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.
Related Content
Snippet FEA collaborator and allies Photo 1 (ES)
Key opposition actors
We are witnessing an unprecedented level of engagement of anti-rights actors in international human rights spaces. To bolster their impact and amplify their voices, anti-rights actors increasingly engage in tactical alliance building across sectors, regional and national borders, and faiths.
This “unholy alliance” of traditionalist actors from Catholic, Evangelical, Mormon, Russian Orthodox and Muslim faith backgrounds have found common cause in a number of shared talking points and advocacy efforts attempting to push back against feminist and sexual rights gains at the international level.
Holy See
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Key activities: As the government of the Roman Catholic Church, the “Holy See” uses its unique status as Permanent Observer state at the UN to lobby for conservative, patriarchal, and heteronormative notions of womanhood, gender identities and “the family”, and to propagate policies that are anti-abortion and -contraception
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Based in: Vatican City, Rome, Italy.
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Religious affiliations: Catholic
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Connections to other anti-rights actors: US Christian Right groups; interfaith orthodox alliances; Catholic CSOs
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
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Key activities: Self-described as the “collective voice of the Muslim world”, the OIC acts as a bloc of states in UN spaces. The OIC attempts to create loopholes in human rights protection through references to religion, culture, or national sovereignty; propagates the concept of the “traditional family”; and contributes to a parallel but restrictive human rights regime (e.g. the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam).
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Based in: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
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Religious affiliations: Muslim
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Connections to other anti-rights actors: Ultra conservative State missions to the UN, such as Russia
World Congress of Families
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Key activities: International and regional conferences; research and knowledge-production and dissemination; lobbying at the United Nations “to defend life, faith and family”
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Based in: Rockford, Illinois, U.S.
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Religious affiliation: Predominantly Catholic and Christian Evangelical
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Connections to other anti-rights actors: Sutherland Institute, a conservative think-tank; the Church of Latter-Day Saints; the Russian Orthodox Church’s Department of Family and Life; the anti-abortion Catholic Priests for Life; the Foundation for African Culture and Heritage; the Polish Federation of Pro-Life Movements; the European Federation of Catholic Family Associations; the UN NGO Committee on the Family; and the Political Network for Values; the Georgian Demographic Society; parliamentarians from Poland and Moldova, etc; FamilyPolicy; the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies; and HatzeOir; C-Fam; among others
Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam)
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Key activities: Lobbying at the United Nations, particularly the Commission of the Status of Women to “defend life and family”; media and information-dissemination (Friday Fax newsletter); movement building; trainings for conservative activists
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Based in: New York and Washington D.C., U.S.
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Religious affiliations: Catholic
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Connections to other anti-rights actors: International Youth Coalition; World Youth Alliance; Human Life International; the Holy See; coordinates the Civil Society for the Family; the Family Research Council (U.S.) and other Christian/Catholic anti-rights CSOs; United States CSW delegation
Family Watch International
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Key activities: Lobbying in international human rights spaces for “the family” and anti-LGBTQ and anti-CSE policies; training of civil society and state delegates (for example, ‘The Resource Guide to UN Consensus Language on Family Issues’); information dissemination; knowledge production and analysis; online campaigns
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Based in: Gilbert, Arizona, U.S.
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Religious affiliations: Mormon
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Connections to other anti-rights actors: leader of the UN Family Rights Caucus; C-Fam; Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH); the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH); World Congress of Families; CitizenGo; Magdalen Institute; Asociación La Familia Importa; Group of Friends of the Family (25 state bloc)
World Youth Alliance
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Key activities: Advocacy in international policy spaces including the United Nations, the European Union, and the Organization of American States for “the family”, against sexual and reproductive rights; training youth members in the use of diplomacy and negotiation, international relations, grassroots activities and message development; internship program to encourage youth participation in its work; regular Emerging Leaders Conference; knowledge production and dissemination
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Based in: New York City (U.S.) with regional chapter offices in Nairobi (Kenya), Quezon City (The Philippines), Brussels (Belgium), Mexico City (Mexico), and Beirut (Lebanon)
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Religious affiliations: primarily Catholic but aims for interfaith membership
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Connections to other anti-rights actors: C-Fam; Human Life International; the Holy See; Campaign Life coalition
Russian Orthodox Church
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Key Activities: The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), capitalizing on its close links to the Russian state, has operated as a “norm entrepreneur” in human rights debates. Russia and the ROC have co-opted rights language to push for a focus on “morality” and “traditional values” as supposed key sources of human rights. Russia led a series of “traditional values” resolutions at the Human Rights Council and has been at the forefront of putting forward hostile amendments to progressive resolutions in areas including maternal mortality, protection of civil society space, and the right to peaceful protest.
