Women On The Frontline For Human Rights

(From: Amnesty International (amnesty.org))



Women On The Frontline For Human Rights

10 December 2009

Women often bear the brunt of poverty and human rights abuses; but as activists they use these roles to trigger positive social change. To mark World Human Rights Day, Amnesty International spoke to three women who put their lives on the line in defence of human rights.

Women are affected by poverty, violence and human rights violations more than men because of the discrimination they face the world over. Over 70 per cent of the world’s poor are women. Women earn only 10 per cent of the world’s income but do two thirds of the world’s work.

Three quarters of the world’s illiterate are women. Women produce up to 80 per cent of the food in developing countries but own only one per cent of the land.

In spite of these overwhelming odds, women are often the most active agents of positive social change in their communities, working tirelessly to improve their lives and the situation of their families. Women are responsible for some of the most effective grassroots-based human rights work all over the globe.

The three courageous women interviewed for this Amnesty International article are:

Gertrude Hambira has been threatened and told to leave her job several times

© Amnesty International

1.) Gertrude Hambira, General Secretary of the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ)

Women wanting rights advice go to Zebo Sharifova's League of Women's Lawyers

© Amnesty International

2.) Zebo Sharifova, head of the League of Women’s Lawyers, Tajikistan

Aminatou Haidar has been on hunger strike at Lanzarote airport since 15 November

© Berserk Productions

3.) Aminatou Haidar, Western Saharan human rights defender who has been on hunger strike since 15 November to protest her expulsion from Laayoune in Western Sahara by the Moroccan authorities. She is currently stranded in Lanzarote airport in Spain’s Canary Islands.

To Read The Interviews/Article, Please Go To The Amnesty International Website (<From: Amnesty International (amnesty.org))