W omen Human Rights Defenders

1. 16 Women Human Rights Defenders Days of Activism Against Violence

2. Joining the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender ViolenceCampaign, members of the International Coalition onWomen Human Rights Defenders honor 16 women humanrights defenders who have endured all risks and dangersto pursue their activism.

3. Who are women human rights defenders? Women active in human rights defense who are targetedfor who they are as well as those active in the defense ofwomen’s rights who are targeted for what they do. Simply,it pertains to human rights activists who are women, as wellas other activists who also defend women’s rights.

4. MariJo has been a women’s rights activist since she tested positive for HIV in 1995. “Being an activist is not something I decided. It is something that became part of me when I started to learn more about myself, when I realized that my life was connected to those of other people, other women.” Maria Jose VasquezInternational Community of Women Living with HIV & AIDS, Barcelona, SpainGlobal Community Worker among HIV Positive Women

5. Lydia’s media exposes on child pornography and murders of women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico led to her arrest, detention, harassment, and assault while in custody.   Lydia is a recipient of the Francisco Ojeda Award for Journalistic Courage. Lydia Cacho RibieroFeminist and Investigative Journalist, Mexico

6. “I could not be an effective lawyer if I did not do my best to change laws that cover up and even sanction crimes against women”. Asma has become one of the leaders in a campaign to end honor crimes. Asma KhaderSisterhood Is Global Institute, JordanLawyer and Human Rights Activist

7. Prudence is widely known as one of the first black women to declare publicly her HIV positive status in South Africa. “HIV/AIDS will not stop me from achieving my goals and inspiring others to reach theirs.” Prudence MabeleOne in Nine Campaign and Positive Women’s Network Johannesburg, South AfricaHIV Positive Activist

8. After spending time in prison and experiencing police abuse, Lohana helped found the Argentine Travesti Association in 1995. "I am a travesti, a woman, Socialist, Indian, fat, of colour, poor, labourer. I am all these things and much more. And I fight to build a world where I will be accepted for everything that am." (http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/bookshop/wp/wp310.pdf.) Lohana BerkinsALITT (Asociación Lucha por la Identidad Travesti y Transexual), ArgentinaTravesti* Activist *Lohana has described a travesti as "a person identified as a man at birth, who later chooses to identify as a woman”.

9. In 2001, Betty co founded Urgent Action Fund-Africa. "My activism is motivated by the resilience and strength of African women who have endured struggles including armed conflicts, exile, disease and impoverishment. Yet through all of this, their spirit remains resilient and renews itself at every turn. They know that women's rights are human rights." Betty MurungiUrgent Action Fund- Africa, Nairobi, KenyaFounder of Rapid Response Fund

10. Ingrid was an outspoken Indigenous women’s human rights activist brutally murdered in February 1999. Today, she is recognized as a pioneering women’s human rights defender who influenced governments to take action on Indigenous rights concerns. Ingrid El-IssaThe Fund for the Four Directions, New York City, USANative American Women’s Rights Activist

11. As a community health counselor, Laxmi worked in an area where incidence of domestic violence is high. Because her activism entailed interaction with men, it was a major source of struggle between her and her husband and his parents. In June 2008, Laxmi died, allegedly due to severe beating by her husband and because of poison she was forced to take by her husband and mother-in-law. Laxmi BoharaWomen’s Empowerment Center andNational Alliance of Women Human Rights Defenders, Kanchanpur, NepalCommunity Health Counselor

12. Anaraa is one of the few activists working for the rights of the LGBT community in a country where persecution and violence against them is widespread. She is a member of the Coalition of LGBT Rights Activists, an informal network committed to facilitating legislative change to protect the rights of LGBT people in Mongolia. Anaraa NyamdorjCoalition of LGBT Rights Activists Ulaanbaatar, MongoliaLGBT Activist in Mongolia

13. Founder and director of TENAGANITA, Irene documented and exposed the conditions in migration detention centers in Malaysia. In 1995, the government charged her with “maliciously publishing false news” and after appearing 300 times in her trial, she was sentenced to one year imprisonment in 2003. She is now out on bail, pending appeal of her case. Irene FernandezTENAGANITA (Protecting the Rights of Women and Migrants) Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaProsecuted Migrant Rights’ Activist

14. Hossam is the founder and director of EIPR. In 2006, EIPR brought before the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights a case challenging the Egyptian government's failure in its positive obligation to prevent and prosecute sexual violence against women. The case (filed jointly with Interights) is the first of its kind for the African human rights system. Hossam BahgatEgyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), Cairo, Egypt A Human Rights Lawyer

15. "Women defenders in Fiji are challenged because we work on human rights and equality in small, complex post-conflict spaces. Rising evangelical and right-wing nationalist groups challenge hard-won gains from recent decades. We face trauma of years of coup d' etats on the whole community, and in particular on women human rights defenders ourselves. Each subsequent coup sees still more of us targeted in subtle and overt ways." Noelene NabulivouWomen's Action for Change, Suva, Fiji Young Activist

16. Monica founded LUNDU, an anti-sexism, anti-racism, anti-homophobia NGO. "We can empower more young women against violence, abuse, forced sex, unwanted pregnancies and AIDS. Our girls believe their lives are worth something. When tourists ask them to dance, or have sex, our girls can say 'no'. Our girls learn to live without wearing a mask." [credit: Google Earth and http://www.everyhumanhasrights.org/monica-carrillo] Monica CarrilloLUNDU (Centro de Estudios y Promoción Afroperuanos), PeruAn Afro-Peruvian women's rights educator

17. INCRESE was founded by Dorothy Aken’Ova in 2000, in northern Nigeria, an area generally noted as particularly conservative. INCRESE focuses on rights of marginalized people, including sex workers, LGBT people and people with disabilities. In their fight to challenge and eliminate discrimination related to gender and sexuality, INCRESE members and supporters sometimes confront ‘taboos’ head on. INCRESE (International Center for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights)Nigeria

18. Wanda co-founded both the Federation for Women and Family Planning in Poland and ASTRA. “I advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights, especially for the right to legal and safe abortion, modern and accessible contraception and comprehensive sexuality education at the national and international level”. Wanda NowickaPolish Federation for Women and Family PlanningCentral and Eastern European Women's Network for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (ASTRA) Warsaw, PolandPolish Advocate for Women’s Reproductive Rights

19. Founded in 1993, WWHR contributed significantly to successful legal reforms in Turkey. It was awarded the 1999 Leading Solutions Award by AWID, in recognition of its contributions to advancing gender equality and social justice; and In 2007, WWHR and CSBR won the Gruber Foundation’s Women’s Rights Prize, for its contributions to furthering the rights of women and girls. Women for Women's Human Rights - New WaysTurkeyIndependent Women’s Rights Activist NGO

20. Each of these 16 women human rights defenders marks a day of activism against gender violence – from November 25, the International Day against Violence against Women until December 10, the International Human Rights Day. They represent the many other women human rights defenders we honor each November 29, the International Women Human Rights Defenders Day. On these days and every day, we pay tribute to the courage of all women human rights defenders who risk their lives in defense of their rights, and the rights of others.