[Public Event] Women on the frontline: Human rights defenders

Women human rights defenders play a crucial role in promoting and protecting human rights in all dimensions. They often face attacks for their vital and legitimate work, as well as intersectional discrimination and violence — not only because of the rights they defend, but also based on their gender or perceived gender, and other intersecting grounds of discrimination.

Today, women defenders carry out their work in increasingly challenging environments shaped by authoritarianism, militarisation, corporate greed, corruption, and anti-rights rhetoric. Those in conflict and occupied territories face even greater risks, including heightened violence, displacement, and limited access to essential services.

This public event offers a unique opportunity to hear directly from women human rights defenders, to better understand the challenges they face, and to reflect on their strategies of resistance, resilience, and solidarity.

Panelists:

• Maria Josefina Caal, Guatemala
• Raichatou Walett, Mali
• Casselle Jannica Ton, the Philippines

Moderation: Latin American Network Initiative (LANI)

This event is supported by student associations at the Graduate Institute: Afrique Students' Association, Feminist Collective, Latin American Network Initiative, and Student Initiative on Asia.

The event takes place in the framework of the ‘Women Human Rights Defender Advocacy Week’, which brings together 13 women defending Indigenous rights from across the globe for a week of training, exchange and advocacy in Geneva. The week is co-organized by a dozen international and regional human rights organizations.

IM-Defensoras, Regional Coalition of Women Human Rights Defenders in Middle East and North Africa (WHRD MENA), Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRDIC), National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Mexico (RNDDHM), International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Front Line Defenders (FLD), Peace Brigades International (PBI), Just Associates (JASS), Amnesty International (AI), Urgent Action Fund (UAF), and Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID).