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

Snippet FEA We are living in a world right (ES)

Incluso en tiempos de crisis climática, los gobiernos continúan alentando el crecimiento de las industrias agrícolas a gran escala. Estas actividades envenenan la tierra, amenazan la biodiversidad y destruyen la producción de alimentos y los medios de vida locales. Mientras tanto, aunque las mujeres producen la mayoría de nuestros alimentos en el mundo, casi no poseen tierra.

¿Qué pasaría si percibiéramos la tierra y la Naturaleza no como una propiedad privada para ser explotada, sino como una totalidad con la cual aprender y coexistir en armonía? ¿Y si repararíamos nuestras relaciones con la tierra y adoptaríamos alternativas más sostenibles que nutran tanto al planeta como a sus comunidades?

Nous Sommes la Solution (Somos la Solución, NSS) es uno de los muchos movimientos liderados por mujeres que se esfuerzan por lograr este objetivo.

Esta es su historia.

FRMag - Resistance from the Kitchen

Nuestra arepa: Cocina en resistencia

por Alejandra Laprea

Vivo en un país de lo imposible, donde no caen bombas pero padecemos una guerra. (...)

Leer

arte: «Entretejidas», Surmercé >

AWID Community Jobs board - EN

Community Jobs Board

Are you job hunting? One of the perks of joining the AWID Community, is getting access to our community curated jobs board. You'll get to explore new opportunities, and you will also have the chance to share vacancies and call for proposals with all members.

TEST - MAP

WHRD Tribute - 2017

We can have an intro here

And maybe a little bit more text here

Doris Valenzuela Angulo

Doris Valenzuela Angulo was an Afro-descendant social activist, leader and human rights defender from Buenaventura, Colombia. She was part of Communities Building Peace in the Territories (CONPAZ), a national network of organizations in communities affected by armed conflict that advocate for non-violence and socio-environmental justice. 

Doris defied constant paramilitary violence and pressures from mega projects to displace her community and state collusion. Faced with one of the most difficult contexts in her country, she played a leadership role in an unprecedented initiative of non-violent resistance called Puente Nayero Humanitarian Space, an urban place for community cohesion, safety, creativity and collective action. 

This unique non-violent struggle of the families that belonged to Puente Nayero Humanitarian Space, attracted attention and support from both local and international agencies. By September 2014, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights had granted precautionary protection measures to the community ordering the Colombian State to adopt necessary measures to preserve their lives and personal integrity. However, the threats and violence from the paramilitaries continued. Doris focused her energies on preventing forced recruitment of children and young people by the neo-paramilitaires, continuing on despite the murder of her son Cristian Dainer Aragón Valenzuela in July 2015. Doris also became a target, continuously receiving threats for her activism and the work she did.  

The continued aggression and threats against her life forced Doris to leave Colombia. She was residing in Spain from February 2017 to February 2018, as part of the Amnesty International temporary protection program for human rights defenders at risk. In April 2018, Doris was murdered in Murcia, Spain by her ex-partner. She was only 39 years old. 


Tributes:

"Doris, spending a whole year with you has taught us how a person can have the ability to transform and generate hope in the face of deeply negative and devastating events during your life...We continue with our commitment in the defense of all human rights. Your courage and your light will always guide us.” - Montserrat Román, Amnesty International Grupo La Palma

Excerpt from “Words for Doris Valenzuela Angulo” by Elsa López

"..You knew it. You always knew. And in spite of everything you stood firm against so many injustices, so many miseries, so much persecution. You stood up, haughty and fierce, against those who wanted to make you again abandon your hopes, humble yourself and surrender. Standing up you cried out for your freedom and ours that was yours. Nothing and no one paralyzed your efforts to change the world and make it more generous and livable. You, live among us, more alive today than ever among us despite death. Always live by your gestures, your courage, your greatness when crying for a promised land that you came to invoke with each of your cries for all the deserts you inhabited. You. Always alive. Doris Valenzuela Angulo.

They are only words. I know. I know it too. But the words unite us, protect us, give us strength and encouragement to continue walking towards the light that you defended so much…” 

Snippet - GII Intro (EN)

Gender Impact Investing & The Rise of False Solutions:

An Analysis for Feminist Movements

Gender Impact Investing (GII) is now trending as a solution to gender inequality. Yet, as our report indicates, it is actually part of the problem. Public and private institutions marketing GII equate it with promotion of gender equality and with increased resources for women and girls.

Neither claim is evidence-based.

Rather, GII is another expression of subjecting our lives and societies to the same financial logic that has shaped, and continues shaping, the profound inequalities in our world.

