NWI Fifth International Conference: Defending the Defenders

Building Support for Women Human Rights Defenders
Date: 24 April 2015
Location: The Hague, Netherlands

Description

At the 5^th Nobel Women’s Initiative biennial conference, the Laureates were joined by a gathering of 120 frontline activists from the Middle East, Africa and South America to discuss how the international community could protect women human rights defenders around the globe. Women human rights defenders are subjected to a wide range of violence – from verbal harassment to systemic rape, torture, and assassinations. They are targeted because they are defying traditional gender roles and represent a threat to the patriarchal status quo. Among the highest at risk are women campaigning against environmental destruction and those facing new threats from extremist groups like ISIS.

Laureates

Mairead Maguire
Jody Williams
Shirin Ebadi
Leymah Gbowee

Find out more

Open Democracy Conference Blog Features

Marion Bowman | Security is not just CCTV: valuing ourselves is security

Yanar Mohammed | Iraq’s female citizens: prisoners of war

Karima Bennoune | Sabeen Mahmud: “I stand up for what I believe in, but I can’t fight guns.”

Jennifer Allsopp | Women human rights defenders: reigniting the embers

Mairead Maguire | Breaking the silence on Palestine

Brigid Inder | A tribute to Joan Kagezi: the murder of a human rights defender

Jody Williams | Defending the defenders: a daunting challenge

Ndana Bofu-Tawamba | At the margins of visibility: recognizing women human rights defenders