WHRD Report: Women Standing Together

Publish Date:

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Women human rights defenders in all their diversity (WHRDs) are often at the forefront of struggles for human rights, social justice, and the environment, and are, as a result, frequently targeted. The threats and attacks directed at WHRDs are often gendered and reflect patriarchal norms relating to women’s perceived societal role. Similarly, due to patriarchal norms, WHRDs often find themselves more isolated and vulnerable than their male counterparts, at times even in their own organizations, communities, and families. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a deterioration in preexisting conditions facing WHRDs, including gender-based violence.

ESCR-Net WHRD members are also subjected to previously mentioned patriarchal norms and face various threats, many of which are gender-based. As a result, in 2020, the Women and ESCR Working Group (WESCR) and the System of Solidarity (SOS) Advisory Group initiated a collaboration to gather inputs and collectively explore how to better support WHRDs in ESCR-Net. Through surveys and a series of women-only online conversations, they identified strategies they utilize to stay safe and ways they can stand in solidarity and support each other.

Below, we share the most common responses from the survey.