WUNRN
http://awid.org/Our-Initiatives/Women-Human-Rights-Defenders/WHRD-Tribute
ONLINE EXHIBIT: https://plus.google.com/photos/110714837166729000165/albums/5947969816908571489
Tribute to Feminists and Women Human Rights Defenders
Who Are No Longer With Us
As part of the 16 Days Campaign Against Gender Based Violence (November
25 – December 10, 2013) AWID is honoring Feminists and Women Human
Rights Defenders (WHRDs) Who Are No Longer With Us and whose contributions to
the advancement of human rights are very much missed.
The tribute was first launched at AWID’s 12th International Forum on
Women’s Rights in Development, held in April 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey. The new
version of the tribute takes the form of an online photo exhibition launched on November 25th, Day
for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and ends on December 10,
International Human Rights Day with a special slide show featuring 16 WHRDs
from around the world. The tribute features photographs and biographies of
women’s rights leaders from around the world. Each day of the campaign we will
share the story of a WHRD(s) on our website as well as through Facebook and
Twitter using hashtags #16days and #AWIDMembers and link back to the full online exhibit which will commemorate and celebrate the work
and lives of WHRDs who have passed away since January 2011.
In addition to paying homage to these incredible women, we seek to shed
light on the plight of all WHRDs who have been assassinated or disappeared in
an effort to silence and end their activism. We bring them all into our
collective memory and carry their legacy of struggle as our torch in the
feminists and women’s rights movements. Women like Sunila Abeyesekera a
lifelong feminist and women human rights defender from Sri Lanka and South
Asia, who played a lead role in the global women’s rights movement for over 40
years. And whose life and work we will honor on November 29th International
Women Human Rights Defenders’ Day. On that day will invite you to use hashtag
#remembersunila and join with us in honoring her memory.
AWID received contributions from all over the world for this tribute.
And while many of these women have passed away due to accidents, illnesses and
natural disasters, about one third of those honored in this tribute were killed
or disappeared due to their activism. Women like Agnes Torres, from Mexico, who
was killed because of her gender identity and sexual orientation; or Cheryl
Ananayo, an environmental activist from the Philippines who was assassinated as
she struggled against a mining company; Colombian women’s human rights defender
Angelica Bello who died in suspicious circumstances; and Petite Jasmine, board
member of Swedish sex worker’s rights organization Rose Alliance who was
murdered by the father of her children, who had threatened and stalked her on
numerous occasions.
We honor our sisters and we denounce the high levels of violence against
feminists and WHRDs across the world. These killings and disappearances are not
isolated cases; they are meant to weaken our movements and stop us from
challenging patriarchy, heteronormativity, and fundamentalisms that oppress
women and prevent the realization of human rights for all. Increased
militarization, strong presence of organized criminal groups, crises in
democracy and governance, and growing tensions as a result of increasing
inequality generated by dominant economic systems, are all contexts around the
world in which women’s rights activism becomes more dangerous and at times
deadly.
As we grieve, we also have much to celebrate and be proud of in
remembrance of the legacy, passion and commitment of these WHRDs and feminists
activists. Women like Gabriela Leite, the founder of the movement for sex
worker rights in Brazil; Dorothy Musakanya Mapulanga, a Zambian disability
rights activist in Southern Africa who played a prominent role in in research
focused on women with disabilities and HIV and AIDS; Cassandra Balchin, from
Britain, who was at the forefront of unmasking and demystifying religious
fundamentalisms through her analysis and research and Domitila Barrios De
Chungara, a long-time Bolivian social activist, union leader, feminist, and
revolutionary who gained international recognition for her peaceful activism
against the Banzer dictatorship.
As feminists and women’s rights activists in all our diversity, we need
to build solidarity across social movements and strengthen our collective
capacity to respond to violence against WHRDs and violations of their rights.
Recognizing that security, safety and self-care must be a priority in all our
political agendas is a crucial step to collectively respond to violence against
feminists and WHRDs, and to ensure the sustainability of our movements for
gender equality, women’s rights, and justice for all.
AWID would like to thank the families and
organizations who shared their personal stories and contributed to this
memorial. We join them in continuing the remarkable work of these women and
forging efforts to ensure justice is achieved in cases that remain in impunity.