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.

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Bessy Ferrera

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Category
Derechos de LGBTQI
Region
América Latina
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Asesinada

Bessy Ferrera fue una defensora de los derechos humanos de las personas trans, de las trabajadoras sexuales y de las personas seropositivas en Honduras, durante toda su vida.  

Bessy también fue  integrante de Arcoíris, una organización que apoya a la comunidad LGBTI+. También fue una persona de referencia para la Plataforma Derechos Aquí y Ahora de Honduras, y abogó enérgicamente por la ciudadanía plena de las personas trans, y por la aprobación de una ley de identidad de género que permitiera a las personas trans cambiar su identidad de género legalmente.

"Desde principios de año [2019] la comunidad trans ha sufrido una serie de ataques, por defender, por reivindicar derechos". - Rihanna Ferrera (hermana de Bessy)
Bessy era una trabajadora sexual, y a principios de julio de 2019, fue asesinada a tiros por dos hombres mientras trabajaba en las calles de Comayagüela. Quienes la asesinaron fueron posteriormente arrestados.

Bessy es una de las muchxs defensorxs de los derechos LGBTI+ en Honduras que fueron asesinadxs por su identidad y su trabajo. Otras compañeras han sido: Cynthia Nicole, Angy Ferreira, Estefanía "Nia" Zúñiga, Gloria Carolina Hernández Vásquez, Paola Barraza, Violeta Rivas y Sherly Montoya.

El caso de Bessy es emblemático por su injusticia y por reflejar un problema mucho más amplio, que es el de la violencia sistemática a la que se enfrenta la comunidad LGBTI+ en Honduras, ya que el Estado ni garantiza los derechos que ofrece y ni  brinda protección. Esto ha creado una cultura de impunidad.

A pesar de los riesgos a los que se enfrentan lxs defensorxs LGBTI+ en Honduras, continúan a diario con su trabajo para desafiar y resistir la violencia, y luchar contra el estigma y la discriminación.

"Si muero, que sea por algo bueno y no por algo inútil. No quiero morir huyendo,  como unx cobarde. Si muero, quiero que la gente diga que morí luchando por lo que es mío". -  integrante de Arcoíris.

Snippet FEA different lines of work S4 (FR)

Lignes de travail :

CONTRE

The AWID Forum Access Fund

We strive to make the AWID Forum a truly global gathering with participation from a diverse array of movements, regions and generations. To this end, AWID mobilizes resources for a limited Access Fund (AF) to assist some participants with the costs of attending the Forum. 

The 14th AWID International Forum will take place 11-14 January 2021, in Taipei, Taiwan. 

How will  the Access Fund be allocated?

For this AWID Forum, there will be no application process. 

Access Fund grants will be allocated by invitation only to:

  • Two  persons per activity selected for the Forum program (decided by those organizations, groups or individuals organizing the activity) 
  • Participants who identify as part of Priority Forum  Constituencies (PFCs) recommended by the organizations, networks and groups who are co-creating the Forum with AWID. 
  • PFCs are those which we consider would strengthen our collective power as movements, are not centered in mainstream feminist movements, and whose Feminist Realities we would like to honor, celebrate and visibilize: 
    - Black feminists 
    - Indigenous feminists
    - Trans, gender non-conforming and intersex feminists
    - Feminists with disabilities 
    - Feminist sex workers and informal workers, including migrant workers
    - Feminists affected by migration 
    - Women affected by drug policy
    - Feminists from the Forum regions (with a focus on the Pacific and mainland China) 

In addition, AWID will fund approximately 100 participants from the Forum’s location. Forum Committee Members (Content and Methodology, Access and Host) as well as those in the Artists Working Group [link] are also granted Access Fund support.

What does the Access Fund cover?

For selected participants, the Access Fund will cover the cost of their:

  • Flight
  • Accommodation
  • Visa
  • Local transportation in Taipei
  • Travel medical insurance

The Access Fund will NOT cover their: 

  • Forum registration fee
  • Transportation to and from the airport in their city of departure
  • Other incidental costs

Apart from the Access Fund, how can I fund my participation at the Forum?

We have listed other ideas on how to fund your participation at the AWID Forum on the Funding Ideas page. 

More Funding Ideas

Yelena Grigoriyeva

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Category
Droits des LGBTQI
Region
Europe
Asie
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Assassinat

Yelena Grigoriyeva, que ses ami·e·s appelaient souvent Lena, était une défenseure connue des droits des personnes LGBT en Russie.

Membre de mouvements démocratiques, pacifistes et LGBT, Yelena était une féroce opposante au président Vladimir Poutine et son administration. Elle a notamment exprimé son opposition à l’annexion de la péninsule ukrainienne de la Crimée par la Russie ainsi que critiqué les mauvais traitements infligés aux détenu·e·s.

Yelena a fait part de sa bisexualité en 2019.

« Sa déclaration m’a surprise et je ne l’approuvais pas. Je lui ai dit : « Écoute, Lena, tu portes déjà une cible sur la poitrine du fait de ton activisme politique. Tu viens de t’en peindre une autre dans le dos », Olga Smirnova, compagne de lutte politique et amie.

