Philippe Leroyer | Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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.

  • 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

CFA 2023 - Themes - EN

Themes

We welcome applications across the full range of thematic areas and intersections important to feminist and gender justice movements. In the application form, you will be able to mark more than one theme that fits your activity.

  • Free Bodies, Free Spirits: all things bodily autonomy, gender and sexuality, reproductive health and rights, freedom from gender-based violence, freedom to live in safety, pleasure and joy in our diverse bodies, identities and communities, and much, much more.
  • Resisting Anti-Rights: locally and globally, feminists are leading the way in resisting all forms of intersectional oppressions, including fascisms, fundamentalisms, and authoritarian regimes; we have a lot to share and strategize with each other about.
  • Movements and Organizing: let us get to know each other’s movements. From navigation of power (internal and external) to protection strategies in the face of the repression of women and gender-diverse human rights defenders, from alliance-building to creative and successful forms of organizing, let’s learn and be inspired by each other.
  • Economic Justice and Feminist Economies: this theme encompasses all feminist efforts to transform our economies, from challenging dominant extractive models and defending labor rights to embodying and living feminist economic practices and alternatives in everyday life.
  • Funding/Resourcing Activism: securing much-needed funding is a shared challenge for movements across the world; let us together unpack the feminist funding ecosystem, from critical analysis to first-hand experiences and practical ways to fund feminist work.
  • Climate, Environmental Justice, Land and Water: ecological and climate justice has deep roots in many of our movements and communities; from ancient traditions to futuristic visions, from ecology villages to campaigns to end extractivism and health justice, we invite a full scope of activities on all aspects of climate and environmental justice.
  • Militarization, War and Conflict: we aim to spotlight feminist organizing, analysis and experiences often on the frontline of crisis response and helping to sustain life, community and justice in the harshest times of war and protracted conflict.
  • Decolonization: decolonization is central to each and every one of our themes, yet it also stands on its own, as a key feminist agenda of resistance and world-building in many colonial and post-colonial realities.
  • Digital Realities and Feminist Tech: we welcome an opportunity to celebrate the incredible feminist initiatives that transform digital worlds, challenge big tech power structures, and democratize technology as truly by and for the people.
  • Healing Justice: there is an incredible diversity of approaches to collective care and healing justice. Worldwide, healers and movements are reclaiming healing justice as a political principle, a set of practices, a learning journey, a way of life, and much more.
  • Add your theme here!

Qu'advient-il des propositions envoyées à travers l'appel à activités ??

  1. Les propositions d’activité seront initialement présélectionnées par l’équipe de l’AWID
  2. Les organisateurs·trices des propositions retenues seront ensuite invité·e·s à voter pour choisir les activités finales. Celles qui auront obtenu le plus de votes seront incluses au programme du Forum. L'AWID pourra procéder à quelques ajustements à la sélection finale pour s'assurer que notre programme présente un équilibre adéquat entre les régions, les groupes d'intérêt, les enjeux et les méthodologies.  
  3. Notre Comité contenu et méthodologie du Forum prendra contact avec les organisateurs·trices des propositions sélectionnées pour les aider à développer davantage leurs activités.

Nous mettrons le site à jour avec les informations pertinantes le moment venu.

Sexting Like a Feminist: Humor in the Digital Feminist Revolution Snippet Small

Sexting Like a Feminist: Humor in the Digital Feminist Revolution

by Chinelo Onwualu

On September 2nd, 2021, the amazing feminist and social justice activists of AWID’s Crear | Résister | Transform festival came together not only to share resistance strategies, co-create, and transform the world, but also to talk dirty on Twitter.

 

Read more

 

Struggling for Human Rights, Facing Injustice across LAC

This year we are honoring 19 Women Human Rights Defenders from the Latin America and the Caribbean region. 16 defenders were murdered, including 6 journalists and 4 LGBTQI rights defenders. Please join us in commemorating the life and work of these women by sharing the memes below with your colleagues, friends and networks and by tweeting using the hashtags #WHRDTribute and #16Days.


