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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

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

2021: El poder feminista en acción

En 2021, AWID, junto con muchas otras organizaciones, comenzábamos a asumir las consecuencias de la pandemia global, todavía en curso, para nuestro modo de trabajo y nuestro rol en este momento tan particular. Fue un año que nos enseñó tres lecciones cruciales sobre cómo transitar este momento como organización global de apoyo a los movimientos feministas.

Descargar el informe anual 2021


Gracias al diálogo e intercambios fundamentales para su trabajo, AWID conectó a miles de feministas de todo el mundo.

Lo que nos queda claro de nuestra experiencia en 2021 es el rol preponderante -y de alguna forma singular- que AWID desempeña en la construcción y el sostenimiento de una comunidad feminista global transversal a diversas identidades y temas.

Descargar el informe anual 2021

Snippet FEA Aura Roig (EN)

Meet Aura Roig, the visionary feminist activist, anthropologist, director and founder of the Metzineres cooperative.

She spent the last two decades researching, designing and implementing drug policies from the perspective of harm reduction, human rights and intersectional feminism.

Having experienced and learned from communities who use drugs around the world, she returned to Barcelona and created Xarxa de Dones que Usen Drogues (the Network of Women Who Use Drugs, XADUD). XADUD was a space of mutual support and solidarity with the struggle to secure rights for marginalized groups, which later became the Metzineres cooperative.

Aura is currently working on expanding the Metzineres model to provide support to bigger constituencies, while also extensively documenting their prolific journey and learnings.

Snippet - WITM To make - ES

Para darle visibilidad a la complejidad de la dotación de recursos para las diversas formas de organización feministas.

Leidiane Drosdoski Machado

Ritu

Biography

Ritu es una tecnóloga feminista que aporta su experiencia en el sector sin fines de lucro, movida por la pasión de utilizar enfoques innovadores para encontrar soluciones tecnológicas en clave feminista. Con una maestría en Tecnología de las Aplicaciones Informáticas del Instituto de Tecnología de la India, su función en AWID abarca una diversidad de responsabilidades. Desde la supervisión de la seguridad digital y la gestión de servidores, hasta la administración de las bases de datos, pasando por el desarrollo de capacidades, la evaluación de tecnologías, la implementación de software y soluciones en la nube, Ritu vela por la resiliencia y la efectividad de la infraestructura de las tecnologías de la información de AWID. Antes de incorporarse a AWID, desempeñó un papel fundamental en la promoción de iniciativas tecnológicas en los sectores del medio ambiente y de la promoción de la salud, impulsada por su afán de aprovechar la tecnología en aras del bien social.

Position
Gerente, Tecnologías de la Información
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Snippet FEA Get Involved 2 (ES)

Mientras estés en São Paulo, Brasil, puedes visitar la Ocupação 9 de Julho y pedir una comida colaborativa. También puedes comprar sus productos en su tienda online desde el extranjero.

Visita la tienda en línea de la Asociación de Mujeres Afrodescendientes del Norte del Cauca (ASOM) donde puedes encontrar hermosos productos hechos a mano.

Hay varias formas de apoyar a Metzineres: puedes hacer una donación económica, donar materiales y servicios, o proponer una formación, un taller o una actividad (para más información, ¡ver aquí!)

Snippet - WITM About the survey - EN

ABOUT THE SURVEY

  • GLOBAL & DIVERSE: Reflecting on resourcing realities of feminist organizing at a global scale and disaggregated by region
  • CONTEXTUALIZED: Centering voices, perspectives and lived experiences of feminist movements in all their richness, boldness and diversity in their respective contexts
  • CO-CREATED: Developed and piloted in close consultations with AWID members and movement partners
  • COMPLEMENTARY: Contributing to and amplifying existing evidence on the state of resourcing for feminist, women’s rights and gender justice organizing by activists, feminist funders and allies
  • MULTI-LINGUAL: Accessible in Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
  • PRIORITIZING PRIVACY & SECURITY: We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of your data. Read our Privacy Policy to learn more about the measures we take to ensure the protection of your information
  • ACCESSIBLE: Accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive abilities, taking approximately 30 minutes to complete
  • REPLICABLE: Replicable by movements in their respective contexts; WITM survey tools and datasets will be publicly available to support more feminist research and collective advocacy.

