Rebecca Masika Katsuva
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
Snippet Festival In Review - Presentation (FR)
Créar | Résister | Transform : un festival pour les mouvements féministes !
Voulez-vous vous inspirer des stratégies de résistance créatives des féministes du monde entier ? Souhaitez-vous découvrir des initiatives féministes qui nous montrent comment nous pouvons tou.te.s vivre dans un monde plus juste ? Voulez-vous en savoir plus sur les modèles de soins et de guérison féministes à apporter à votre propre communauté ? Est-ce un oui retentissant que nous entendons ? OUI!
Alors consultez Crear | Résister | Transform : un festival pour les mouvements féministes. Ce festival s'est déroulé virtuellement tout au long du mois de septembre 2021 sur toutes les plateformes de l'AWID, et vous pouvez désormais en faire l'expérience à votre rythme.
Les sessions ci-dessous sont pour vous et tou.te.s les incroyables militant.e.s féministes et de justice sociale que vous connaissez. Rassemblons-nous pour partager nos stratégies de résistance, co-créer de la magie féministe et transformer ce monde ensemble.
Le Festival a été une expérience multiculturelle et multilingue.
Les exposant.e.s ont participé en parlant leur langue préférée et à AWID, nous avons inclus des sous-titres sur les vidéos pour votre accessibilité.
هل سيفتح الباب لتقديم المقترحات؟
"نعم! يرجى قراءة الدعوة للمشاركة والتقدم هنا . الموعد النهائي هو 15 يناير 2024" .
¿Se mantiene el Foro AWID en Taipei dada la situación relacionada con COVID-19?
AWID está monitoreando de cerca la situación global del COVID-19 y, por ahora, prevé seguir adelante con el Foro según lo planificado.
Si en algún momento la situación exige que hagamos algo diferente, se los comunicaremos inmediatamente.
El 14° Foro Internacional de AWID está programado para realizarse del 20 al 23 de septiembre de 2021 en Taipéi.
Les droits des femmes et l’égalité de-s genre-s – La rubrique ‘Point de mire’ sur TheGuardian.com
Dorothy Musakanya Mapulanga
Sherly Montoya
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Snippet Relive the Festival_Fest (FR)
Revivez le Festival
هل سيكون هناك دعم لترجمة لغة الإشارة بخلاف لغة الإشارة الدولية؟
إذا تم قبول مقترحك فسيتم الاتصال بك من قبل فريق جمعية حقوق المرأة في التنمية لتقييم احتياجات الترجمة الفورية وإمكانية الوصول والاستجابة لها.
¿Por qué decidió AWID cambiar la ubicación del Foro, de Bali a Taipéi?
A fines de 2019, la situación en Indonesia (en particular, los signos de militarización intensificada y de reacción contra los derechos LGBTQ) nos llevó a cuestionar la capacidad de AWID para sostener un ambiente razonablemente seguro y acogedor para la diversidad de participantes que esperamos reunir en el Foro.
Después de un análisis cuidadoso, en noviembre de 2019 la Junta Directiva de AWID decidió cambiar la sede del 14° Foro Internacional de AWID, de Bali a Taipéi.
Taipéi ofrece un alto nivel de capacidad logística, y resulta accesible para muchxs viajerxs (con la facilitación de un trámite de visa electrónico para conferencias internacionales).
Para más detalles:
Remembering: A Tribute to WHRDs no longer with us
AWID honors feminists and Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) who have died and whose contributions to the advancement of human rights are very much missed.
Celebrating Activists and WHRDs
AWID’s WHRD Tribute is a photo exhibition featuring feminist, women’s rights and social justice activists from around the world who are no longer with us.
The Tribute was first launched in 2012, at AWID’s 12th International Forum, in Turkey. It took shape with a physical exhibit of portraits and biographies of feminists and activists who passed away. The initiative was described by Forum participants as being a unique, moving and energizing way to commemorate our collective history.
At the 13th International Forum in Brazil, we honored activists and WHRDs with a mural unveiling ceremony in four languages, a dance performance and a Brazilian ritual.
