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Special Focus

AWID is an international, feminist, membership organisation committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development and women’s human rights

Women Human Rights Defenders

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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

Type

Deborah Holmes

Read in: English French Spanish
Category
Derechos económicos, sociales y culturales
Region
Norte América
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Enfermeda

Al momento de su muerte, luego de una corta pero denodada batalla contra el cáncer, Deborah era la Jefa de Comunicaciones y Participación en la Women’s Funding Network (WFN, Red de financiamiento para mujeres).

Deborah también trabajó para el Fondo Global de Mujeres entre 2008 y 2017. Era sumamente querida y respetada por el consejo asesor, el personal y lxs colaboradorxs de la organización.

Kavita Ramdas, anterior directora ejecutiva del Fondo, acertadamente señaló que Deborah era un «pequeño paquete que explotaba de calidez, generosidad, inteligencia, estilo y un apasionado compromiso por unir la belleza con la justicia. Ella entendía el poder de las historias. El poder de la voz de las mujeres. El poder de la experiencia vivida. El poder de levantarse de las cenizas y decirle a otrxs que era posible. Y todavía nos levantamos».

Musimbi Kanyoro, actual directora ejecutiva del Fondo Global de Mujeres, añadió: «Hemos perdido a una hermana y su vida ilumina valores que nos unen y nos inspiran. Al reunirnos para llorar el fallecimiento de Deborah, recordemos y celebremos su notable, audaz y apasionada vida».

 

 

Deborah Holmes, USA

Snippet - WITM Why now_col 1 - EN

Why should I take it now?

A monochromatic orange illustration of a woman with curly hair with her hand on her chin. She seems to inquisitive or posing a question.

Feminist, women’s rights, gender justice, LBTQI+ and allied movements around the world are at a critical juncture, facing a powerful backlash on previously-won rights and freedoms. Recent years have brought the rapid rise of authoritarianism, violent repression of civil society, criminalization of women and gender-diverse human rights defenders, escalating war and conflict in many parts of our world, continued perpetuation of economic injustices, and the intersecting health, ecology and climate crises.

Snippets FEA EoS The Cover (ES)

Illustration of a pink house with a yellow background

La Cubierta
Cuidados y sanación

Mai 2015: les consultations sur la version préliminaire du document final ont lieu

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Sessions de consultation complémentaires sur la version préliminaire du document final

  • Le 7 mai, les co-facilitateurs ont publié la version révisée du document final de la troisième Conférence sur FdD (en anglais).
  •  Pour permettre d’améliorer le document final, des sessions complémentaires ad hoc portant sur cette version révisée du document final ont été organisées du 12 au 15 mai 2015, puis du 26 au 29 mai 2015, au siège de l’ONU à New York.

Carmen Griffiths

Read in: English French Spanish
Category
Droits économiques, sociaux et culturels
Region
Les Caraïbes
Cause of death / disappearance

Naturelle

Carmen dirigeait le Construction Resource and Development Collective et a joué un rôle de premier plan en faveur de la participation des femmes dans l’industrie de la construction en Jamaïque.

Elle a également œuvré à la préparation aux catastrophes de femmes rurales et urbaines. Elle a travaillé en étroite collaboration avec les femmes (en particulier les mères célibataires) pour leur apprendre à utiliser les sangles anti-ouragan ainsi que d’autres technologies pour sécuriser leur foyer. Elle a travaillé dans le domaine de l’eau et de l’assainissement et a été une ardente défenseure d’une gestion durable de l’environnement et du développement.

Elle faisait partie de la Commission Huairou et plaidait en faveur des femmes de la base sur des questions telles que le logement, l'énergie et les moyens de subsistance durables.

 

 

Carmen Griffiths, Jamaica

Snippet - WITM Our objectives - EN

Our WITM research objectives

1

Provide AWID members, movement partners and funders with an updated, powerful, evidence-based, and action-oriented analysis of the resourcing realities of feminist movements and current state of the feminist funding ecosystem.

2

Identify and demonstrate opportunities to shift more and better funding for feminist organizing, expose false solutions and disrupt trends that make funding miss and/or move against gender justice and intersectional feminist agendas.

3

Articulate feminist visions, proposals and agendas for resourcing justice.

Our Companion Sites

The Young Feminist Wire

An online community for and by young feminists working on women’s human rights, gender equality and social justice around the world.

Visit the site

The Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs)

The platform is the go-to place for information and resources on safeguarding the universality of rights in international and regional human rights spaces.

Visit the site

The Young Feminist Fund-FRIDA

Provides funding for young feminist-led initiatives. It aims to strengthen the capacity of young feminist organizations to leverage resources for their work and to increase donors’ and allies’ commitments to resourcing young feminist activism.

Visit the site

Online Directory of Urgent Responses for WHRDs

A go-to site to learn about the urgent responses undertaken to protect women human rights defenders and to find tools and resources to support the work and wellness of WHRDs.