Priscilla Hon

Biography

Priscilla a près de deux décennies d'expérience de travail dans le secteur non lucratif et des organisations de justice sociale qui travaillent sur les droits des femmes et des jeunes, la conservation, la consolidation de la paix et le développement. Elle s’intéresse à la mise en place de processus et de systèmes progressifs qui aident les organisations à respecter leurs valeurs et principes pour s’épanouir, et à l’obtention de moyens permettant aux organisations et aux personnes qui collectent des fonds d’allouer et de sécuriser les ressources nécessaires à la réalisation d’un travail de qualité. Priscilla a rejoint l'AWID en 2018 en tant que responsable de la mobilisation des ressources, pour ensuite assumer le rôle de directrice des opérations et des partenariats financiers à partir de juillet 2023.

Priscilla est titulaire d'un master en politique internationale de l’École des Études Orientales et Africaines (SOAS). Elle tient une pile, de plus en plus grande, de livres pour lesquels elle essaie toujours de trouver du temps pour les lire. Elle siège au sein du conseil d'administration de la Hodan Somali Community, une organisation caritative basée à Londres.

Position
Directrice des Opérations et des Partenariats Financiers
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Snippet FEA EoS The Ivy (ES)

An illustration of a vine with vine like leaves in neon with purple background

La Hiedra
Comunidad y vecindario

Snippet - WITM Acknowledgements - EN

Acknowledgements

AWID gratefully acknowledges the many people whose ideas, analysis and contributions have shaped the “Where is the Money for Feminist Organizing?” research and advocacy over the years.

First and foremost, our deepest thanks goes to the AWID members and activists who engaged in WITM consultations and piloted this survey with us, sharing so generously of their time, analysis and hearts.

Our appreciation to feminist movements, allies and feminist funds, including but not limited to: Black Feminist Fund, Pacific Feminist Fund, ASTRAEA Lesbian Foundation for Justice, FRIDA Young Feminist Fund, Purposeful, Kosovo Women’s Network, Human Rights Funders Network, Dalan Fund and PROSPERA International Network of Women's Funds - for your rigorous research on the state of resourcing, sharp analysis and continued advocacy for more and better funding and power for feminist and gender justice organizing in all contexts.

Join the global community of feminists speaking up about the state of resourcing, demanding more and better funding and power for feminists everywhere

Umyra Ahmad

Biography

Umyra Ahmad is a Malaysian feminist with a background in international and regional advocacy, and human rights education. In AWID, she works on advancing rights related to gender and sexuality at the UN. Prior to joining, she was a programme officer at IWRAW Asia Pacific, where she supported regional, national and grassroots organizations in using UN treaty body mechanisms as a tool for state accountability and access to justice. In Malaysia, she works with queer and refugee collectives and supports coordination of various mutual aid initiatives.

Position
Advancing Universal Rights and Justice Advocacy Lead
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Snippet FEA Ecofeminism (FR)

Afrique de l’Ouest

NOUS SOMMES LA SOLUTION

 

ÉCOFÉMINISME :

Le Respect de Tout ce que Nous Avons Autour de Nous

Our group, organization and/or movement is not registered, should we take the survey anyway?

Absolutely, we want to hear about your experience with resourcing.

Elisa Badayos

Elisa was the coordinator for the human rights organization Karapatan in Negros Oriental Province in the Philippines.

She also served as an organiser of urban poor communities in Cebu Province, and worked with Desaparecidos, an organization of families of the disappeared.

Elisa and two of her colleagues were killed on November 28, 2017 by two unidentified men at Barangay San Ramon, Bayawan city in the Negros Oriental province during a mission to investigate alleged land rights abuses in the area.

She is survived by four children.

 


 

Elisa Badayos, Philippines