With this report, AWID offers the readers - feminists, gender justice advocates and stakeholders in gender impact investing - a critical analysis and substantiated evidence to understand GII, its narratives, and economic and political implications for feminist movements.

FRMag - Armenians

Arménien·ne·s, le féminisme est notre passé et notre avenir

par Sophia Armen 

Que cela vous plaise ou non, les ungerhouis font partie intégrante de nos histoires de résistance et elles ne disparaîtront pas de sitôt.  (...)

Lire

Snippet - Join CSW69 Conversations Intro_ES

Súmate a través de nuestras conversaciones #CongelarFascismos

Mientras atravesamos las múltiples crisis globales, los movimientos infatigablemente construimos el poder más allá de las estructuras de poder tradicionales. La ola de órdenes ejecutivas que ha emitido la presidencia de los EE.UU. tiene la intención de amedrentarnos, pero no hay ideología fascista capaz de borrar nuestra existencia y resistencia.

Te invitamos a formar parte de la campaña de construcción de solidaridad para poner al descubierto y resistir a las fuerzas fascistas que socavan los movimientos feministas y por la justicia de género en tu contexto.

  • Provoca conversaciones en espacios valientes: Comparte historias de lucha y resistencia a los fascismos en tu contexto en la plataforma de la Comunidad de AWID. ¿No te has afiliado aún? Únete aquí.
  • Apoya a los movimientos que se han visto afectados: Amplifica las iniciativas de recaudación de fondos, las oportunidades de dotación de recursos y los esfuerzos de ayuda mutua mediante la etiqueta #CongelarFascismos (estamos en X, Instagram, LinkedIN, y también en Bluesky)
  • Organízate alrededor de distintas alternativas: Hemos construido nuestra comunidad de práctica sobre alternativas económicas feministas y recursos autónomos. Inscríbete para participar aquí. (en inglés)

The Devil is in the Details

Free ebook on Women's rights and Religious fundamentalisms

Religious fundamentalisms have particularly high costs for women and girls

Download ebook

In a global picture of rising religious fundamentalisms, this ebook details the grave human rights violations, and violations of women’s rights in particular, caused by state-sponsored fundamentalism, as well as by fundamentalist non-state actors such as militias, religious community organizations, and individuals.

It is vital to promote intersectional feminist understandings of power and privilege, and to apply these to questions of religion and culture.

Read more on women's rights

Mena Mangal

Mena Mangal fue una destacada periodista de televisión, defensora de los derechos de las mujeres y asesora cultural de la Wolesi Jirga, la cámara baja del parlamento nacional de Afganistán.

Durante más de una década, trabajó para Ariana TV, el canal Lamar de lengua Pashto de Tolo TV, y para la emisora privada de televisión nacional afgana Shamshad TV. Como presentadora, Mena se enfocó en los derechos de las mujeres y en los programas de entrevistas culturales.

"La defensora de los derechos de la mujeres Wazhma Frogh dijo que Mangal "tenía una voz fuerte" y  se pronunció activamente como defensora de su pueblo".

Fuera de la pantalla, también dirigió páginas populares de redes sociales que defendían los derechos de las niñas y mujeres afganas a la educación y el trabajo. En lo que concierne a su vida privada, Mena escribió extensamente acerca de cómo había sido forzada a contraer un matrimonio arreglado en 2017, y sobre el proceso que tuvo que atravesar para poder obtener finalmente el divorcio.

En un post de Facebook, Mena escribió que estaba recibiendo amenazas de muerte de fuentes desconocidas, pero que aun así continuaría llevando a cabo su trabajo.

El 11 de mayo de 2019, Mena fue atacada por hombres armados desconocidos y asesinada a tiros a plena luz del día en un espacio público del sudeste de Kabul.

"Estamos preocupadxs por la situación actual ya que está teniendo un impacto directo en las mujeres que trabajan fuera de sus casas... Las mujeres periodistas están cambiando de profesión debido a los crecientes riesgos que enfrentan". - Robina Hamdard, defensora de los derechos de las mujeres en Kabul.

Body

Snippet Stories of Change Full - Download (FR)

FRMag - Ghosts Of Girlhood

Ghosts Of Girlhood

by Akua Antiwiwaa

There is an old, hazy picture laying in front of me. In it I am dressed in all white, from the pearl beads fastened into my hair and tucked against my ears, to the ones that trail loosely around my tiny wrists. (...)

