Philippe Leroyer | Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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

Type

Como é que os dados recolhidos através do questionário serão divulgados e processados?

Os dados serão processados para fins estatísticos para esclarecer o estado de financiamento dos movimentos feministas globalmente e serão divulgados apenas em forma agregada. A AWID não divulgará informações sobre uma organização específica ou informações que permitam identificar uma organização através da respetiva localização ou características sem o respetivo consentimento comprovado.

Efua Dorkenoo

Category
Droits sexuels et reproductifs
Region
Afrique
Afrique subsaharienne
Cause of death / disappearance

Naturelle

Affectueusement connue sous le nom de « Mama Efua », Efua a lutté contre les mutilations génitales féminines (MGF) pendant trois décennies et a contribué à attirer l'attention et l'action de la communauté internationale pour mettre fin à cette pratique néfaste.

En 1983, Efua a cofondé FORWARD (fondation pour la santé, la recherche et le développement des femmes), qui est devenue une organisation de premier plan dans la lutte contre les MGF. Son livre intitulé « Cutting the Rose: Female Genital Mutilation »  (couper la rose), publié en 1994, est considéré comme le premier ouvrage sur les mutilations génitales féminines. Il figure parmi « Les 100 meilleurs livres africains du XXe siècle » de l’Université de Columbia.

Originaire du Ghana et infirmière de formation, Efua a rejoint l'OMS en 1995 et a réussi à faire en sorte que les mutilations génitales féminines fassent partie des agendas politiques des États membres de l'OMS. Elle a également travaillé en étroite collaboration avec le gouvernement nigérian pour élaborer une politique nationale globale qui servirait de base légale aux lois nigérianes contre les mutilations et qui est toujours en vigueur à ce jour.

Son travail de pionnière a abouti à une campagne menée par l'Afrique intitulée « The Girl Generation », qui s'est engagée à mettre fin aux MGF en une génération. Efua a montré comment une seule personne peut devenir la voix unificatrice d'un mouvement : « Une identité partagée peut aider à rassembler des activistes d'horizons différents dans un but commun ». Ces mots, emplis de sagesse, sont plus pertinents que jamais.

 

Efua Dorkenoo, Ghana

Donation Success


Thank you for taking a step further to change the world!

Your generous contribution will help us support feminist movements across the globe working to achieve gender justice and women’s human rights worldwide.

You can also support our work as an AWID Member. Find out how here.

Je n’ai encore jamais voyagé. Que devrais-je savoir ?

Ayant conscience des nombreuses difficultés que les déplacements impliquent, nous vous fournirons davantage d’informations et de détails sur les modalités de voyage jusqu’à Bangkok lorsque les Inscriptions ouvriront, au début de l’année prochaine.

Llamado a la acción: ¡Basta de infiltración antiderechos en la ONU!

Llamado a la acción

¡Basta de infiltración antiderechos en la ONU!

¿Quieren sumarse al creciente número de personas que le están diciendo «basta» a la infiltración de lxs actores anti-derechos en la ONU?

Suma tu nombre

حالة التمويل للحركات النسوية ووقائعها تتغير بسرعة. هل هذا الاستطلاع لمرة واحدة؟

كلا. يبني هذا الاستطلاع على المعلومات التي حشدتها جمعية حقوق المرأة في التنمية حول كيفية الحصول على تمويل أكبر وأفضل للحركات النسوية وحركات التغيير الاجتماعي وهذه الدورة الثالثة لاستطلاع "أين التمويل للتنظيمات النسوية". نهدف للقيام بالاستطلاع مرة كل ثلاثة أعوام.

Su’ad Al-Ali

Category
Civil & Political Rights
Region
West Asia
Cause of death / disappearance

Killed

Su’ad was a strong advocate of women’s and children’s rights, and was the head of Al-Weed Al-Alaiami - an Iraqi human rights organisation.

She participated in the July 2018 demonstrations that took place in Basra and several other Iraqi cities protesting unemployment and demanding jobs and proper public services for citizens, as well as calling for the elimination of rampant corruption.

On 25 September 2018, Su’ad was assassinated in the Al-Abbasiyah district in downtown Basra. A video of the incident showed a person approaching her as she was getting into her car, firing a bullet at the back of her head and pointing another bullet at her driver Hussain Hassan, who was injured in the shoulder. Al-Ali was 46 and the mother of four children.

 

Su'ad Al Ali, Iraq

Calendario Feminista AWID 2026

Considera este calendario como un obsequio, que te llega a ti y a 9500 afiliades de nuestra comunidad feminista mundial. Un obsequio de esperanza, conexiones renovadas, acción y comunidad en un momento de inmensas injusticias y violencias.