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

 

Snippet - COP30 - Partner intro - FR

Cette campagne est menée par 8 organisations partenaires sur différents continents, et construit des alternatives féministes à la crise climatique, aux écocides et aux génocides.

Clone of CFA 2023 - Hybrid like never before: in person - EN

In-person

Participants will come together in Bangkok, Thailand. We can’t wait!

Ai-je besoin d’un visa pour assister au Forum à Taipei ?

Vous N’AVEZ PAS besoin d’un visa pour assister au Forum à Taipei si vous détenez un passeport émis par l’un des pays suivants (la durée de séjour autorisée varie d’un pays à l’autre) :

Allemagne, Andorre, Australie, Autriche, Belgique, Belize, Bulgarie, Brunei, Canada, Chili, Chypre, Croatie, Danemark, Espagne, Estonie, Eswatini, État de la Cité du Vatican, États-Unis, Finlande, France, Grèce, Guatemala, Haïti, Honduras, Hongrie, Îles Marshall, Islande, Irlande, Israël, Italie, Japon*, Lettonie, Liechtenstein, Lituanie, Luxembourg, Malaisie, Malte, Monaco, Nauru, Nicaragua, Norvège, Nouvelle-Zélande, Palaos, Paraguay, Pays-Bas, Philippines, Pologne, Portugal, République de Corée, République dominicaine, République tchèque, Roumanie, Royaume-Uni, Russie, Saint-Christophe-et-Niévès, Sainte-Lucie, Saint-Marin, Saint-Vincent-et-les-Grenadines, Singapour, Slovaquie, Slovénie, Suède, Suisse, Tuvalu.

Les personnes détentrices de tout autre passeport AURONT BESOIN D’UN VISA pour se rendre à Taipei.


Remarque :

Une fois inscrit·e au Forum, il est probable que vous receviez un code relatif à l’événement vous permettant de demander un visa en ligne, quelle que soit votre nationalité.

Nous vous donnerons plus d’informations à ce sujet après l’ouverture du processus d’inscription. 

 

#7 - Sexting like a feminist Tweets Snippet ES

¡Vente bien! Y muestra tus fuentes…

You want this pussy? Let me see that paper. (Seriously, where are your test results? Digital copy is fine.)

Si quieres esta concha, déjame ver ese papel (En serio, ¿dónde está el resultado de tu prueba? En versión digital está bien)

Les défenseuses du Pacifique

Les trois défenseuses des droits humains de la région Pacifique auxquelles nous rendons hommage cette année ont travaillé dans les médias, fait campagne pour les droits des personnes handicapées ou plaidé en faveur des droits des femmes. Leur contribution restera irremplaçable et nous leur rendons honneur. Nous vous invitons à vous joindre à nous pour commémorer la vie de ces femmes, leur travail et l’héritage qu’elles nous ont laissé. Faites circuler ces mèmes auprès de vos collègues et amis ainsi que dans vos réseaux et twittez en utilisant les hashtags #WHRDTribute et #16Jours.


S'il vous plaît cliquez sur chaque image ci-dessous pour voir une version plus grande et pour télécharger comme un fichier 

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Snippet - COP30 Key Messages - ES

Nuestros mensajes clave para les activistas por la justicia climática en la COP30

Te animamos a usar este material para fortalecer tu labor de incidencia. 

Descarga aquí

Mechthild "Mel Hired" Möhring

Read also:

We all can dance
by Mechthild Möhring (aka serialmel)

How I punt myself at the narrow hard knitting I once retrieved. I'm dancing in the kitchen when I'm alone. Gracile and powerful. When I'm in company I'm clumsy. My body scandalizes, scandalizes the laws of look I feel, scandalizes the words which banished me. "Of course she can dance, it's in her blood as a Black person." "If she is able to dance nicely she is good in bed" they whisper, they murmur, no - they say it openly into my face. They smirk and rub themselves against me and let me move back. I stumble and fall. My feet reject their duty. Bearish I get out of breath. Smiling I place myself out of events and notice how my face freezes into a mask.

