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

Oficina Administrativa

Para asuntos adminsitrativos puede contactar con nuestra oficina: 

  • +1 416 594 3773
  • 192 Spadina Avenue, Suite 300 |Toronto, ON, M5T 2C2 | Canadá
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Snippet FEA different lines of work S4 (EN)

Lines of work:

AGAINST

Riham Al-Bader

Riham was a lawyer and activist committed to monitoring rights violations in Yemen.

She worked with other activists to supply civilians trapped by Houthi militias in the outskirts of the city of Taiz with food and water.

Riham was killed in February 2018 and it is unconfirmed whether she was killed by a sniper or hit by an aircraft. Nobody has been held accountable for her murder. 


 

Riham Al Bader, Yemen

Quanto tempo demora a preencher o inquérito?

O tempo estimado para preencher o inquérito é 30 minutos.

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Snippet FEA different lines of work FOR S4 (ES)

Líneas de trabajo:

A FAVOR DE

Afíliate

Afíliate

Al unirte a AWID, te sumas a un proceso organizativo feminista mundial, un poder colectivo surgido del trabajo entre movimientos y basado en la solidaridad.

Afíliate hoy mismo

Peni Moore

Peni fue una filósofa feminista radical, poeta, escritora, dramaturga y compositora.

Como primera coordinadora del movimiento por los derechos de las mujeres de Fiji, dejó un legado atravesado por su profundo compromiso con los derechos humanos de las mujeres, la justicia y la paz. La dedicación de Peni a la justicia social, económica y ecológica y su sobresaliente trabajo le valieron el respeto local e internacional. Fue una de las primeras participantes de los movimientos feministas hegemónicos en Fiji en trabajar junto a las personas LGBTQI como una verdadera aliada y brindó asistencia práctica durante la creación del movimiento de trabajadorxs sexuales.

Sus colegas la describen como una persona formidable y una líder con visión para el cambio. Inspiró a muchxs con su creatividad y coraje. Su trabajo significó una plataforma para que las personas sean escuchadas, adquieran nuevas habilidades y abran nuevos caminos tanto personales como comunitarios.


 

Peni Moore, Fiji

لماذا تسألون عن اسم المجموعة، المنظمة و\ أو الحركة التي تعبئ الاستطلاع؟

نسأل عن هذه المعلومات كي نسهّل عملية المعالجة وكي نستطيع أن نتواصل مع مجموعتكم/ن في حالة لم تستطيعون تكملة الاستطلاع و\ أو في حالة كانت لديكم/ن شكوك أو أسئلة إضافية. يمكنكم/ن قراءة المزيد عن كيف نستعمل المعلومات التي نجمعها خلال عملنا هنا.

Why did AWID choose Taipei as the location for the Forum?

AWID spent close to two years working to identify a Forum location in the Asia Pacific region (the Forum location rotates regions).

Building on initial desk research and consultations with allies that led us to rule out many other options in the region, we organized a thorough round of site visits to Nepal, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia and (later) Taiwan. 

Each site visit included not just scoping the logistical infrastructure but meeting with local feminist groups and activists to better understand the context, and their sense of potential opportunities and risks of an AWID forum in their context.

In our site visits, we found incredibly vibrant, diverse local feminist movements.

They often expressed conflicted feelings about the opportunities and risk that the visibility of an event like the Forum could bring to them. In one, during the first 30 minutes of our meeting we heard unanimously from the activists gathered that an AWID Forum would be subject to huge backlash, that LGBTQ rights were a particular political hot-button and that fundamentalist groups would turn out in full force to interrupt the event. When our response was “ok, then you don’t feel it’s a good idea”, again the unanimous response was “of course it is, we want to change the narrative!”.

It was difficult to hear and see in some of these places how many feminist activists wanted to leverage the opportunity of a visible big event and were prepared to face the local risks; but our considerations as hosts of close to 2,000 people from around the world impose a different calculation of risk and feasibility.

We also grappled with questions of what it means to organize a feminist forum that is aligned to principles around inclusion, reciprocity and self-determination, when state policy and practice is usually directly counter to that (although officials in the ministries of Tourism work very hard to smooth that over).

We weighed considerations of infrastructure, with potential opportunity to tip momentum on some national level feminist agendas, and national political context.

In many of these places, monitoring the context felt like an exercise on a pendulum that could swing from open and safe for feminist debates in one moment to stark repression and xenophobia the next, sacrificing feminist priorities as political bargaining chips to pacify right wing, anti-rights forces.

The process has been a sobering reflection on the incredibly challenging context for women’s rights and gender justice activism globally.

Our challenges in Asia Pacific led us to consider: would it be easier if we moved the Forum to a different region? Yet today, we would not be able to organize an AWID Forum in Istanbul as we did in 2012; nor would we be able to do one in Brazil as we did in 2016.

With all of this complexity, AWID selected Taipei as the Forum location because:

  • It offers a moderate degree of stability and safety for the diversity of Forum participants we will convene.
  • it also has strong logistical capacities, and is accessible for many travellers (with a facilitated e-visa process for international conferences).
  • The local feminist movement is welcoming of the Forum and keen to engage with feminists from across the globe.