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Connections to other anti-rights actors: Organization of Islamic Cooperation; Eastern European and Caucasus Orthodox churches, e.g. Georgian Orthodox Church; U.S. Christian Right including U.S. Evangelicals; World Congress of Families; Group of Friends of the Family (state bloc)
Other Chapters
Ray Alexander Simons
Rosa Candida Mayorga Muñoz
Rosa Candida Mayorga Muñoz was a Guatemalan social worker, union leader and labor rights defender. She was affectionately called Rosita and she inspired change.
In the 1980’s, Rosa became the first female member of the Executive Committee of the Union of Workers of the Institute of National Electrification (STINDE), a union she first joined to advocate for women’s labor rights. For her, this meant fighting for equal opportunities in a company where many women faced a discriminatory and violent system created by company authorities. Rosa had also suffered sexual harassment in her workplace, both by co-workers and managers. She was not to be kept quiet though.
Rosa continued fighting and was part of the effort to mould the struggle into a more specific form, that of the INDE-STINDE Collective Pact of Working conditions. This pact was a pioneer, the first in Guatemala to typify the concept of (sexual) harassment. It serves as a reference for the Guatemalan legislation on labor matters and is an encouragement for other unions.
“She had no fighting tools other than her own ideals... Many times she was intimidated, harassed to put the fight aside, but her courage generated the image of hope for grassroots unionists. Rosita created an image of respect, not only within her union, but before the authorities of the institution, before the women's movement; she was recognized as a pioneer of the trade union women's movement, in a space that had been more dominated by men.” - Maritza Velasquez, ATRAHDOM
Rosa passed away on 4 April 2018 at the age of 77.
Snippet - WITM Survey will remain open - RU
Опрос будет открыт до 31 июля 2024 года
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Snippet FEA Workers demonstrations in Georgia 2 (FR)
Defendiendo nuestra tierra del poder corporativo
Estas industrias 'extraen' materias primas de la tierra: minería, gas, petróleo y madera son algunos ejemplos.
Este modelo económico explota desenfrenadamente la naturaleza e intensifica las desigualdades norte, donde sus grandes corporaciones se benefician y sur, de donde extraen los recursos.
Contaminación del agua, daño irreparable al medioambiente, comunidades forzadas a desplazarse son algunas de las consecuencias inmediatas.
Lee nuestro reporte de INDUSTRIAS EXTRACTIVAS
Hay alternativas sostenibles para el medioambiente y los derechos humanos de la mujer.
Descubre además cómo nos afecta económicamente
Angelica Bello
Mirna Teresa Suazo Martínez
Mirna Teresa Suazo Martínez era parte de la comunidad garífuna (afrodescendiente e indígena) de Masca, en la costa norte del Caribe de Honduras. Era una líder comunitaria, y una ferviente defensora del territorio indígena, tierra que fue vulnerada cuando el Instituto Nacional Agrario de Honduras otorgó licencias territoriales a gente ajena a la comunidad.
Este acto deplorable derivó en repetidos acosos, abusos y violencia contra la comunidad de Masca, dado que los intereses económicos de diferentes grupos se unieron a los de las fuerzas armadas y las autoridades hondureñas. Según la Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH), la estrategia de estos grupos es expulsar y exterminar a la población indígena.
«Masca, la comunidad Garífuna localizada junto al valle del Cuyamel, forma parte de la zona de influencia de una de las supuestas ciudades modelo, situación que ha disparado las presiones territoriales a lo largo de la costa Garífuna.» - OFRANEH, 8 de septiembre de 2019
Mirna Teresa, presidenta del Patronato de la comunidad de Masca en Omoa, también rechazaba con firmeza la construcción de dos plantas hidroeléctricas sobre el río que lleva el mismo nombre que su comunidad, Masca.
«La comunidad garífuna atribuye el agravamiento de la situación en su región a su oposición contra la explotación turística, el monocultivo de palma africana y el narcotráfico, al mismo tiempo que busca construir una vida alternativa a través del cultivo del coco y de otros productos de autoconsumo.» - Voces Feministas, 10 de septiembre de 2019
Mirna Teresa fue asesinada el 8 de septiembre de 2019 en su restaurante «Champa los Gemelos».
Fue una de las seis defensoras garífunas asesinadas solo entre septiembre y octubre de 2019. Según OFRANEH, las autoridades no han investigado estos crímenes.
«En el caso de las comunidades Garífunas, buena parte de los homicidios están relacionados con la tenencia y el manejo de la tierra. No obstante, las rencillas entre el crimen organizado han tenido como resultado asesinatos, como los recientemente ocurridos en Santa Rosa de Aguán.» - OFRANEH, 8 de septiembre de 2019
Snippet - WITM Acknowledgements - PT
Agradecimentos
A AWID agradece sinceramente às várias pessoas cujas ideias, análises e contribuições moldaram a pesquisa e a defesa do “Onde está o dinheiro” ao longo dos anos.
