Campaigns
WGNRR's Campaigns respond to struggles for sexual and reproductive health and rights (S&R H&R or SRHR), justice and dignity around the world. We support calls for reproductive justice initiated by human rights and social justice activists, Indigenous peoples’ communities, differently-abled peoples, LGBTTQI communities (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transsexual, two-spirited, queer and inter-sex), people living with HIV/AIDS, migrants, refugees, dalits, and other systematically marginalised peoples. We also support the efforts of community health workers' and nurses' organisations to have dignity and justice in carrying out their professional duties to meet the SH and RH needs of the communities under their care, as well as the broad demand for universal, public, accessible, affordable health care that is inclusive of non-discriminatory access to contraceptives and safe abortion services, and free from practices of forced sterilisation. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MAY 28TH 2011 REPORT
As part of an ongoing effort to assert that sexual and reproductive rights are human rights, members and allies of WGNRR of sexual and reproductive rights held events in over 30 countries in the Global South. WGNRR’s May 28th 2011 Call to Action was linked to our multi-year campaign in defense of sexual and reproductive rights, and was premised on the slogan: Sexual and Reproductive Rights are Human Rights! Defend and Mobilise for Reproductive Justice!
The call highlighted recent SRHR setbacks and successes to provide a context for the importance to take action against violations of the rights to bodily autonomy and to live free from sexual violence, and to affirm respect sexual and reproductive rights, as guaranteed under national laws and international conventions.
A selection of campaign materials were translated into French, Spanish, Swahili and Japanese, posted online on the WGNRR, AWID and Women Human Rights Defenders websites, circulated by AWID over their global e-listserv and circulated to WGNRR members via email. Packages that included leaflets, posters and buttons were sent out upon request to sexual and reproductive rights defenders representing over twenty-five countries.
Co-ordinated Activities Worldwide
To date, Asian-based member groups in Bangladesh, India, Japan, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines have alerted WGNRR to their events, while in the African continent members have reported mobilising in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Cameroon, Guinee-Conakry, Kenya and South Africa. WGNRR’s sister network, the Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network (LACWHN)/Red de Salud, recorded sixty planned activities across the region, including in Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Puerto Rico. Allies in Hungary, Macedonia and Georgia also coordinated events. Notably, in countries where strong WGNRR allied networks/coalitions working on SRHR are based, including in Mexico, Nepal, the Philippines, DRC and South Africa, multiple events to commemorate May 28th were recorded, organised for varied target audiences, in different cities and regions, and being led by a wide diversity of women.
Common Themes Addressed
The top concerns addressed by those who organised events were the following issues:
- Stigma faced by people living with HIV/AIDS;
- Struggles for dignity, medicine and access to basic needs by women living with HIV/AIDS;
- Access to sexual and reproductive health services for sex workers;
- Respect for the right to health, and sexual and reproductive rights of women with dis/abilities (differently-abled) and terminally-ill women;
- Respect for people of diverse sexual orientations;
- Maternal health and the right to accessible reproductive health care amongst the urban poor, marginalised ethnic groups and refugees;
- Adolescent pregnancy;
- Lack of access to contraceptives;
- Lack of access to safe/legal abortion services .
Outreach strategies
To reach out to the public and raise awareness about violations of sexual and reproductive rights and local responses/struggles, member organisations reported the following types of events included:
- Mass rallies and processions;
- Lobbying of government representatives and policy makers;
- House-to-house outreach/organising;
- Public forums;
- Roundtable discussions (featuring academic and/or NGO ‘experts’);
- Dialogues with local health practitioners;
- Mobile clinics offering reproductive health services in neighbourhoods of the urban poor;
- Community dialogues on family planning;
- Participatory/street theatre;
- Presentations at schools and universities;
- Workshops about women’s health;
- Photo contest and exhibition;
- Film series screenings.
Youth Involvement
Prior to May 28th, all members were encouraged to ensure their events were inclusive of youth demands related to respect of the SRHR, and to include young people as actors with meaningful roles in directing and organising the day’s activities. Young people were reportedly involved in events as speakers, facilitators, moderators, theatre animators, workshop participants and members of event preparation and documentation teams. However, the actual numbers of young people involved in each event was neither recorded nor disaggregated with an understanding towards their intersectional identities and therefore the actual extent of involvement remains somewhat ambiguous. In the coming years, collecting this data with an eye towards understanding young SRHR advocates in their full diversity of identities may be an important indicator of the levels of local youth engagement.