In between the events, the Tribute lives as an online gallery that is updated every year as part of the 16 Days Campaign Against Gender Based Violence (25 November – 10 December).
Contributions from all over the world
Since 2012, through our annual Tribute to Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) no longer with us, over 400 feminists and WHRDs from 11 regions and 80 countries have been featured.
AWID would like to thank the families and organizations who shared their personal stories and contributed to this memorial. We join them in continuing the remarkable work of these women and forging efforts to ensure justice is achieved in cases that remain in impunity.
Visit the WHRD Tribute online exhibit
The violence and threaths against WHRDs persist
In addition to paying homage to these incredible activists, the Tribute particularly sheds light on the plight of WHRDs who have been assassinated or disappeared.
One third of those featured in the Tribute were activists who have been murdered or disappeared in suspicious circumstances. They were specifically targeted for who they were and the work they did to challenge:
- State power
- Heteronormativity
- Fundamentalisms
- Corporations
- Patriarchy
- Organized Crime
- Corruption
- Militarization…
Women like Agnes Torres, from Mexico, was killed because of her gender identity and sexual orientation; or Cheryl Ananayo, an environmental activist from the Philippines was assassinated as she struggled against a mining company; or Ruqia Hassan, a Syrian independent journalist and blogger killed for her criticism of ISIS. And so many others.
With the WHRD Tribute, we bring them all into our collective memory and carry their legacy of struggle as our torch in the feminists’ and women’s rights movements. We recognize that security, safety and self-care must be a priority in all our political agendas. And we call on to governments and international bodies to collectively address violence against feminists and WHRDs.
We believe this is a critical step to ensure the sustainability of our movements for gender equality, women’s rights, and justice for all.
Maria Enriqueta Matute
Micaela García
Related content
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Snippet FEA Intro (EN)
Come meet the feminist economies we LOVE.
The economy is about how we organize our societies, our homes and workplaces. How do we live together? How do we produce food, organize childcare, provide for our health? The economy is also about how we access and manage resources, how we relate with other people, with ourselves and with nature.
Feminists have been building economic alternatives to exploitative capitalist systems for ages. These alternatives exist in the here and now, and they are the pillars of the just, fairer and more sustainable worlds we need and deserve.
We are excited to share with you a taste of feminist economic alternatives, featuring inspiring collectives from all around the world.
هل ستكون هناك تدابير لتسهيل الوصول في المنتدى؟
باختصار، نعم! تعمل جمعية حقوق المرأة في التنمية حاليًا مع لجنة إمكانية الوصول لضمان إمكانية الوصول إلى المنتدى قدر الإمكان. نحن نجري أيضًا تدقيقًا لإمكانية الوصول إلى مكان انعقاد المنتدى والفنادق المحيطة ووسائل النقل. ستكون المعلومات التفصيلية حول إمكانية الوصول في منتدى جمعية حقوق المرأة في التنمية متاحة في هذا القسم قبل فتح التسجيل. وفي الوقت نفسه، لأية أسئلة يرجى الاتصال بنا.
En su lucha por los derechos humanos enfrentan la injusticia en América Latina
Este año honramos a 19 defensoras de la región de América Latina y el Caribe. De ellas, 16 fueron asesinadas, incluyendo a 6 periodistas y 4 defensoras LGBTQI. Únete a nosotras en la conmemoración de sus vidas y trabajo, compartiendo los memes aquí incluidos con tus colegas, amistades y redes; y tuiteando las etiquetas #WHRDTribute y #16Días.
Por favor, haz click en cada imagen de abajo para ver una versión más grande y para descargar como un archivo.
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Juventina Villa Mojica
Leonela Tapdasan Pesadilla
Snippet FEA São Paulo City Center (ES)
Centro de la ciudad de São Paulo
Fuente: Censo de População de Rua, Prefeitura de São Paulo
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Edificios abandonados/desocupados |
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Personas que viven en la calle |
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31,000 |
40.000 |