Read

artwork: “Cultura Negra” [Black Culture] by Astrid Milena González Quintero

Snippet - Feminist Mixer - ES

Encuentro feminista: Citas rápidas para feministas

✉️ Requiere inscripción previa. Regístrate aquí

📅 Martes 11 de marzo de 2025
🕒 De 06:00 a 08:00 p. m.,

🏢 Chef's Kitchen Loft with Terrace, 216 East 45th St 13th Floor New York

Organiza: AWID

框架與主題

第十四屆AWID國際論壇的主題是:“女性主義理念實現:行動的力量”。

在第十四屆論壇上,我們將表揚與彰顯在我們身邊,處於各種發展階段的女性主義理念實現行動。

我們希望將本次論壇變成我們的女性主義理念實現行動:在這裡你可以進入在一個不同的世界,帶著你的勝利佳績、你所設計的解決方案前來,分享讓你更加強大、充滿希望、做好前行準備的事物。本次盛會有別於您之前參加過的其他會議。

請您務必共襄盛舉,攜手創造世界。絕對值得​!

 


每個論壇都有一個主題,該主題反映了我們成員和運動的需求,並回應我們對當前背景脈絡的分析。

全球背景脈絡

當前,全球各地的法西斯主義、基本教義主義、威權主義以及不受約束的企業權力方興未艾。我們看到,這些威脅與國家協力形塑了公共規範、敘事論述和政策,在公共論述中深植了恐懼和仇恨的文化,並煽動暴力。國家,曾經是我們權利倡議和主張權利的對象,但在許多情況下,國家不再覺得需要負責,甚至在某些情況下,國家自己也不再具有維護權利的權力了。

這個動盪、複雜和充滿不確定性的時代,更需要發揮創造力,組織各種運動,保持需求的連貫性並大膽提出主張。

從女性主義的將來到女性主義的理念實現

2016年的AWID論壇以女性主義的未來及付諸實現所需的條件為中心。無論是當時還是現在都很明顯不過,對於許多社會正義運動來說,若想跳出當前的體制之外去思考結構性的解決方案是一個艱鉅挑戰。長期的不平等和壓迫的經驗會限縮想像力。但是當時我們周遭的所見所聞顯示女性主義運動確實生機勃發,以各種大小規模都有的方式推動了權利和正義為導向理念實現與解決方案。

我們確實看到了對於動員的迫切需求,但動員的起點不是從最低的共同點開始,動員應源於希望。這分希望源自於肯定,世界各地的經驗與實踐體現了更加正義的生存方式,儘管不盡完美,從這些經驗出發,藉由分享、加強與壯大,我們可以幫助其擴大影響力。

這些並非不可能實現的夢想,而是以實現的生活。凡事皆有可能的感受啟發我們去重新審視和重新欣賞我們的工作具備的轉化面向。


全球女性主義理念實現的一些例子

在AWID,我們知道鮮活的女性主義理念實現典範是,代表一個有望實現的世界。這些多元的理念實現經驗蘊含再現了希望和力量。深植於多種生活思考與實踐的方式,向我們證明有不一樣的可能:從我們日常生活和彼此之間的關係的日常表達到治理和正義的替代制度。女性主義理念實現經驗抵制諸如父權制度、資本主義和白人至上的宰制權力制度。

以上皆為強而有力的主張,引導我們看到具備可能性的願景,並證明了女性主義組織是如何在世界各地的運動和社群中開疆拓土,開闢通往正義的道路。 

  • 在美國密西西比州傑克遜城一個被深度邊緣化的黑人社區透過傑克遜合作(Cooperation Jackson)平台,展開了社區團結和合作經濟的實驗,這項計劃雄心勃勃,有別於資本主義的生產方式,要建立社群共有精神。

  • 在西非,女性農民對抗圈地並拒絕工業化的農業計畫,勇敢主張「我們就是解決方案(We Are The Solution)」,此運動旨在建立農業生態解決方案,以女性農民及其知識為中心,讓社群可以獲得溫飽並減緩氣候變遷

  • 同樣,在印度有5000名婦女根據地方知識,共同建立了以社群為基礎的糧食主權制度,包括穀物和種子銀行

  • 墨西哥的婦女開創了一個無錢交易的經濟計畫,該計畫由婦女主導,並為其他婦女以及她們所認識的每個人服務。在El Cambalache計畫中,一切交換物都具有相同的價值:人們用不再需要的東西去交換他們想要的東西,也包括想分享的知識、能力和互助。El Cambalache計畫建立在當地社會運動的反制度、反資本主義價值觀之上

  • 在羅賈瓦,庫德人在沒有國家的情況下建立了民主制度。庫爾德婦女將女性學(Jineology)作為挑戰父權制度、資本主義和國家機器的框架,創建了將這一框架付諸實踐的制度和機構