Visit the site

IM-Defensoras (Mesoamerican Initiative for Women Human Rights Defenders)

A regional initiative created to prevent, respond, document and make public all cases of violence against women human rights defenders in the Mesoamerican region.

Visit the site

The WHRD International Coalition

The WHRD IC is a resource and advocacy network for the protection and support of women human rights defenders worldwide.

Visit the site

Post-2015 Women´s Coalition

A Coalition of feminist, women´s rights, women´s development, grassroots and social justice organisations working to challenge and reframe teh global development agenda. 

Visit the site

Women´s Major Group on Development

The role of the Women’s Major Group is to assure effective public participation of women’s non-governmental groups in the UN policy processes on Sustainable Development, Post2015 and Environmental matters. 

Visit the site

Women Working Group on Financing for Development

An alliance of women’s organizations and networks to advocate for the advancement of gender equality, women’s empowerment and human rights in the Financing for Development (FfD) related UN processes.

Visit the site

Snippet FEA EoS Artisana (FR)

A pink paint palette with a pink brush with yellow details

L’Artisan·e
Art et créativité

What are some of the debates and conflict areas?

Read in: English French Spanish

Ottilie Abrahams

Read in: English French Spanish
Category
Civil & Political Rights
Region
Africa
Sub Sahara Africa
Cause of death / disappearance

Natural

Ottilie was a Namibian feminist activist, educator and politician.

Ottilie was one of the founders of the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO), the Yu Chi Chan Club (an armed revolutionary group); and the South West African National Liberation Front (SWANLIF). She was also a founder of the Namibian Women’s Association and Girl Child Project.

Throughout her life, Ottilie argued for the right to argue, think, contest, and demand. She mobilized women, organized students and teachers and criticized other comrades for their elitism and their corruption.

Ottilie worked ferociously to dismantle patriarchy, and to create a concrete transformative, liberatory, feminist participatory democracy.

Ottilie often said: “I will rest the day I die.”

 

Ottilie Abrahams, Namibia

Why should I consider responding to the survey?

There are many reasons why your response to the WITM survey matters. The survey offers the opportunity to share your lived experience of mobilizing funding to support your organizing; claim your power as an expert on how money moves and who it reaches; and contribute to collective and consistent advocacy to funders moving more and better funding. Over the last two decades, AWID’s WITM research has proven to be a key resource for activists and funders. We wholeheartedly invite you to join us in its third iteration to highlight the actual state of resourcing, challenge false solutions, and point out how funding must change for movements to thrive and meet the complex challenges of our times.

English article

English article created from Spanish site

Snippet FEA NSS has a vision of an Africa (FR)

“Nous Sommes la Solution a une vision d'une Afrique où, solidairement, les femmes rurales impliquées dans la prise de décision peuvent cultiver, transformer, vendre et consommer les produits de l'agriculture familiale tout en préservant l'environnement, pour un développement harmonieux et durable”

No puedo presentar una propuesta escrita, ¿aceptan otros formatos?

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Como expresión de nuestro compromiso con hacer que todos los aspectos del Foro AWID sean accesibles, aceptaremos propuestas en forma de audio/video cuando se trate de personas/organizaciones/grupos que no puedan enviarlas por escrito. Si decides enviar tu propuesta en formato de audio/video, por favor responde las preguntas en el mismo orden en que aparecen en el Formulario para Presentar Actividades.

Para presentar un archivo de audio/video, por favor escríbenos utilizando nuestro formulario de contacto. Seleccione «propuesta de actividad» como asunto de mensaje.

Contactanos

Mary Assaad

Read in: English French Spanish
Category
Derechos sexuales y reproductivos
Region
África
África del Norte
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Natural

Experta en desarrollo social y antropóloga de formación, Mary fue conocida como pionera en la batalla contra la mutilación genital femenina (MGF).

Nacida en 1922 en El Cairo, el trabajo de Mary en el campo del desarrollo comenzó tempranamente, cuando se unió a la Asociación Cristiana de Mujeres Jóvenes (YWCA, por sus siglas en inglés). Fue integrante del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias y se comprometió cada vez más con la cuestión de la salud de las mujeres. Su larga lucha contra la MGF rindió frutos en 2008, cuando Egipto finalmente penalizó este tipo de prácticas.

Se la recuerda como mentora de numerosxs feministas y activistas egipcixs.

 

Mary Assad, Egypt

En nuestro caso, reorientamos dinero a nuestros socios beneficiarios y nos identificamos como fondo de mujeres/feminista, ¿deberíamos responder la encuesta?

No. Valoramos muchísimo su trabajo, pero no estamos buscando respuestas de fondos de mujeres/feministas por el momento. Alentamos a compartir la encuesta con sus socios beneficiarios y con sus redes feministas.