Translated into English by Tsepo Bollwinkel
 


Original in German

Tanzen können wir alle
Von Mechthild Möhring (aka serialmel)

Wie ich mich stosse an den engen, harten Maschen, in die ich mich einst zurückgezogen habe. Ich tanze in der Küche, wenn ich allein bin. Grazil und kraftvoll. Wenn ich in Gesellschaft bin, bin ich unbeholfen. Mein Körper eckt an, an die Gesetze des Blicks, den ich spüre, an die Worte, die mich bannten. „Natürlich kann sie tanzen, als Schwarze hat sie das im Blut.“ „Wenn sie gut tanzen kann, dann ist sie auch gut im Bett“ flüstern sie, raunen sie, nein, sie sagen es mir laut ins Gesicht. Sie grinsen und reiben sich an mir und lassen mich zurückweichen. Ich stolpere und falle. Meine Füsse verweigern ihren Dienst. Tollpatschig gerate ich ausser Atem. Lächelnd setze ich mich an den Rand des Geschehens und bemerke, wie mein Gesicht zur Maske erstarrt.

CFA 2023 - Hubs - thai

ใหม่

จุดศูนย์กลาง: การเดินทางข้ามพรมแดน

ผู้เข้าร่วมประชุมจะได้เข้าร่วมตามสถานที่ต่างๆนอกเพื้นที่ในการจัดงานที่กรุงเทพฯ  และตามส่วนต่างๆของ โลกในแต่ละวันของการประชุม สถานที่ประชุมที่ผู้เข้าร่วมจัดการเองทั้งหมดนั้นจะเชื่อมต่อกับสถานที่จัดงาน
จริงในกรุงเทพฯเช่นเดียวกับบุคคลที่เชื่อมต่อทางออนไลน์        ผู้เข้าร่วมในจุดศูนย์กลาง Hub นี้จะสามารถ ดำเนินรายการในหัวข้อกิจกรรมต่างๆ เข้าร่วมอภิปราย แลกเปลี่ยน และเพลิดเพลินไปกับโปรแกรม ที่หลากหลาย

ที่ตั้งจุดศูนย์กลาง Hub จะประกาศในปี 2567

#2 - Sexting like a feminist Tweets Snippet FR

Un indice visuel est toujours utile

« La sexualité est fluide, et là mon vagin aussi. »
#FeministFestival #SextLikeAFeminist

Kit nas redes sociais sobre o Fórum AWID

Ajude a divulgar o Fórum AWID 2016!

Este kit inclui mensagens modelo apropriadas para Twitter, Facebook e LinkedIn, além de imagens que podem ser usadas para acompanhar essas mensagens.

Este kit é muito simples de usar. Basta seguir estes passos para:

  1. Escolha suas mensagens favoritas:
    Twitter
    Facebook 
    LinkedIn

  2. Download suas imagens favoritas:
    Twitter
    Facebook
    Instagram

  3. Combine suas mensagens e imagens favoritas da forma que você quiser.
  4. Compartilhe-as em suas redes sociais, pessoais e/ou profissionais.

Pronto – agora você já pode começar!


 

Twitter

Combine estas mensagens com as imagens para Twitter


Tweets para seu uso pessoal

Eu vou para o #AWIDForum. O lugar para conectar com movimentos de direitos das mulheres & justiça social. Vamos!: http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Contando os dias para re-imaginar #FuturosFeministas com outr@s ativistas por direitos das mulheres & justiça social @ #AWIDForum! Participe: http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Estou muito animada/o para participar do #AWIDForum em Maio, e agora já podemos nosinscrever! Vamos! http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br