Successes Reported
Members cited a number of successful outcomes, including the following:
- Increased public awareness;
- Broadening of support networks
- Opening of space to speak about typically ‘sensitive’ issues;
- Collective recognition of importance of women talking with one another about their concerns and rights to bodily autonomy;
- Greater commitment amongst local advocates to advance their work for the recognition of sexual and reproductive rights and the realisation of reproductive justice in all spheres of their community;
- Commitment to organise further coordinated events highlighting local SRHR concerns, including on May 28th 2012;
- Positive media coverage of SRHR concerns and of community events.
Challenges Reported
However, members also cited the following concerns as challenges affecting their advocacy prior to and during the May 28th events:
- Logistical challenges (particularly in relation to poor urban/rural infrastructure);
- Lack of sufficient financial resources;
- Low public awareness about the issues (and a corresponding need for popularised materials);
- Delayed arrival of WGNRR materials (due to postage system problems);
- Resistance/Oppositional attitudes by local men;
- Ingrained ‘traditional’, ‘cultural’ and ‘faith based’ stigma/opposition towards tackling the issues at hand.
Media Coverage
An online scan of press coverage during May 28th coverage in the following sites:
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=49663&Cat=4&dt=5/29/2011
http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=1&t=1&id=35135
http://www.mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20110520090916
http://www.womenlobby.org/spip.php?article1717&lang=en
http://www.daylife.com/search?q=international+day+of+action+for+women%27s+health
http://www.genderacrossborders.com/2011/05/28/act-now-for-womens-reproductive-health/
http://www.actionforglobalhealth.eu/blog/?p=1135
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=174462649278586&id=152424661465028
http://www.publishaletter.com/readletter.jsp?plid=28151
http://www.cafra.org/spip.php?article459
http://www.guardian.co.tt/node/14492
http://www.scenicsouth.co.za/2011/05/i-am-somebody-winter-soiree-series-in-muizenberg/
http://jknewspoint.com/index.php/j-a-k-news/16063-women-need-to-exercise-the-power-to-say-no
http://www.safercampus.org/blog/2011/05/support-the-campus-save-act/
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2011 Call to Action: International Day of Action for Women's Health
Sexual and Reproductive Rights are Human Rights! Defend and Mobilise for Reproductive Justice!
May 28th, the International Day of Action for Women’s Health is fast approaching. Join thousands of people around the world in celebration of this day, to defend reproductive and sexual rights as universal, indivisible human rights and mobilise for reproductive justice. Why take action this year?
•BECAUSE sexual and reproductive rights continue to be denounced within national, regional and international forums.
•BECAUSE abortion, abortion providers and midwives performing homebirths continue to be criminalised.
• BECAUSE health initiatives continue to subject marginalised women - and in particular, those who are living with HIV/AIDS - to coercive contraceptive ‘counselling sessions’ and sterilisation operations without full consent.
• BECAUSE religious, political and economic extremisms that promote patriarchal, conservative, and exclusionary ideologies, while normalising violations of the rights to bodily autonomy and to freedom from sexual violence, are on the rise.
• BECAUSE there are increasing incidences of femicide and brutal ‘honour killings’ worldwide.
•BECAUSE hope remains alive in the advances made in some national and international contexts.
We hope you will join us on May 28th in a coordinated call to defend sexual and reproductive rights!
For more details about the challenges ahead, victories to celebrate and community mobilisation ideas, check out the 2011 May 28th Call to Action by the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights: “Sexual and Reproductive Rights are Human Rights! Defend and Mobilise for Reproductive Justice!” The Call to Action is also availible for download in Spanish, French, and Japanese.
The growing list of events being organised worldwide on May 28th is being posted online at www.wgnrr.org
If you haven’t already contacted WGNRR to let us know the actions your organisation will be taking don’t hesitate to be in touch:
-If you’re in Africa, email: nondo@wgnrr.org-If you’re in Asia or the Pacific, email: bing@wgnrr.org-If you’re in Europe, email: corine@wgnrr.org-If you’re in the Americas, email: irina@wgnrr.org
For general campaign related questions, email office@wgnrr.org.