Que estas historias te recuerden que a través de las fronteras y a lo largo de las luchas, somos muches, somos fuertes y, en conjunto, construimos los mundos que merecemos.

Descárgalo aquí, en tu idioma preferido.

Español
Français
English
Português
عربي
Русский

How about climate justice, is this really the time for so many international flights?

Asking ourselves the same question, we believe there are no simple answers. For many participants the AWID Forum might be one of the few international trips they undertake in their life. The pandemic taught us the possibilities but also the limitations of virtual spaces for movement-building: there is nothing like in-person connection. Movements need cross-border connections to build our collective power in the face of the threats we face, notably the climate crisis. We believe that the upcoming AWID Forum can be a strategic space to hold these conversations and to explore alternatives to international travel. The hybrid element of the Forum is an important part of this exploration.

Ghiwa Sayegh Snippet

Ghiwa-Sayegh - un recorrido por el festival

Ghiwa Sayegh es una anarcoescritora queer, editora independiente y archivista. Es la editora fundadora de Kohl, una revista para la investigación sobre cuerpo y género, y la cofundadora de Intersectional Knowledge Publishers. Posee una maestría en estudios de género de Université Paris 8 Vincennes, Saint-Denis. Le apasionan la teoría queer, las circulaciones transnacionales y las historias imaginadas o desconocidas. Sus influencias son Audre Lorde y Sara Ahmed.

Snippet - WITM Who should - PT

Quem deve realizar este inquérito?

O inquérito destina-se a grupos, organizações e movimentos que trabalham especificamente ou principalmente pelos direitos das mulheres, pessoas LBTQI+ e pela justiça de género, em todos os contextos, em todos os níveis e em todas as regiões. Se este for um dos pilares principais do seu grupo, da sua comunidade, da sua rede ou de qualquer outro tipo de organização, quer esteja registada ou não, seja nova ou já estabelecida, convidamo-lo a participar neste inquérito.

* De momento, não solicitamos respostas de indivídues ou de fundos feministas e de mulheres.

Perguntas Frequentes

Fahmida Riaz

Category
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Region
Asia
South Asia
Date of birth
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Natural

“Afterwards
After love the first time,
Our naked bodies and minds
A hall of mirrors,
Wholly unarmed, utterly fragile,
We lie in one another's arms
Breathing with care,
Afraid to break
These crystal figurines.” - Fahmida Riaz

Fahmida Riaz broke social taboos by writing about female desire in her poetry, creating alternative narratives about women’s bodies and sexuality, and setting new standards in Urdu literature.

Her work faced harsh criticism from conservatives, who accused her of using erotic and “pornographic” expressions in her poetic language. 

Fahimida was eventually blacklisted and charged with sedition under Section 124A of the Pakistan Penal Code) during the dictatorship of Zia Ul Haq. Forced into exile in 1981, she spent almost seven years in India before returning to Pakistan. 

As part of the preface to “Badan Dareeda” ('The Torn-Bodied'), a collection of poetry published in 1974, she wrote: 

If, indeed, I am forced to stand before this maqtal today and face the gallows, I should face them with my head held high. My poems are the trace of a mangled head: emanating sounds even as it is suspended from ropes... A Body Torn has taken the form of a razmia, or the sound of rupture. And if such rupture indeed shocks a people, then consider the poet as having achieved her purpose: she has managed to disturb them. (translation from Urdu by Asad Alvi)

The brilliance of Fahmida was in defying any singular logic or categories of gender, nation, religion or culture. She refused to be put in the role of a ‘woman poet’, breaking with traditional definitions of feminine poetry and concepts and themes (ranging from political consciousness, body, culture, desire, religion, home) and knocking down inhibitions put on her gender. 

“You have to understand that culture can have no essence. Cultures move, flowing into one another, forming new cultures. Culture is born this way. There is no clash of cultures.” 

Fahmida authored more than 15 books on poetry and fiction including her poem ‘Taaziyati Qaraardaaden’ (‘Condolence Resolutions’) that might serve as an appropriate tribute to her life and legacy and a collection of poems (Apna Jurm To Saabit He ‘My Crime Stands Proven’) published in 1988 during her time in exile. 

Fahmida Riaz was born in Meerut, India on 28 July 1946 and passed away on 21 November 2018 in Lahore, Pakistan.

Advancing Universal Rights and Justice

Uprooting Fascisms and Fundamentalisms

Across the globe, feminist, women’s rights and gender justice defenders are challenging the agendas of fascist and fundamentalist actors. These oppressive forces target women, persons who are non-conforming in their gender identity, expression and/or sexual orientation, and other oppressed communities.