Tweets para seu uso institucional

As inscrições já estão abertas para o #AWIDForum! Costa do Sauípe, Brasil, 8 de 11 set. de 2016 http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Participe do #AWIDForum, um encontro histórico entre ativistas de todo o mundo em defesa dos direitos das mulheres & justiça social http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Participe do #AWIDForum para comemorar as conquistas dos movimentos sociais & analisar aprendizados para seguir em frente http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

#AWIDForum – mais que um evento, uma chance de romper com a opressão & avançar a justiça http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Participe do #AWIDForum para comemorar, traçar estratégias,  revigorar os movimentos sociais e a nós mesm@s http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br


Futuros Feministas

Vamos construir #FuturosFeministas junt@s. Inscreva-se no #AWIDForum 2016. Costa do Sauípe, Brasil http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Una-se a nós para re-imaginar & co-criar #FuturosFeministas no #AWIDForum 2016. Inscreva-se http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

#FuturosFeministas: aproveite o momento @ #AWIDForum para avançar visões compartilhadas por um mundo mais justo http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Seremos 2.000 ativistas de movimentos sociais @ #AWIDForum, traçando estratégias para nossos #FuturosFeministas http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br


Construção de movimentos transversais

Nós somos mais do que uma luta por uma só bandeira. Una-se a nós no #AWIDForum http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Participe do #AWIDForum, um espaço para criar estratégias entre movimentos sociais & alavancar o nosso poder coletivo http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Mobilize solidariedade & poder coletivo entre movimentos sociais no #AWIDForum http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Romperas barreiras entre os movimentos sociais. Re-imaginar & co-criar nossos futuros. Tudo isso no #AWIDForum http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Solidariedade é um verbo. Vamos colocá-lo em ação no #AWIDForum http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br


Mensagens especiais

Doadores engajados com os direitos das mulheres e movimentos sociais no #AWIDForum: http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Mídia e movimentos sociais: amplificando #FuturosFeministas no #AWIDForumhttp://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

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Facebook 

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Nota: estas mensagens também podem ser usadas no Twitter via Mensagens Diretas privadas, que não têm limite de caracteres. Você pode compartilhar as imagens preparadas e adicionar estas mensagens modelo. 


Mensagens para seu perfil pessoal

A espera acabou! já podemos nos inscrever no Fórum AWID 2016. Será maravilhoso reconectar com companheiras/os ativistas e re-imaginar nossos futuros feministas. Vejo vocês lá em Sauípe! http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Estou muito animada/o para participar do Fórum AWID em Maio, e agora já podemos nosinscrever! Vamos! http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Estou curtindo a ideia de re-imaginar futuros feministas com 2.000 pessoas de inúmeros movimentos incríveis de direitos das mulheres e justiça social no Fórum AWID. Inscreva-se e a gente se vê por lá! http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br


Mensagens para a página da sua organização

As inscrições já estão abertas para o Fórum AWID 2016 na Costa do Sauípe, Bahia! Este não é apenas qualquer evento – é um espaço único para ativistas em defesa dos direitos das mulheres e justiça social de todo o mundo se encontrarem e re-imaginarem nossos futuros feministas. Você não vai querer perder! http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

Una-se a nós no Fórum AWID 2016 na Bahia! Ativistas e movimentos de todo o mundo irão se encontrar para comemorar, criar estratégias, inspirar e renovar nossas lutas coletivas e a nós mesm@s. Inscreva-se agora! http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

O Fórum AWID 2016 será um encontro histórico entre ativistas de todo o mundo por direitos das mulheres & justiça social. Una-se a nós lá para romper  as barreiras, fortalecer a solidariedade e alavancar nosso poder coletivo. Inscreva-se agora! http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br

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LinkedIn

O Fórum AWID 2016 será um encontro histórico entre ativistas de todo o mundo em defesa direitos das mulheres & justiça social. Una-se a nós lá para romper as barreiras, fortalecer a solidariedade e alavancar nosso poder coletivo. Inscreva-se agora! http://forum.awid.org/forum16/pt-br


 

Instagram

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