Lorraine Gradwell
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
How does the AWID Forum connect to regional and other spaces?
We are in communication with regional, thematic and funder convenings planned for 2023-2024, to ensure flow of conversations and connections. If you are organizing an event and would like to make a connection to the AWID Forum, please get in touch with us!
Rights at Risk: The Observatory on the Universality of Rights Trends Report 2017
Report:
Rights at Risk - OURs Trends Report 2017
The first report from the Observatory on the Universality of Rights acts as a compendium of information on anti-rights trends in international spaces. Find out about key anti-rights religious actors, discourses, and tactics within the UN.
Beauty Mugijima
Gracias por visitar AWID.
Les agradecemos su interés por visitar el sitio web de AWID. Para obtener más información sobre nuestro trabajo, visiten https://www.awid.org/es
¿Habrá un espacio para jóvenes feministas? ¿Un espacio de justicia para personas con discapacidad? ¿Un centro digital/tecnológico? ¿Posibilidad de sentarse café por medio con donantes? ¿Espacios de bienestar y sanación?
Tan pronto como podamos, compartiremos información sobre el programa, los espacios y la forma en que todo el mundo puede participar en su construcción, en camino hacia el Foro y durante el Foro. Sigue con atención las actualizaciones.
Snippet Kohl - Plenary: The revolution will be feminist – or it won’t be a revolution
with Manal Tamimi, Bubulina Moreno, Karolina Więckiewicz, and Anwulika Ngozi Okonjo.
Christine Loudes
Shehla Masood
Renforcement des mouvements
Related Content
CFA 2023 - Intro - EN
“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” - Maya Angelou
Welcome to the 15th AWID International Forum!
The AWID International Forum is both a global community event and a space of radical personal transformation. A one-of-a-kind convening, the Forum brings together feminist, women’s rights, gender justice, LBTQI+ and allied movements, in all our diversity and humanity, to connect, heal and thrive. The Forum is a place where Global South feminists and historically marginalized communities take center stage, strategizing with each other and allied movements, funders and policy-makers, in order to shift power, make alliances, and usher in a different, better world.
When people come together on a global scale, as individuals and movements, we generate a sweeping force. Join us in Bangkok, Thailand in 2024. Come dance, sing, dream and rise with us.
When: 2–5 December 2024
Where: Bangkok, Thailand; and online
Who: Approximately 2,500 feminists from all over the world participating in-person, and 3,000 participating virtually
Learn more about the forum:
Read our Frequently Asked Questions
Snippet Kohl - Panel | Feminismo no inclusivo: las jóvenes sin voz del movimiento feminista de Haití
con Naike Ledan y Fédorah Pierre-Louis.
Betty Tebbs
Durvin Ramírez Díaz en.jpg
CFA 2023 - Forum Theme - EN
Rising Together: Connect, Heal, Thrive
The Forum theme––Rising Together––is an invitation to engage with our whole selves, to connect with each other in focused, caring and brave ways, so that we can feel the heartbeat of global movements and rise together to meet the challenges of these times.
Feminist, women’s rights, gender justice, LBTQI+ and allied movements around the world are at a critical juncture, facing a powerful backlash on previously-won rights and freedoms. Recent years have brought the rapid rise of authoritarianisms, the violent repression of civil society and criminalization of women and gender-diverse human rights defenders, escalating war and conflict in many parts of our world, the continued perpetuation of economic injustices, and the intersecting health, ecological and climate crises.
Our movements are reeling and, at the same time, seeking to build and maintain the strength and fortitude required for the work ahead. We can't do this work alone, in our silos. Connection and healing are essential to transforming persistent power imbalances and fault lines within our own movements. We must work and strategize in interconnected ways, so that we can thrive together. The AWID Forum fosters that vital ingredient of interconnectedness in the staying power, growth and transformative influence of feminist organizing globally.
Sexting Like a Feminist: Humor in the Digital Feminist Revolution | Content Snippet
Sexting como feminista: el humor en la revolución digital feminista
El 2 de septiembre de 2021 lxs increíbles activistas feministas y por la justicia social del festival Crear | Résister | Transform de AWID nos juntamos no solo para compartir estrategias, crear juntxs y transformar al mundo sino también para decir cosas sucias en Twitter.
Este ejercicio lo facilitó Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, una de las fundadoras del blog Adventures From The Bedrooms of African Women [Aventuras desde los dormitorios de mujeres africanas] y autora de The Sex Lives of African Women, [Las vidas sexuales de las mujeres africanas] que se asoció con la plataforma digital mujerista y queer panafricana AfroFemHub, para preguntar cómo podemos explorar nuestro placer, nuestros deseos y nuestras fantasías en forma segura y consensuada a través de mensajes de texto.
En resumen: ¿cómo sextea unx feminista?
Creo que esta pregunta es fundamental porque involucra una cuestión más amplia: cómo nos manejamos en el mundo virtual desde una perspectiva feminista. Bajo el capitalismo, los discursos en torno a los cuerpos y al sexo pueden resultar deshumanizadores y distorsionadores; gestionar el placer sexual en espacios virtuales puede sentirse un acto performativo. Por eso, buscar vías para explorar cómo podemos compartir nuestro deseo en formas afirmativas y que nos entusiasmen puede ser una forma de resistir a los modelos dominantes de presentación y consumo así como una reivindicación de estos espacios y sus posibilidades de participación auténtica, demostrando que todo el sexting debería ser exactamente así: feminista.
Además, permitir que el discurso feminista asuma su lado más juguetón en el ámbito virtual nos ayuda a reformular esa narrativa tan difundida por la que actuar como feminista implica hacerlo con amargura y sin placer alguno. Pero, como bien sabemos, divertirnos es parte de nuestro trabajo político y un compomente intrínseco de lo que implica ser feminista.
Utilizando la etiqueta #SextLikeAFeminist, [SextComoFeminista] académiquxs y activistas de distintas partes del mundo aportaron sus tuits feministas más sedientos de placer y aquí les presento a mis diez favoritos.
Como lo demuestran estos tuits, resulta que sextear como feminista es sexy, divertido – y caliente – todo eso sin perder de vista el compromiso con la equidad y la justicia.
Emma Gabriela Molina Canto
Renata Espinoza Reyes
CFA 2023 - what you need to know - EN
What you need to know
- Priority will be given to activities that facilitate and encourage connection and interaction among participants. If your activity can be held online or hybrid (connecting participants on-site and online), please consider how to generate genuine engagement and active participation from online participants.
- We encourage cross-movement, cross-regional and inter-generational encounters, dialogues and exchanges.
- Please design your activity in a way that allows flexibility in the number of participants. While a few activities may be limited to smaller groups, the majority will need to accommodate larger numbers.
- If your activity fits a number of formats or none, you will be able to indicate as such on the application form.
Languages in which you can submit your activity
- Languages for Applications: Applications will be accepted in English, French, Spanish, Thai and Arabic.
- Languages at the Forum: Simultaneous interpretation will be provided at the Forum Plenary Sessions in English, French, Spanish, Thai, and Arabic as well as ISL (International Sign Language) and possibly more. For all other activities, interpretation will be offered in some––but not all––of these languages, and possibly others, such as Swahili and Portuguese.
#8 - Sexting like a feminist Tweets Snippet FR
Quand on vient de se rencontrer et qu’on cherche par où commencer.
Prenons notre temps. Les orgasmes, comme la constitution des mouvements féministes, prennent du temps, de l’énergie et un peu de créativité.