#WHRDVoices
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#WHRDVoices: Read the reflection of Mariam, a #Palestinian woman human rights defender, on the recent #Israeli colonial violence, the challenges, and what kept Palestinian human rights defenders going.

Now on #GenderITorg: genderit.org/Unyielding_A...

#16DaysOfActivism #NoTechForWar @apc.org
Image of people mobilising for Palestine. In the backdrop is a large wall or fort-like structure which is outlined. Text: “From childhood, we learn that Palestinians live a different reality from other people.” Image of people mobilising for Palestine. Text: “One becomes accustomed to going through Israeli military checkpoints, being subjected to searches, harassment, arrests, tear gas firings and sounds of gunfire.” Partial image of the outlined wall/fort-like structure. Text: “You inherit a level of trauma which, though normalised, grows with you and leaves a long-term impact.” Partial image of people mobilising. Text: “We also carry a particular anxiety as women, doing the best we can while thinking of our family and of others around us, who may, for example, face some form of surveillance or intimidation from the IOF or be subjected to visa or residence permit denial…”
December 7, 2025 at 8:43 AM
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#RideRollLead is not just a group, it's a sanctuary where women feel seen, uplifted and empowered. #Pakistani women meet and find community on rides.

#WHRDVoices: Reclaiming public spaces through incredible acts of resilience and mutual aid brings us so much joy! #16Days #TakeBackTechJoy @apc.org
Image of a woman cycling. Text: How Ayesha’s cycling group in Pakistan started with a bike commute… and a Facebook post! More than 50 girls signed up within the first hour, but nobody had a bike. Partial image of a woman cycling. Text: In her city, biking — even though therapeutic — wasn’t a safe activity for women. So even though there was interest, women didn’t own bikes. “If you get the bikes, would you be interested in running a girls’ cycling group?” Hand-drawn element of a cycling route and a cycle. Text: That’s how the first-ever girls cycling club in Karachi was born: "Ride, Roll, Lead” What started with two cycles turned into 10 cycles within a month. Image of a woman cycling. Text: “Cycling, when done in a community, becomes more than just movement. It's an act of resistance, existence, visibility, and a source of joy amidst all life’s problems.” (in small text) This post has been adapted from an anthology by Women Human Rights Defenders by Safety For Voices.
November 27, 2025 at 7:29 AM
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Ma Bee is a #WHRD from #Myanmar, a feminist researcher and founder/editor of Myit Ye See Than Magazine.

Read about the transformative potential of fear as a reflective tool — for ourselves and our communities.

#WHRDVoices for #16Days — supported by #SafetyForVoices!

@apc.org #TakeBackTechJoy
Illustration of a pair of canvas shoes with flowers blooming out of it. Text: On one of the days of continuous protests in a suburban area of Yangon[...] two military trucks entered recklessly while I was singing the protest song and leading the chants. Illustration of flowers. Text: I had never gotten hit by this kind of fear before. I asked myself, “What am I afraid of?” I was scared of getting caught by the soldiers for sure. At the same time, I felt anger. Illustration of flowers. Text: bell hooks said: Fear is the primary force upholding structures of domination. It promotes the desire for separation, the desire not to be known. When we choose to love we choose to move against fear – against alienation and separation. The choice to love is a choice to connect – to find ourselves in the other. Illustration of flowers. Text: When someone asks me now what my biggest fear is, I answer “losing freedom” as an individual and as a collective group of people. I believe the first stage of freedom from fear is to notice and accept its existence. From there, we can find ways to overcome and be healed from its wounds. (in small text) This post has been adapted from an anthology by Women Human Rights Defenders by Safety For Voices.
November 29, 2025 at 4:21 AM
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Highly visible movements are targeted on social media as “a calculated effort to reverse the gains of the 2010s, and to isolate and punish those who dared to be visible,” says Zoya Rahman. #WHRDVoices #16Days @apc.org

Deconstruct #BigTech visibility on @GenderITorg: genderit.org/Unyielding_A...
An outlined illustration of a protest with barbed wire graphics. Text: “State crackdowns on digital spaces often attempt to fracture the collective by isolating and punishing visible individuals.” Barbed wire graphics with part of the protest imagery visible. Text: “It is a strategy designed to dismantle the "we" by targeting the faces that make the political work more discernible.” Barbed wire graphics with part of the protest imagery visible. Text: “What we name as online visibility is never neutral. It is shaped by who is watching, who is targeted, who is deemed expendable.” Barbed wire graphics with part of the protest imagery visible. Text: “Where internet access is dictated by the state, digital erasure is a form of political silencing. Digital access shapes who gets seen and who remains invisible.” (in small text) This post has been adapted from an anthology by Women Human Rights Defenders by Safety For Voices.
December 6, 2025 at 1:45 PM
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Today, we remember the resilience of women human rights defenders #WHRDDay #16Days

This powerful piece captures the feeling of hopelessness and the resistance that lives unbroken in so many #WomenHumanRightsDefenders around the world.