In Solidarity ~ For Reproductive, Sexual and Gender Justice,
WGNRR Campaigns Team
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Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights on International Women's Day, 8 March 2011
On 8th March 2011, the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) joins the world in commemorating the centennial year of International Women’s Day. At a time when reproductive and sexual rights continue to be systematically violated and denied as universal, indivisible human rights around the world, it is urgent that we take decisive action to mobilise within and beyond our communities for long-lasting transformative changes that advance the cause for sexual and reproductive justice for all.
This March 8th, let us affirm our unity as we:
*Mobilise locally and globally for Reproductive and Sexual Rights & Justice!
*Defend access to the full range of reproductive and sexual services within a universal, affordable, non-stigmatising health care system--inclusive of all ages and all communities!
*Advance the diverse struggles to stop any form of forced sterilisation, population control, coerced abortion or non-consensual imposition of contraceptives!
*Defend the right to live healthy, dignified lives, free from all forms of gender violence!
WGNRR calls on all members to join the local rallies, marches, forums and other protest/awareness raising activities organised by women’s movements on March 8. As defenders of sexual and reproductive rights from the Global South and the North, we shall continue to raise our concerns at community gatherings, in the workplace, on campus and in schools, in the streets and the parks, during cultural events, in the media, in the halls of parliament, and in the courts. To check out the listings of local actions worldwide, click here.
Other actions to take include:
* Signing WGNRR’s appeal to the Philippine government to respect reproductive health & rights! (Email your name/organisation and country to tanya@wgnrr.org by 3rd March)
* Joining solidarity actions to affirm support for the women in Northern Africa and the Arab world who struggle for dignified lives and an end to all forms of violence, for Indigenous women’s movements, Sarahoui women and Palestinian women who seek respect for their rights, self-determination, and freedom from the violence of occupying forces, and the struggles of women in conflict and post-conflict zones worldwide - from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Timor Leste- for an end to sexual violence, for the realisation of political, social and economic justice, and a lasting end to militarised aggression.
Help make the 2011 International Women’s Day a historic day to be remembered by the SRHR movement!
In solidarity,
Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Africa Women's Sexual and Reproductive Rights Day Commemorated Around the World
Across the African continent, from Cairo to Cape Town, women are mobilising for recognition and respect of their sexual and reproductive rights. On February 4th, members and allies of the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights in communities throughout Africa held forums, dialogues with parliamentarians, participatory community theatre, and outreach programmes in schools and the streets to raise their voices for the recognition and respect of their rights to sexual and reproductive autonomy. Young women took leadership positions in the events, standing shoulder to shoulder with older generations of sexual and reproductive rights advocates, while men also participated as important allies.
WGNRR Member organisations and allies were involved in the following events as communities across the continent continued to mobilise for reproductive justice:
. In Burundi:
o Theatrical performances promoting sexual and reproductive rights were
organised in rural and semi-urban communities near Bujumbura.
. In Cameroon:
o Community radio broadcasts featured discussions about ending the
stigmatisation of women living with HIV/AIDS,
o Public forums and theatrical performances were organised by women living
with HIV/AIDS, sex workers, differently-abled people and those who identify
as part of the marginalised ethnic minority of the Mbororo
. In the D.R. Congo:
o Forums discussing the reproductive rights and autonomy of women, young
women's rights, the concerns of women living with HIV/AIDS and those who are
differently-abled, and freedom from sexual violence were organised in
various communities, featuring the voices and concerns of women living with
HIV/AIDS and differently abled women
o Young women competed in football matches that were held to symbolize the
significance of women living empowered, autonomous and healthy lives
o Inter-active radio programming featured discussions on reproductive
rights and health concerns
o Young women animators facilitated street theatre in discussions about
reproductive health in rural and urban communities
. In Conakry, Guinee-Bissau:
o Forums engaged young women in the national campaign against sexual
violence
. In Ghana:
o Forums helped raise awareness about reproductive health and HIV/AIDS.
o Outreach in schools raised awareness about reproductive health issues
amongst school age children.
