews produce in-depth information that you cannot easily obtain from surveys. While surveys focuses mainly on quantifiable data and closed questions, interviews allow for expert opinions from activists and donors, and open-ended questions which can provide context to survey data results.

In this section

General tips

1. Before conducting your interviews

Send the interviewees a concept note with your objectives for the interview and for your overall research, as well as a list of questions.

This allows them to prepare answers for more complicated questions and look up information that they may not have immediately on hand.

2. During the interviews

  • You can conduct interviews while your survey is running, in order to save time.
  • Try to keep your interviews as consistent as possible in order to facilitate systematic analysis of results. This means asking the same questions. Coding identical responses to each question will allow you to uncover hidden trends.
  • The interviews can also be used to flesh out some of the survey findings

Do not base your questions on assumptions about your interviewees’ knowledge.
Instead, first clarify what they know – this will reveal information as well.

  • DON’T: “Given the current funding trends in Switzerland, do you know of any opportunities for collaboration? This question assumes that the interviewee knows current funding trends and that their understanding of funding trends matches yours.
  • DO: First ask “What is your understanding of current funding trends in Switzerland?”, followed by “Do you know of any opportunities for collaboration?” This will reveal what their understanding is, giving you even more information than the first question.

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Specialized interviews

1. Donor interviews

Interviews with donors will allow you to build deeper relationships with them, which will be useful when you conduct post-research advocacy. They will also provide you with deeper insight into funders’ decision-making processes.

Suggested topics of focus for donor interviews:

  • What are their funding priorities? Why and how did they select those priorities? For example, why do they choose project-funding over core support or vice versa?
  • What are annual amounts allocated to the advancement of women’s human rights? This will strengthen overall reliability of data collected.
  • Have they noticed any funding trends, and what do they believe are the origins and politics behind these trends?
  • What is their theory of social change and how does that impact their relationships with women’s rights organizations?
View samples of donor interviews

2. Women’s rights organizations and activists interviews

Interviews with women’s rights organizations and activists will provide you with insight into their on-the-ground realities. Again, these interviews will allow you to build deeper relationships that can be incorporated into your advocacy, particularly to encourage collaboration between donors and activists.

Suggested topics of focus for women’s rights organizations and activist interviews:

  • Long-term funding priority trends noted by women’s organizations and their impact.
  • Successful examples of feminist and collaborative resource mobilization strategies that build strong and complementary movements.
  • “Making the case” for why it is important to support women’s organizations and organizing.
  • How different actors understand the social change process and their role in advancing/achieving gender equality and women’s rights.
View samples of women’s organizations and activists interviews

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Preliminary findings

Through the course of your WITM research, we recommend analyzing your preliminary findings. Presenting your preliminary findings opens up opportunities to conduct more interviews and get feedback on your research process and initial results. This feedback can be incorporated into your final research.

AWID conducts “WITM convenings” to share preliminary results of survey data and interviews. These gatherings allow participants (activists, women’s rights organizations, and donors) to debate and discuss the results, clarifying the context, creating more ownership amongst members of the movement, and providing more input for final research.

For example, the Resource Mobilization Hub for Indigenous Women’s Rights at the World Summit on Indigenous Philanthropy was used as a space to debut preliminary results.

See the presentation given at the RMH

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Previous step

4. Collect and analyze your data

Next step

6. Conduct desk research


Estimated time:

• 1.5 - 3 months

People needed:

• 1 or more research person(s)

Resources needed:

• List of donors and women’s rights organizations and activists to interview
• Prepared interview questions
• Concept Note (You can use the research framing you created in the “Frame your research” section)

Resources available:

AWID Sample Interview Questions: Donors
AWID Sample Interview Questions: Activists & Women’s Rights Organizations


Previous step

4. Collect and analyze your data

Next step

6. Conduct desk research


Ready to Go? Worksheet

Download the toolkit in PDF

The resourcing realities and state of funding for feminist movements change quickly, is this survey a one-off?

No, it's not. This survey builds on AWID’s 20-year history of mobilizing more and better funding for feminist-led social change and is the third iteration of our Where is the money for feminist organizing? research. Our aim is to repeat the WITM survey every 3 years.

June 2015

Further drafting sessions on the Addis Ababa outcome document

Learn more from the CSO Hitchhiker’s Guide

Marielle Franco

Marielle was a Brazilian politician, feminist, lesbian and human rights activist.

Marielle was an outspoken critic of police brutality and extrajudicial killings. Her openly feminist, Black and favela-centered politics were a source of hope for marginalized groups in Rio de Janeiro, currently governed by a conservative city government and an evangelical mayor.

On March 14, 2018, after delivering a speech in Rio de Janeiro, Franco and her driver were shot multiple times and killed. Following news of her death crowds took to the streets shouting "Marielle presente!" (Marielle is here!) and demanding justice be done.

Read more about Marielle and the situation in Brazil

 


 

Marielle Franco, Brasil

Snippet Intro The Feminist Realities Magazine (EN)

The Feminist Realities Magazine

Feminist Realities are embedded in the multiple ways that show us that there is a different way of living, thinking and doing - from the daily expressions of how we live and relate to each other, to alternative systems of governance and justice. Feminist Realities resist dominant power systems such as patriarchy, capitalism, and white supremacy. 

These are powerful propositions that orient us toward a vision of what is possible, and show how feminist organizing is blazing a path toward justice in movements and communities around the world. 

Download your full Magazine (PDF)

Explore the magazine

Gracias por participar en la creación de nuestros Futuros Feministas

¡Gracias por haber sido parte del Foro AWID 2016!

AWID agradece enormemente a todxs ustedes que han compartido con nosotrxs estos últimos cuatro días de aprendizaje, celebraciones, ideaciones, sueños y la construcción conjunta de nuestros futuros feministas en el Foro AWID 2016.

Nos sentimos muy inspiradxs, maravilladxs y llenxs de energía con todo el trabajo colectivo que hemos hecho para crear nuestros diversos futuros feministas.

Para más imagen, blogues y recursos:

Visite el sitio del Foro


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