Read: genderit.org/Unyielding_A... #WHRDVoices @apc.org
Outlined illustration of a woman speaking on a mic. Text: “I was only 21 when I learned the military government could be watching me even in my bedroom, not through a person but through my phone.” Wavy patterns on the side. Text: “Female activists like me endured mockery of our appearance, sexually explicit photo edits, rape threats and death threats, all knowing these threats could materialise.” Screenshot of a message on a phone with text as follows: ALERT: State-sponsored attackers may be targeting your iPhone Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID. These attackers are likely targeting you individually because of who you are or what you do. If your device is compromised by a state-sponsored attacker, they may be able to remotely access your sensitive data, communications, or even the camera and microphone. While it’s possible this is a false alarm, please take this warning seriously Wavy patterns on the side. Text: “Writing this is my way of refusing to be erased. I want them to know: you did not win. I am still here. I have not stopped fighting. And I will continue for those who can’t.” — Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul Thai Human Rights Activist
December 3, 2025 at 12:51 PM
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Coordinated disinformation campaigns use ethnicity and gender to target Muslim women in #SriLanka.

Fawzul Himaya on how “online safety” laws are often used against free speech, and how solidarity can guide us to a better world: genderit.org/Unyielding_A...

#WHRDVoices #16Days @apc.org
Outlined illustration of a tunnel that has two figures at the end. Text: “For an hour, he pulled up photos of women activists with their full names and questioned our ideals, our motives, and the way we dressed and held ourselves.” Partial depiction of an outlined illustration of a tunnel that has two figures at the end. Text:“Groups from in and out of the country would question our ideals, share and attack our posts from social media, and question our intentions in livestreams to thousands of followers.” Patterns of the outlined illustration of a tunnel that has two figures at the end. Text:“While I tried to guard my own privacy, it was during these campaigns that my extended family came to know of my work. I was warned against doing what I wanted to do. It was unnecessary, they said, humiliating and beneath me.” Outlined illustration of a tunnel that has two figures at the end. Text:“I was betraying my community. I was challenging God. An uncle pulled me aside and said, “Whatever you’re doing, I hope you know what you’re getting into. You’ll have to answer for your actions in hell one day.” (in small text) This post has been adapted from an anthology by Women Human Rights Defenders by Safety For Voices.
December 5, 2025 at 2:53 AM
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Ha’åni Lucia Falo San Nicola from Guåhan writes about the intersecting struggles of #Indigenous communities and women’s rights. #WHRDVoices

This is definitely a must-read, and possibly a bookmark. On #GenderIT: genderit.org/Unyielding_A...

#SafetyForVoices #16Days @apc.org #Hawaii #IndigenousWomen
An outlined illustration of a women’s protest in Guam (Hawaii), with the banners revolving around Indigenous women’s (Famalao’an) rights. Text: “To experience colonisation as an Indigenous woman is to reckon with subjugation on multiple fronts, a compounding pressure that is unfortunately neglected or disregarded when addressing decolonisation and social justice.”
December 8, 2025 at 3:40 AM
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#WHRDVoices: Graciela, a campesina woman deeply rooted to the land, writes about how disinformation campaigns existed before the internet, and its parallels with disinformation campaigns on the internet.

Read on #GenderITorg: genderit.org/Unyielding_A...

#SafetyForVoices #16Days @apc.org
An outlined illustration of three women photographed together, close to each other. Text: “We have experienced repression and harassment from the Hierarchical Church, from large landholders and from the government, who for decades accused our struggle of [being communist].” Text with block patterns behind: “The bishop used mass services to question young people, telling the congregation that it was communism.” (in small text) This post has been adapted from an anthology by Women Human Rights Defenders by Safety For Voices.
December 5, 2025 at 7:04 AM
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“I dream of a world where women human rights defenders have robust support [and] therapy is affordable. Where healing is a line item in every donor budget."

#WHRDVoices: Zipporah (Kenya) writes about burnout, and how sustainable activism must be rooted in rest. #TakeBackTechJoy #16Days @apc.org
Image of women sitting around a table and talking. Text: People imagine activism is glamorous, the hashtags and panels. But we cry in matatus. We skip meals. We stretch stipends whenever they find us. We attend funerals of girls we couldn’t save. Text on a patterned background: We don’t all wear capes. Many of us wear aprons, lesos, worn-out hope, and a knowing smile that hides exhaustion. Text on a patterned background: In meetings, our voices as women are often interrupted. In protest planning, our safety is an afterthought. We are told we are too emotional, too soft, too distracted by our children, our hormones, our families. But we show up. Every time. Text on a patterned background with women talking on the side: Honestly, sometimes, we just want to rest. To pause. To breathe. But guilt comes flooding in. Who will carry the work? Who will protect the girls? Who will answer the calls?.
November 26, 2025 at 5:29 AM