  • 在英國,Anarcho Agony Aunts是一個關於性和約會的諮詢節目,涵蓋了女性主義者、反法西斯主義者和無政府主義者的各種觀點。主持人羅文和馬里亞姆正在從另類右派中奪回空間,讓人們(主要是男人)在不受批判的空間內提出棘手問題

  • 非洲女性主義判決計畫起草並廣傳了一系列關於重大非洲里程碑司法案件的另類判決。該計畫的核心精神提出了女性主義司法實踐和替代性的女性主義判決,對非洲法學、法律實務和司法決貢獻卓著。

  • 印度的烏沙合作社(Usha Cooperative)是在主流銀行拒絕向Sonagachi地區的性工作者提供服務時成立的。性工作者自發組織起來,優先解決其經濟問題並建立自己的金融機構。烏沙合作社是一家合作銀行,服務2萬多名性工作者,並在一年內提供7231名性工作者470萬美元的貸款。該銀行完全由性工作者組成,為合作社的治理和管理帶來了真正的所有權和影響力,為個人和社群服務,開創了建立經濟實力的自主先驅模式

  • 在波多黎各,一個社區土地信託基金協助了非正式居住區轉型為永續的社區,該社區處於受到污染的易氾濫河道。該基金為改善城市中的非正式定居區域點提供了一種新模式,如果沒有她們的幫助,當地的原始居民根本負擔不起

  • 在幾個拉丁美洲國家,社運人士提供了醫療人工流產提同儕的諮詢和陪伴,奪回女性身體的自主權和獲得醫療知識的權利。(出於安全原因,此處未提供相關的鏈接)


第十四屆AWID國際論壇

AWID論壇將按照6大主軸安排:

  • 社群、運動和經濟正義的資源
  • 治理、當責與正義
  • 數位化的現實
  • 身體、愉悅和健康
  • 女性主義星球與生命
  • 組織女性主義運動

主軸詳情請見此

基於這些理念實現的經驗,我們希望2020年的論壇能夠:

  • 鞏固女性主義理念實現的力量:通過點名、表揚、壯大和貢獻等方式,從這些經驗及主張出發,累積動能,凸顯可能性並豐富我們的集體想像力。
  • 補充希望和能量的泉源:為人權與正義社會運動及韌性提供必要的能量。
  • 加強聯繫、互惠和團結:服務各種多元的女性主義運動以及其他權利和正義為本的社會運動。

論壇是一個協作過程

該論壇不僅僅是一個四天的會議,是女性主義理念實現的運動茁壯旅程的一個中繼站,我們已經出發,論壇結束後也會繼續前行。

加入我們的旅程吧!

Lina Ben Mhenni

« Je veux dire à tou·te·s les Tunisien·ne·s : Nous devons nous rassembler pour dire “non” à la censure et aux procès d’opinion. » - Lina Ben Mhenni (entretien de 2013)

Lina Ben Mhenni était une blogueuse, activiste et chargée de cours de linguistique tunisienne. Elle s’est exprimée haut et fort contre la censure sur Internet, a défendu la liberté d’expression ainsi que les droits des femmes et les droits humains. Lina s’est également battue pour la libération des étudiant·e·s arrêté·e·s sous l’ancien président Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. 

« Un cyberactiviste doit aller sur le terrain, sentir ce que vivent les autres. On dit que la Révolution tunisienne est celle du Net, mais si elle n’était que ça, elle n’aurait jamais abouti ! » » Lina Ben Mhenni (article dans Ouest-France)

Elle a co-organisé en 2010 une manifestation en réaction à la suppression des médias et la censure sur Internet imposées par le gouvernement. Lina était très connue pour son blog « A Tunisian Girl » et son travail pendant la révolution tunisienne en 2011 était reconnu. Elle s’est servie de son blog pour transmettre des informations sur la révolte, partager des images documentant les manifestations, et a été parmi les rares voix qui s’élevèrent pour dénoncer les assassinats et la répression des manifestant·e·s à Sidi Bouzid. Lina était une des rares blogueuses à utiliser son vrai nom sur Internet, et non un pseudonyme pour protéger son identité. 

« Notre liberté d’expression est vraiment en danger. Je crains que nous ne soyons en train de perdre les fruits magnifiques de notre révolution : la disparition de la peur et la liberté d’expression. Nous devons continuer de nous battre pour protéger et préserver ce droit. » - Lina Ben Mhenni (entretien de 2013)

Lina n’avait que 36 ans lorsqu’elle est décédée, le 27 janvier 2020, de complications d’une maladie auto-immune. 

« La liberté, une meilleure éducation et la santé - c’est tout ce que nous voulions. Lorsque nous échouions, elle nous incitait à continuer. » Hala, l’institutrice de Lina.