WUNRN
Defending Women - Defending Rights
Statement of the WHRD - Women
Human Rights Defenders International Coalition on Women Human Rights Defenders
Day
November 29, 2012 -"Everyone has the right, individually and in
association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization
of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international
levels." – Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals,
Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ["The Declaration on human rights
defenders"] (Article 1).
"Women Human Rights Defenders are more at risk of suffering certain forms
of violence and other violations, prejudice, exclusion, and repudiation than
their male counterparts." – UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of
Human Rights Defenders, 2010 Annual Report to the General Assembly.
On the occasion of November 29th, Women Human Rights Defenders Day, the Women Human Rights
Defenders International Coalition stands in solidarity with the hundreds of
thousands of women activists around the world who – with exemplary courage,
determination, and strength, uphold women's human rights, the rights of
communities, and of the environment.
The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition is a resource and
advocacy network for the protection and support of women human rights defenders
(WHRDs) worldwide. An international initiative created out of the international
campaign on WHRDs launched in 2005, the Coalition calls attention to the
recognition of WHRDs. Their gender or the nature of their work has made them
the subject of attacks, requiring gender‐sensitive mechanisms for
their protection and support. The Coalition involves women activists as well as
all people who defend women's rights and lesbian, gay, bi‐sexual,
and transgender (LGBT) defenders and groups committed to the advancement of
women's human rights and sexual rights.
The Coalition affirms the great value of the work of WHRDs: the struggle to
defend human rights, to cultivate peace and to achieve meaningful gender and
social justice. It recognizes the different contexts in which WHRDs work and
the breadth of the challenges they face. It is proud to support the diverse
contributions of WHRDs from across the globe, and it is inspired by the
innovation, creativity and adaptability with which they are transforming their
communities every day.
Whether they focus on women's human rights or other rights issues, WHRDs are subjected
to arbitrary imprisonment, torture, forced disappearances, death threats,
violations of privacy, sexual violence, name calling and other threats to their
credibility, closures of their organizations and a host of other violations
because of what they do, in defense of human rights, and who they are as women
challenging gender norms. Many WHRDs have been displaced or have lost their
lives because of their work. The Coalition laments the severe violence WHRDs
have faced and seeks to honour the memory of those no longer with us through
our solidarity and commitment to Defend Women Defending Rights.
The alarming increase in violence against WHRDs and violations of their rights
demonstrates the importance of strengthening protection mechanisms and support
networks for WHRDs across the globe. As women's role in the frontline of human
rights defense is more visible, so are the contexts in which violence against
WHRDs and violations of their rights take place. Fundamentalisms, militarism
and conflict, globalization and neoliberalisms, crises of democracy and
governance, patriarchy and heteronormativity are the key contexts that often
overlap, as shown in the Coalition's Global Report on the Situation of Women Human Rights Defenders.
The Coalition calls on all stakeholders and duty bearers to uphold their
national, regional and international human rights commitments to ensure the
promotion and protection of the rights of WHRDs regardless of their race,
ethnicity, nationality, religion or belief, status, age, caste, political
opinion, sexual orientation and gender identity as well as on other grounds or
contexts.
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