WUNRN
Women Human Rights Defenders
The world
over, against all odds, Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) work
tirelessly for the protection and promotion of human rights. Yet, WHRDs have
received little attention in the human rights arena and face gender-specific
risks and vulnerabilities in addition to those faced by all human rights
defenders. They are confronted by difficult challenges when they work in male
dominated environments, are often stigmatized and sometimes become victims of
gender specific violations that need to be addressed.
Women Human
Rights Defenders face risks in addition to the shared risks/
vulnerabilities that they experience with their male colleagues. The risks and
vulnerabilities faced by WHRDs are as follows:
A). Shared
risks and vulnerabilities: These are risks and vulnerabilities that they face
at par with their male colleagues which are of a general character, i.e. those
experienced by all HRDs— men and women.
B).
Gender-specific risks and vulnerabilities: These are vulnerabilities faced by
WHRDs due to their being a woman or that impact disproportionately on them
because they are women, for instance, sexual abuse, harassment, violations from
husbands/partners and male colleagues in addition to violations by the state.
C) Risks and
vulnerabilities due to their work on women-specific rights/issues: Women Human
Rights Defenders also face heightened risks and vulnerabilities because of
their work on women-specific rights/issues that frequently challenge cultural
stereotypes and religion. Such challenging of cultural and religious norms can
raise high levels of hostility, more so because women are considered markers of
culture and religion.
All of these
problems require strategies to be gender specific rather than gender neutral.
______________________________________________________________________
International Rescue Committee Releases Names of
Victims of Ambush in Afghanistan - 3 Women
|
|
New York, NY 13 Aug 2008 - The International Rescue
Committee has released the names of its four staff members who were
tragically killed in an ambush Wednesday
morning in Logar Province, Afghanistan. They are: Shirley Case, 30, of Williams Lake, British Columbia. She joined the IRC on June 8 in Afghanistan to manage education programs designed to meet the needs of children with disabilities. Nicole Dial, 30, a dual citizen of Trinidad and the United States. Her permanent residence was in Trincity, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I. She joined the IRC May 21 in Afghanistan as a coordinator in the agency’s programs for children. Jacqueline (Jackie) Kirk, Ph.D., 40, of Outrement, Quebec, a dual citizen of Canada and the United Kingdom. An education-programs technical advisor, she had worked for the IRC since 2004. She provided support for the agency’s children’s education programs worldwide. A second Afghan driver employed by the IRC was seriously wounded in the
attack and has been hospitalized. |
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