Women defenders

The West African Women Human Rights Defenders Movement aims primarily to foster a participatory and inclusive movement around the cause of women human rights defenders in West Africa in order to amplify their voices with a view to ensuring better protection for them and respect for their rights.

Specifically, the Movement provides an opportunity, on the one hand, to generate enthusiasm among women human rights defenders for regional human rights mechanisms and to facilitate their collaboration with these mechanisms; and, on the other hand, to involve them, without any discrimination, in regional and international forums on women’s rights and women human rights defenders, while connecting them to other networks of women human rights defenders.

The Movement's main areas of focus:

• Capacity building in physical and digital security, and human rights mechanisms

• Establishment of an early warning and rapid response system

• Providing women human rights defenders with specific tools to mitigate risks

• Assistance to women human rights defenders who are at risk, and, if necessary, their relocation

• Advocacy at the national, regional, and international levels

• Support for the empowerment of women human rights defenders at risk

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