In organizing the AWID Forum, we are trying to build and hold space as best we can for the diverse expressions of solidarity, outrage, hope and inspiration that are at the core of feminist movements.

At this moment, we see Taipei as the location in the Asia Pacific region that will best allow us to build that safe and rebelious space for our global feminist community.

The fact is, there is no ideal location in today’s world for a Forum that centers Feminist Realities. Wherever we go, we must build that space together!

Snippet FEA Striking against all odds (FR)

Lutter contre vents et marées : le récit de la victoire sans précédent du Réseau Solidarité.

En janvier 2022, le Réseau Solidarité a organisé une grève avec 400 travailleur·euses. Sa principale demande ? L’augmentation des salaires. La grève a été déclenchée après des mois de discussions sans résultats avec le ministère géorgien des Affaires Sociales.

Après avoir manifesté, négocié, parlé à la presse, résisté aux représailles et enduré le froid de l’hiver géorgien pendant des semaines, les travailleur·euses ont obtenu des concessions sans précédent de la part du gouvernement: augmentation des salaires, congés payés de maternité, couverture des frais de transport, arrêt des licenciement, indemnisation des jours de grève, et plus.

La grève a non seulement abouti à des gains matériels, mais a également permis aux travailleur·euses de se sentir uni·e·s et habilité·e·s à se défendre et à lutter pour des conditions de travail décentes, dans le présent et à l'avenir. Iels sont devenu·es une source d'inspiration pour tous·tes les travailleur·euses du pays.

Pour en savoir plus sur leur victoire, cliquez ici.

Reason to join 5

Etendez vos frontières. Les membres de l'AWID représentent de plus en plus une section transversale dynamique et variée de féministes travaillant, entre autres, sur les questions foncières, les droits des travailleures, les droits sexuels et l'autonomie corporelle. En devenant membre, vous pouvez relier vos luttes entre mouvements.

Carmen de la Cruz

Carmen a consacré sa carrière à la défense des droits des femmes au sein de diverses ONG, ainsi qu’au sein des Nations Unies.

Elle a enseigné dans plusieurs universités espagnoles et latino-américaines et publié de nombreux articles et rapports sur les femmes, le genre et la paix dans les pays en développement. Ses écrits et ses réflexions critiques ont touché toute une génération de jeunes femmes.

Son dernier mandat auprès du centre régional du Programme des Nations Unies pour le développement (PNUD) de l'Amérique latine, fut comme responsable du département de mise en pratique des politiques de genre, lors duquel elle a soutenu de très précieuses initiatives en faveur de l'égalité de genre et des droits fondamentaux des femmes.


 

Carmen de la Cruz, Argentina/ Spain

Когда будут доступны результаты опроса?

Мы проанализируем ответы, чтобы получить представление о тенденциях, и представим результаты на 15-м Международном форуме AWID в Бангкоке, а также в режиме онлайн, в декабре 2024 года. Зарегистрируйтесь для участия в Форуме здесь!

Вместе под Зонтом: Феминизм и Права Секс-Работниц/ков

Ассоциация «Права женщин в развитии» и Фонд «Красный зонт» приглашают Вас принять участие  в диспуте-семинаре на тему феминизма и секс-работы.


Вместе под Зонтом: Феминизм и Права Секс-Работниц/ков

10 ноября 2020г. в 14:00 по UTC (сверьтесь с вашим местным временем)

В рамках данной сессии, сотрудницы (-ки) Ассоциации «Права женщин в развитии» будут делиться своими знаниями и опытом работы в условиях виртуального общения. Мы поговорим об основных сложностях и интерсекциональности в работе секс-работниц (-ков) и феминисток (-ов).

Подумайте над своими вопросами!

Для участниц (-ков) будет предоставлен перевод на испанский, французский и русский языки.


Спикеры

Кей Тхи Вин 

Кей Тхи является секс-работницей и с 2007 года лоббирует вопросы здоровья и прав секс-работниц (-ков). За последние девять лет она участвовала в программе по предупреждению ВИЧ среди женщин, работающих в секс-индустрии, и мужчин, имеющих половые связи с мужчинами, в Мьянме. В настоящее время Кей Тхи является региональной координаторкой  Азиатско-Тихоокеанской сети секс-работниц (-ков) (АТССР) и работает с партнерами по всему Азиатско-Тихоокеанскому региону.

Гитанджали Мишра 

Гитанджали является соосновательницей и исполнительной директоркой организации CREA (Нью-Дели). Она феминистка и любительница кино, работала по вопросам сексуальности, репродуктивного здоровья, гендера, прав человека и насилия в отношении женщин на различных уровнях - в качестве активистки, грантодательницы и на директивном уровне.

Вера Родригез

Вера присоединилась к фонду «Красный зонт» в августе 2017 года в качестве сотрудницы по программам. Вера родилась в Испании, где окончила факультет журналистики Университета Сан Пабло в Валенсии. Последние 7 лет она является активной участницей организации «X-talk», очень вовлечена в работу Коллектива Стриптизерш (-ров) Восточного Лондона, а также является участницей съемочной группы «Опера секс-работниц (-ков)».

Заинтересованы в том, чтобы вскоре стать частью этого диспут-семинарa и других обучения?!

Присоединяйтесь сейчас как участница/участник!