Discriminatory ideologies are undermining and co-opting our human rights systems and standards,  with the aim of making rights the preserve of only certain groups. In the face of this, the Advancing Universal Rights and Justice (AURJ) initiative promotes the universality of rights - the foundational principle that human rights belong to everyone, no matter who they are, without exception.

We create space for feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements and allies to recognize, strategize and take collective action to counter the influence and impact of anti-rights actors. We also seek to advance women’s rights and feminist frameworks, norms and proposals, and to protect and promote the universality of rights.

Our actions

Through this initiative, we:

  • Build knowledge: We support feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements by disseminating and popularizing knowledge and key messages about anti-rights actors, their strategies, and impact in the international human rights systems through AWID’s leadership role in the collaborative platform, the Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs)*.
  • Advance feminist agendas: We ally ourselves with partners in international human rights spaces including, the Human Rights Council, the Commission on Population and Development, the Commission on the Status of Women and the UN General Assembly.
  • Create and amplify alternatives: We engage with our members to ensure that international commitments, resolutions and norms reflect and are fed back into organizing in other spaces locally, nationally and regionally.
  • Mobilize solidarity action: We take action alongside women human rights defenders (WHRDs) including trans and intersex defenders and young feminists, working to challenge fundamentalisms and fascisms and call attention to situations of risk.  

 

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Type

CFA 2023 - breadcrumbs Menu _ awid-forum-en

Snippet Kohl - Table ronde | Terres et territoires libérés : une conversation panafricaine

Table ronde | Terres et territoires libérés : une conversation panafricaine

avec Luam Kidane, Mariama Sonko, Yannia Sofia Garzon Valencia et Nomsa Sizani.

YOUTUBE | SOUNDCLOUD (anglais)

AWID Community Jobs board - ES

Bolsa de Empleos Comunitaria

¿Estás buscando trabajo? Una de las ventajas de unirse a la Comunidad AWID es tener acceso a nuestra bolsa de empleos co-creada por la comunidad. Podrás explorar nuevas oportunidades y también tendrás la oportunidad de compartir vacantes y convocatorias de propuestas con todos los miembros.

Navleen Kumar

Category
Derechos económicos, sociales y culturales
Region
Asia
Asia del Sur
Date of birth
Date of death / disappearance
Cause of death / disappearance

Asesinato

"No era una persona. Era una potencia". - Así recuerda unx compañerx activista a Navleen Kumar.

Nacida el 15 de octubre de 1994, Navleen Kumar fue una ferviente activista por el derecho a la tierra y la justicia social de la India.

Con integridad y compromiso, trabajó durante más de una década para proteger y restaurar las tierras de los pueblos indígenas (adivasi) en el distrito de Thane, un área arrebatada por los propietarios y promotores inmobiliarios a través de medios como la coerción y la intimidación. Luchó contra esta injusticia y estos crímenes a través de intervenciones legales en diferentes tribunales, y descubrió que la manipulación de los registros de las tierras era una característica recurrente en la mayoría de los casos de adquisición de terrenos. En uno de los casos, el de los Wartha (una familia tribal), Navleen descubrió que la familia había sido engañada con la complicidad de funcionarixs gubernamentales.

Así, a través de su trabajo, ayudó a restituir la tierra a la familia Wartha, y siguió dedicándose a otros casos de transferencias de tierras adivasi.
 
"Su  artículo sobre el impacto de la alienación de la tierra en las mujeres y las niñas y niños adivasi traza la historia y las complejidades de la alienación tribal desde la década de los 70, cuando las familias de clase media comenzaron a trasladarse a los suburbios de Mumbai, que se extendían mientras el valor de la propiedad en la ciudad aumentaba de forma exponencial.

Los complejos de viviendas proliferaron en estos suburbios, y lxs integrantes de las comunidades tribales, que eran analfabetxs, pagaron el precio por ello. El costo de las tierras de primera, cerca de las líneas de ferrocarril, alcanzó un precio elevado y los constructores se abalanzaron sobre este cinturón como buitres, arrebatando de forma ilegal las tierras a las comunidades tribales y otrxs residentes locales ". - Jaya Menon, Comisión de Justicia y Paz.

Durante el curso de su activismo, Navleen recibió numerosas amenazas y sobrevivió a varios atentados contra su vida. A pesar de ello, siguió trabajando no sólo en lo que era importante para ella, sino que además contribuyó a cambiar la vida y la realidad de las muchas personas a las que apoyó en su lucha por la justicia social.

Navleen murió apuñalada el 19 de junio de 2002 en su edificio de departamentos. Dos gánsteres locales fueron arrestados por su asesinato.