As Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRD) operating from different cultures, contexts and political environments, our strategies are also diverse and constantly in flux. Our work can be dangerous, difficult and subject to punitive action, simply due to the fact that we exist or organize as a young human rights group or collective. Some of us are members of LGBTQI* groups who can never openly admit these identities. Some of us are lawyers who listen to cases of human rights violations that require an empathetic ear and complete confidentiality. Some of us are resource mobilizers who need to navigate the politics of money. Some of us are artists writing songs, painting walls, performing poetries and singing lyrics that challenge oppressive structures.
In the fight to defend human rights and make sure justice is accessible and attainable to everyone, we risk our physical and psychological well-being.
In the fight to defend human rights and make sure justice is accessible and attainable to everyone, we risk our physical and psychological well-being. Indeed, physical attacks on WHRDs are not a new phenomenon and have increased in recent years, according to the 2012 Global Report on the Situation of WHRDs. And, according to the recently published research, ‘Brave, Creative, Resilient: The Global State of Young Feminist Organizing’, produced jointly by AWID's Young Feminist Program and FRIDA, 44% of young feminists said they felt threatened or unsafe because of the work they do. Fifty-four per cent of them have identified extremist or fundamentalist religious groups as the biggest threat to their everyday activism. The rise of fundamentalism, militarism, democracy crises, neoliberalism and globalization overlap the contexts where WHRDs work. This has resulted in an alarming increase of attacks and threats against us. There are thousands of young feminist activists who are at serious risk or have been subjected to different forms of physical, psychological and online violence.