. In Kenya:
o Children, youth, women and people with HIV/AIDs joined public forums to
discuss issues related to reproductive rights and an end to sexual violence
through the use of drama, poetry, singing and dancing
. In Nigeria:
o Community forums were held to open up a space for women and youth living
with HIV/AIDS, women criminalised as sex workers, and members of the
lesbian/gay/trans/bisexual communities to speak out about their reproductive
rights.
o Letter writing was carried out by community groups to call on
parliamentarians to respect reproductive rights of all.
o Capacity building workshops on community mobilising and organizing for
reproductive health and rights were held
. In Freetown, Sierra Leone:
o Meetings were convened between parliamentarians and women human rights
lawyers to discuss new legislation about the sexual and reproductive rights
of women.
. In King Williams Town, South Africa:
o A dialogue was convened amongst rural women and people who identify as
lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or transgender living with HIV/AIDS.
. In Kigoma, Tanzania:
o A public forum was held to discuss sexual and reproductive health and
rights amongst highly marginalised communities.
. In Uganda:
o Theatrical activities, role plays, and presentations about women's
reproductive rights took place in the rural village of Bukatira.
o A forum to discuss the current state of sexual and reproductive rights
nationally was organised in Kampala, bringing together diverse communities
from all generations.
. In Harare, Zimbabwe:
o A forum was organised to share information and ideas and challenges
related to advocacy encompassing sexual and reproductive rights, maternal
health concerns, HIV/AIDS realities and sexual violence. Participants
included networks of youth, sex workers, and People Living with HIV/AIDS.
For more information, please see: http://www.wgnrr.org/news/african-women%E2%80%99s-sexual-and-reproductiv... _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Speak Out! Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights!
Are you:
A sex worker, former prisoner, or former/active drug user living with HIV/AIDS, or a young womyn within any of these communities who is living with HIV/AIDS? Criminalised and stigmatised for who you are/ what you do?
*Working with women and/or young women living with HIV/AIDS, or other communities living with HIV/AIDS supporting their calls and self-directed initiatives for respect of their reproductive rights?
*Experiencing/campaigning for access to generic medicines and public, universal, affordable health care with communities living with HIV /AIDS, so that their/your health-including reproductive health- rights will be respected?
*Concerned about the respect of the reproductive rights of women and young women living with HIV/AIDS (including your own rights and those of colleagues, friends or family members living with HIV/AIDS)?
Share your experiences with the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights.
Worldwide, the reproductive rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, continue to be denied and violated, including by policy makers and legislative bodies, and other authorities as well as health service providers and community members. Commonly reported reproductive rights violations of women living with HIV/AIDS- and especially those who identify as youth and/or members of other marginalised populations include: forced and/or coerced sterilisation and abortion, coercive birth control counselling, sexual violence, criminalisation, stigmatisation and an overall denial of the right to bodily autonomy.
During the April 2011 session of the Commission on Population and Development at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, WGNRR will endorse a civil society session** that will focus on the reproductive rights of women living with HIV/AIDS, as well as an activity raising the lack of attention to the women's human rights expressed in MDG 5. We are aware that the UN buildings are a place where few community-based sexual and reproductive rights defenders will have the opportunity to enter. Nevertheless, your concerns, strategies for change, recommendations and passion for a future when everyone’s reproductive rights are upheld should not be ignored by the policy makers and authorities in these halls!
WGNRR is calling on all generations of women living with HIV/AIDS to share your experiences by sending us written testimonials, audio clips and video recordings about
-reproductive rights violations;
-the barriers and challenges faced in order to have reproductive rights respected and upheld;
-concrete actions and steps that need to be taken - locally, nationally and/or internationally - to ensure the reproductive rights of women living with HIV will be upheld; and
-successful community support/mobilisation initiatives.
Expressions by collective groups or individuals, including recordings of spoken word poetry, songs, dance and group discussions, are welcome. Although not every submission will be included in the session, each contribution will be part of shaping the discussion.
WGNRR cannot provide any related funding resources, nor can we fund individuals or organisational representatives to attend the meetings in New York. We also are unable to authorise UN passes. Your participation in this testimonial gathering initiative is therefore on a strictly voluntary basis.
BY FRIDAY MARCH 11TH, please send WGNRR the written testimonials (maximum 1000 words), still images, or audio recordings (mp3, .wav format, maximum 10 minutes) or videos (quicktime.mov, windows.avi, or .mpg format, maximum 10 minutes) that you would like to be heard at the UN in New York. Submissions should be sent to tanya@wgnrr.org , with the subject heading “Speak Out: Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights”. Questions can also be directed to tanya@wgnrr.org.
Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you!
[**Note: The CPD side session is jointly endorsed by FEIM, GESTOS, Global Coalition of Women and AIDS, ICW Global, and WGNRR. Other endorsing networks are welcome to join. ]
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WGNRR is commemorating the courageous work of women's human rights defenders around the world and the 2010 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (25 November - 10 December) with the launch of a multi-year campaign: Recognise Reproductive Rights, Organise for Reproductive Justice! in collaboration with the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition. You can download regionalised information about this campaign for Africa, Asia & the Pacific and the Global North.
In the year ahead, this campaign will address two specific demands related to the recognition and defense of sexual and reproductive rights as indivisible, universal human rights:
1. Access to Safe, Legal, Affordable Abortion, free of stigmatisation and criminalisation.
2. An end to forced sterilisation and abortion programmes, such as those targeted at people living with HIV/AIDS.
If you would like to receive regular updates about the progress of the campaign, email: tanya@wgnrr.org
Together with women’s rights, health rights, human rights, and social and economic justice movements, we are calling on the UN, international institutions and governments to:
- Affirm sexual and reproductive rights by upholding UN and regional human rights frameworks, and emerging human rights frameworks;
- Repeal laws & policies that violate human rights, including sexual & reproductive rights;
- Withdraw support for coercive sterilisation and abstinence-only programmes;
- End the criminalisation and stigmatisation of those of us who are trained providers of safe abortion services and/or traditional birth services, those of us who want –or advocate for—the right to access to these services;
- End the imposition of Poverty Reduction Strategy programmes as well as other forms of debt repayment plans that limit public health and education budgets;
- Proactively work towards an end to all other violations of reproductive health and justice, including the harmful effects on reproductive well-being caused by environmentally destructive projects and policies which restrict access to contraceptives and abortion services.
The Recognise Reproductive Rights, Organise for Reproductive Justice! poster template can be downloaded here.
The Recognise Reproductive Rights, Organise for Reproductive Justice! button template can be downloaded here.
Case studies of WGNRR members and allies organising for Reproductive Justice can be downloaded here. To submit your campaign stories, email us!
Take action! Join the WGNRR 2011 RJMob (Reproductive Justice Mobilisation) Creative Campaign Challenge! Downloaded contest guidelines here. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What does campaigning for Reproductive Justice mean?
Reproductive justice includes:
- Reproductive and sexual health(comprehensive services);
- Reproductive and sexual rights ( legal rights or advocacy); and
- Social movement building
- The need to integrate a perspective of intersectionality, which addresses our different contexts that result from our positioning of race, ethnicity, class, caste, gender, age, geographic location and able-bodiedness,
- Organising our communities to challenge structural power inequalities, shifting the discussion away from individual rights to an inclusive vision of better lives, healthier families, and sustainable communities.
According to Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice, “Reproductive Justice exists when all people have the social, political and economic power and resources to make healthy decisions about our gender, bodies and sexuality for our selves, our families and our communities. Reproductive Justice aims to transform power inequities and create long-term systemic change, and therefore relies on the leadership of communities most impacted by reproductive oppression. The reproductive justice framework recognizes that all individuals are part of communities and that our strategies must lift up entire communities in order to support individuals.”
Days to Mobilise for Reproductive Justice Around the World include:
4 February - African Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Day
8 March - International Women’s Day
28 May - International Day of Action for Women’s Health
4 September - World Sexual Health Day
26 September - World Day for Universal Access to Contraceptives
28 September - Day of Action to Decriminalise Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean
29 November - Women’s Human Rights Defenders Day
30 November - South Asian Women’s Day for Human Rights
From 2010-2015, WGNRR campaigns are highlighting the recognition of sexual and reproductive rights as indivisible, universal human rights by calling on governments live up to commitments they made under:
- The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Beijing Platform for Action;
- The International Convenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
- The International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action and Millennium Development Goal 5b;
- The Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
- The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders;
- National laws reflecting principles enshrined in the above UN agreements;
- Emerging human rights frameworks affirming sexual and reproductive rights, such as the Yogyakarta Principles
WGNRR recognises the many shortcomings in these documents in terms of scope, applicability, promotion of heteronormativity, as well as the challenges towards full implementation in rural and urban communities. We position our advocacy within the broader struggles responding to deeply rooted patriarchal structures; rising religious extremisms and tensions; civil conflicts; militarisation and paramilitarisation; neoliberal trade rules and aid conditionalities; shifts towards privatised for-profit systems of health care and education provision; criminalisation of defenders of human rights and social justice; displacement caused by climate injustices, environmental disasters and large-scale development projects.