Yelena a effectivement reçu plusieurs menaces de mort, et des proches ont déclaré que son nom figurait sur un site Web homophobe qui incitait ses visiteur·euse·s à tuer les personnes LGBT. Elle a fait part de ces menaces à la police, mais l’État russe ne l’a pas protégée. 

Mais même dans une société où l’opposition politique, les activistes et les membres de la communauté LGBT, qui se battent pour leurs droits, font face à une violence croissante, Yelena continuait à défendre la justice sociale et l’égalité.

« Elle ne manquait pas une seule action militante. Et ils l’ont arrêtée plus de fois que je n’ai pu en compter », Olga Smirnova.

Yelena a été assassinée le 21 juillet 2019, à proximité de chez elle. Un suspect a été arrêté, mais certaines sources et plusieurs de ses ami·e·s et compagnes et compagnons de lutte pensent que ce suspect sert de bouc émissaire, et qu’en fait, il s’agit d’un assassinat politique ciblé. 

Pour la famille et les ami·e·s de Yelena, son assassinat demeure irrésolu, bien que le suspect ait avoué. 

En 2013, la Russie a passé une loi interdisant la propagation de ce qu’elle a appelé la « propagande gay ». En 2014, Human Rights Watch a publié un rapport à ce propos (en anglais et en russe).

Snippet FEA Wage Parity (EN)

Illustration of two a pair of white-skinned people in glasses, to the left in the background is a mand and to the right at the forefront is a woman. The background is turquoise.

WAGE PARITY

Reason to join 2

Find and create connections. There are over 6,000 AWID members, all working to address complementary, interconnected issues. This diversity supports the sustainability of feminist movements and actors.

AWID Member Community Guidelines

Co-creating welcoming and safe spaces

The co-creation of our feminist realities starts with ourselves and how we treat each other. We are dedicated to creating and protecting safe and supportive spaces for our communities both online and in person. We also consider that safe and welcoming spaces are co-owned and co-created.

We  expect our members to act in a manner that is ethical, responsible and consistent with the values of AWID and assume collective responsibility to ensure an atmosphere of mutual respect and solidarity. 

All AWID members are encouraged to: 

  • Connect with others, help break isolation and further solidarity.  It’s easy to feel lost and alone, and a little friendliness and responsiveness goes a long way.

  • Interact and engage peacefully. Differences in opinion will naturally arise, so please think of these differences as useful for expanding your thinking and ways of seeing the world.

  • Help build a space that recognizes and validates multiple lived experiences and diversities of bodies and gender expressions. Recognize that we all carry intersectional identities.

  • Use inclusive language. Be respectful of how people want to be referred to in terms of gender identity or expression (like pronouns), and practice inclusive language. 

  • Listen and make adjustments in your behavior and ways of engaging if someone says they feel uncomfortable. Don’t ask others questions that you wouldn't want to be asked yourself.

  • Help challenge oppressive behavior, which includes harassment, verbal or physical violence, violation of consent, and any action that perpetuates classism, ageism, ableism, racism, misogyny, heterosexism, transphobia and other oppressions.  If needed, please reach out to AWID staff. 

  • Practice speaking and listening with an open mind and heart and without judgement.

  • Be honest, open and heartfelt. Speak and share authentically about your experiences, your challenges, your hopes and dreams, and your vision for your own life and your community.

  • Practice active listening and self-awareness. Be aware of how much time and space you are taking up- leave room for others, practice active listening and learning.

  • Be mindful and credit others for their work and activism. Remember that we are all working collectively to contribute to change-- Ensure that you recognize the contribution of others and credit them when appropriate e.g. in discussions, or in articles, pictures etc.

  • Stay safe! We encourage you to take measures to protect yourself online and in person, especially if you have reason to believe that speaking out will put you in danger. Members may use aliases or profile images that conceal their identity. For more information please refer to the “Digital Security First Aid Kit for Human Rights Defenders” produced by APC - Association for Progressive Communications. 

  •  Respect the privacy needs of others! Do not share or forward any information without explicit permission.

Please note:  

AWID reserves the right to delete comments, suspend or revoke membership when our community guidelines have been violated. AWID members are not authorised to represent AWID in any official capacity unless stipulated in writing. Members cannot use AWID spaces to proselytize or recruit members to join a religious faith or organisation. Members cannot use AWID spaces to request funds for personal use although links to external fundraising efforts or activism campaigns are permissible.
 

Nadyn Jouny

Read in: English French Spanish
Category
Civil & Political Rights
Region
West Asia
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Accident

The personal is political - and fiery and courageous Nadyn Jouny personified this feminist mantra. Nadyn experienced firsthand the pain of structural violence in legal systems that strip women of their rights.

When she decided to file for divorce, the religious Shitte courts under the Lebanese Personal Status laws, denied her custody of her young son Karam. Nadyn, like so many other women across Lebanon and other countries, was caught in the impossible pain of leaving an unwanted and abusive relationship and also losing the rights to her child. But Nadyn fought back, as she would until her last day.