Em primeiro lugar, os nossos mais sinceros agradecimentos aos membres da AWID e às ativistas que participaram nas colaborações com o WITM e testaram este questionário connosco, ao partilhar tão generosamente o seu tempo, análise e espírito.
Agradecemos aos movimentos feministas, aos aliados e aos fundos feministas, incluindo, mas não se limitando ao Black Feminist Fund, Pacific Feminist Fund, ASTREA, FRIDA Young Feminist Fund, Purposeful, Kosovo Women's Network, Human Rights Funders Network, CEECCNA Feminist Fund e PROSPERA, pelas suas investigações rigorosas sobre o estado de financiamento, pela análise perspicaz e pela defesa contínua de mais recursos de melhor qualidade e poder para a organização feminista e de justiça de género em todos os contextos.
Junte-se à comunidade global de feministas que se manifestam sobre o estado de financiamento, e exigem mais recursos de melhor qualidade e poder para feministas globalmente.
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The Feminist Realities Magazine
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Gabriela Leite
Rosane Santiago Silveira
Rosane Santiago Silveira, que l’on appelait affectueusement Rô Conceição, était une activiste brésilienne pour l’environnement et les droits humains qui se battait inlassablement pour protéger l’environnement, là où il était le plus menacé.
Il pouvait entre autres s’agir de le défendre sur l’île de Barra Valha, mise en danger par une exploitation pétrolière, ou de le protéger avec des campagnes contre l’accaparement des terres et l’expansion de plantations d’eucalyptus dans l’État de Bahia, où Rosane était membre du conseil de la réserve d’extractivistes de Cassurubá.
« La réserve d’extractivistes est une zone protégée où les familles résidentes vivent des produits naturels extraits de la forêt. Ces activités contribuent à protéger l’intégrité de la forêt. » - Global Justice Ecology Project (source initiale : Rede Brasil Atual)
Elle participait à des activités syndicales et des mouvements culturels et de défense des droits humains. Rosane consacrait une grande partie de sa vie à des causes qui lui étaient chères, mais qui concernaient également la terre, les forêts, les rivières et les communautés dont les droits et vies sont constamment en danger.
Elle a été torturée et assassinée le 29 janvier 2019 à Nova Viçosa, une ville du sud de Bahia.
« Malheureusement, un sentiment d’insécurité totale règne désormais, parce que l’État ne juge pas ces crimes. Nous étions avec elle à Noël, et tout le monde s’est rendu compte qu’elle était inquiète. Nous savons maintenant qu’elle avait reçu trois menaces de mort », Tuian, le fils de Rosane dans un entretien avec Rádio Brasil Atual. (source initiale : Rede Brasil Atual)
على من يجب تعبئة الاستطلاع؟
المجموعات، المنظمات والحركات التي تعمل خصوصاً وبالأساس على حقوق النساء، حقوق الفتيات، العدالة الجندرية، حقوق مجتمعات الميم - عين وحلفائها/يفاتها في جميع المناطق وعلى جميع المستويات، إن كانت مجموعات جديدة أو قديمة.
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Snippet FEA HEALTH CONDITIONS (ES)
BUENAS CONDICIONES DE SALUD
Cláusula de exención de responsabilidad: Comunicaciones con el equipo de AWID
Si has recibido correos electrónicos de integrantes del equipo de AWID, nos gustaría que tengas presente lo siguiente:
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La información contenida en esta comunicación es confidencial y está destinada exclusivamente la persona que lo recibe.
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Esta comunicación podría contener información que es propiedad de la Asociación para los Derechos de las Mujeres y el Desarrollo (AWID, por sus siglas en inglés). Esta información no puede reproducirse ni diseminarse ni parcialmente ni en su totalidad sin el consentimiento escrito de AWID.
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AWID no garantiza que la información aquí contenida sea completa o correcta. Esta comunicación no es una oferta para elaborar ningún tipo de acuerdo y no es una confirmación de ningún acuerdo descrito en este documento, a menos que el contexto indique claramente lo contrario.
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AWID no está actuando en calidad de asesora de ningún acuerdo que pueda surgir de este documento, y esta comunicación no constituye una recomendación, guía o propuesta para elaborar un acuerdo.
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AWID no garantiza o asegura los resultados esperados de cualquier acuerdo. Esta comunicación puede contener puntos de vista y opiniones que pueden no corresponderse con aquellos de AWID.
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No tendrá derecho a utilizar la información contenida en esta comunicación con fines de llegar a cualquier tipo de propuesta de acuerdo u otro.
Reason to join 3
Comparte tus historias y conoce las de otrxs. Al conectar nuestras experiencias, relatos y propuestas ayudamos a crear en conjunto y amplificar las Realidades Feministas.