Advocacy and capacity building programmes help ensure opportunities for popular mobilisation and grounding in local contexts.
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Shout Out! What does reproductive justice mean to you/your organisation?
Tell us what you think-in writing, photographs, art, or audio clips. Diverse interpretations of this term from around the world will be posted online.
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It is time to strategically claim the identity as “human rights defenders”, a term that advocates of human rights around the world use to describe their actions. Since sexual and reproductive rights are notyet included in United Nations Conventions, the UN Declaration on Human Rights defenders provides a window of opportunity to us as defenders of reproductive dignity by stating that:
Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to develop and discuss new human rights ideas and principles and to advocate their acceptance. (Art. 7)
Human Rights advocates who defend sexual and reproductive rights as indivisible human rights are…
People who advocate for, promote, claim and/or affirm sexual and reproductive rights, justice and dignity. For example, health care providers, researchers, educators, students, lawyers, pharmacists, writers, artists, members of civil society organisations, and individuals proactively seeking dignified access to reproductive and sexual health programmes for themselves and/or others can be considered SRR defenders. We may face stigmatisation, criminalisation or other forms of oppression because of who we are and/or because of what we do.
What kind of work is needed to defend sexual and reproductive rights in your community? Are people you know who advocate for sexual and reproductive rights experience stigmatised or criminalised?
Send us your experiences and thoughts. Email photos of places in your community where sexual and reproductive rights need to be promoted and defended (for example: public parks, the streets, shopping centres, medical clinics, your school/community centre, your home, in the fields or the market....). WGNRR is developing an online gallery for these photos and stories. We look forward to your contribution. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Are sexual and reproductive rights violated in your community?
Do you know of sexual and reproductive rights defenders experiencing physical and psychological harassment, attacks on their personhood/reputation, violations of the freedom of speech, association and assembly, restrictions on their freedom of movement and/or http://www.wgnrr.org/sites/default/files/Examples of Rights Violations Experienced by SRR defenders.doc">other violations? WGNRR is compiling information about violations of sexual and reproductive rights, and violations of the rights of those of us who organise and defend the need for reproductive justice. We will be presenting these cases collectively to the UN Special Representative on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women. Check out the general guidelines for submitting a report to the United Nations about a human rights violation experienced by a human rights defender.
Contribute to WGNRR's collective case to demand justice for defenders of sexual and reproductive rights!
Download this form to begin documenting violations against advocates of sexual and reproductive rights. Record testimonials (in writing, video and/or audio recordings) and take photos. Email us the form once it is completed, or any questions you have. If you would like WGNRR to respond with an urgent action alert or a support letter (for example, to your government/foreign embassies/national or international court or human rights institution), let us know. However, at the current time, WGNRR does not have the capacity to offer immediate support for survivors of violations who may need urgent attention. If you need this type of support, please contact a local or national human rights/women's rights organisation you trust. Do not hesitate to copy us into this correspondence. Resources to support your defense of human rights can be downloaded from the Association of Women in Development (AWID) website here.
WGNRR's Past Letter Writing Campaigns include:
Writing to your UN Ambassador as they prepare for the UN MDG High Level Summit in September 2010 to urge them to listen to the demands of community based advocates and stand by international human rights frameworks. You can find out the address of your ambassador here.
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Recent Alerts:
Collective letter with WGNRR members to the incoming president of the Philippines.
Appeal for the humanitarian release of 2 pregnant community health care workers incarcerated in the Philippines, and 41 of their colleagues
Follow-Up Letter to the Philippine Department of Justice appealing for the release of 43 community health care workers and defenders of SRHR incarcerated in the Metro Manila High Security Jail
Appeal for justice and reparations for Congolese women in the refugee camps of Uganda
Solidarity with advocates for reproductive and sexual health and rights in Japan.