She used her media savvy to become an outspoken voice to women fighting discriminatory family laws in Lebanon and internationally. Nadyn co-founded the self-funded group, “Protecting Lebanese Women” (PLW) and banded with many other Lebanese mothers facing similar custody issues. Together, they advocated to raise awareness of the injustices they were facing, protesting in front of the religious courts for their rights and bringing international media attention to extreme injustices they were facing.    

Nadyn also worked with ABAAD - Resource Center for Gender Equality, another women’s rights organization in Lebanon, to campaign for women’s rights, equality in family law and custody and against forced and early marriages.

For many of her colleagues, she came to “symbolize a Lebanese mother’s fight against suppression and misogyny of all sorts," using “her personal experiences and her individual journey of empowerment to give hope to others that they can be a catalyst for positive change.”- ABAAD - Resource Centre for Gender Equality, Lebanon

On October 6, 2019 Nadyn was tragically killed in a car accident on her way to protest unfair tax increases in a country already facing spiralling financial crisis. Nadyn Jouny was only 29 years old at the time of her death.

Snippet FEA Map of Spain Union Otras (ES)

Fondo mostaza con mapa de España en rosa y pin amarillo de la ubicación del Sindicato Otras;
Main image
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Body

Solidarity: membership why page

Solidaridad

Nos solidarizamos unxs con otrxs, y con las distintas luchas por la justicia y las libertades. Procuramos movilizar y fortalecer la acción colectiva, y practicamos formas significativas de trabajar en conjunto.

Yo, Imposible proyección: la guía de participación

Doris Valenzuela Angulo

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Category
Derechos civiles y políticos
Region
América Latina
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Asesinato

Doris Valenzuela Angulo fue una activista social afrodescendiente, líder y defensora de los derechos humanos, de Buenaventura, Colombia. Fue parte de Comunidades Construyendo Paz en los Territorios (CONPAZ), una red nacional de organizaciones de comunidades afectadas por el conflicto armado que propugnan la no violencia y la justicia socioambiental.

Doris desafiaba la constante violencia paramilitar y las presiones de los megaproyectos para desplazar a su comunidad, así como la complicidad del Estado. Enfrentando uno de los contextos más difíciles de su país, tuvo un rol de liderazgo en una iniciativa de resistencia no violenta sin precedentes llamado «Espacio Humanitario Puente Nayero», una zona urbana para la cohesión comunitaria, la seguridad, la creatividad y la acción colectiva.

Esta singular lucha no violenta de las familias que pertenecían al «Espacio Humanitario Puente Nayero» atrajo la atención y el apoyo de organismos locales e internacionales. Hacia septiembre de 2014, la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos había establecido medidas cautelares de protección para la comunidad, y había ordenado al Estado colombiano hacer lo necesario para preservar sus vidas y su integridad personal. Sin embargo, las amenazas y la violencia de los paramilitares continuaron. Doris centró sus energías en evitar el reclutamiento forzoso de niñxs y jóvenes por parte de los neo-paramilitares, y siguió haciéndolo a pesar del asesinato de su hijo Cristian Dainer Aragón Valenzuela en julio de 2015. Doris también se convirtió en blanco de ataques, y recibía amenazas por su activismo y el trabajo que realizaba continuamente.

Las persistentes agresiones y amenazas contra su vida forzaron a Doris a abandonar Colombia. Residió en España desde febrero de 2017 hasta febrero de 2018, e integró el Programa de Protección Temporal de Defensores y Defensoras de los Derechos Humanos de Amnistía Internacional para activistas cuyas vidas están en riesgo.

En abril de 2018, Doris fue asesinada por su ex-marido en Murcia, España. Tenía solamente 39 años.

Tributos:

«Doris, pasar un año entero contigo nos ha enseñado cómo una persona puede tener la capacidad de transformar y generar esperanza ante hechos profundamente negativos y devastadores sucedidos durante tu vida...Seguimos con nuestro compromiso en la defensa de todos los derechos humanos. Siempre nos guiará tu valentía y tu luz.» Montserrat Román, Amnistía Internacional Grupo La Palma

Fragmento de «Palabras para Doris Valenzuela Angulo» por Elsa López

«Tú lo sabías. Siempre lo supiste. Y a pesar de todo te levantaste firme contra tantas injusticias, tantas miserias, tanta persecución.Te alzaste, altiva y feroz, contra aquellos que querían hacerte de nuevo abandonar tus esperanzas, humillarte y rendirte. Puesta en pie clamaste por tu libertad y la nuestra que era la tuya. Nada ni nadie paralizó tus esfuerzos por cambiar el mundo y hacerlo más generoso y habitable. Tú, viva entre nosotras, más viva hoy que nunca entre nosotras a pesar de la muerte. Viva siempre por tus gestos, tu valor, tu grandeza al clamar por una tierra prometida que llegaste a invocar con cada uno de tus gritos por todos los desiertos que habitaste. Tú. Siempre viva. Doris Valenzuela Angulo. 
Son sólo palabras. Lo sé. Yo también lo sé. Pero las palabras nos unen, nos protegen, nos dan fuerza y aliento para seguir caminando hacia la luz que tanto defendías.»