Maria Luisa Posa Dominado
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.
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María was recognized globally for her extraordinary leadership in the disability community.
She represented the International Disability and Development Consortium during the negotiation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2001-2006).
Her work was devoted to the implementation of the goal of the Convention - realization of universal human rights by, for and with persons with disabilities for an inclusive, accessible and sustainable world.
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Él: No, no probé.
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AWID began preparing this annual report just as the global pandemic began to unravel how we gather, organize and live our lives. It is impossible to review what we have done without COVID-19 tinting our assessment.
Download the full 2019 Annual review
Co-Creating Feminist Realities is no longer just an AWID Forum theme - it is a rallying cry in response to a pandemic that has laid bare the failures of social, political and economic systems.
It is an urgently needed affirmation that there are other, more just ways of organizing our lives. During 2019 hundreds of groups shared their experiences and proposals for feminist realities with us, ranging from radical networks of community support in Latin America facilitating self-managed abortion, to practices of community-centered economies in Indonesia and community-centered food systems in India and the US, to a re-imagination and new practice of harm-free rites of passage in Sierra Leone. These are the experiences that will chart a path forward for a “new normal”.
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As we look ahead, it is clear that the context is calling for a transformation of our organizing strategies:
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AWID is embarking on a new membership model that lowers barriers to access and emphasizes opportunities for engagement and cross-member connection. We will continue to experiment with different online tools and processes for building community. Cross-movement engagement will stay at the center of our work. AWID’s actions in solidarity with oppressed movements and identities, even and especially where these are marginalized in feminist movements, are important to drive change and support broad and inclusive movements for all.
Crisis is not new to feminist and social movements.
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Download the full 2019 Annual review
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Asma fue una destacada activista pakistaní por los derechos humanos, valiente crítica de la interferencia de los militares en la política, y firme defensora del estado de derecho.
Fue la fundadora y presidenta de la Human Rights Commission of Pakistan [Comisión de Derechos Humanos de Pakistán, un grupo independiente], y una de las administradoras del International Crisis Group. Obtuvo premios internacionales, y fue Relatora Especial de Naciones Unidas sobre derechos humanos y ejecuciones extrajudiciales.
Es recordada con afecto por sus colegas y amigxs de AWID
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Kasia has been supporting the work of feminist and social justice movements for the last 15 years. Before joining AWID, Kasia used to lead policy and advocacy for ActionAid and Amnesty International while organizing with feminists and social justice groups in Poland for access to abortion and against violence on the European borders. Kasia is passionate about resourcing feminist organizing in all their boldness, richness and diversity. She shares her time between Warsaw and her DIY community village in the forest. She loves saunas and is crazy about her dog named Wooly.
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Carmen Griffiths
Carmen was the Head of the Construction Resource and Development Collective (CRDC) and was instrumental in supporting women’s involvement in the construction industry in Jamaica.
She also worked on issues of disaster preparedness for rural and urban women. She worked closely with women (especially single mothers) teaching them how to use hurricane straps and other technology to secure their homes. She worked in the area of water and sanitation and was a strong advocate for sustainable environmental management and development.
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Faye es una apasionada feminista panafricana, que trabaja activamente en diversos movimientos por los derechos de las mujeres, la justicia racial, los derechos de las personas migrantes y los derechos laborales, y por la justicia ambiental. Su activismo se basa en el legado de la lucha contra el apartheid en Sudáfrica y las consecuencias de la era del apartheid en Zimbabue.
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