Being a woman and a human rights defender has particular effects on your personal risk levels and safety. In many parts of the world, including Latin America, women human rights defenders and social leaders are exposed to multiple threats. These threats derive not only from gender-based violence and armed actors who aim to silence their struggles, but also from state discrimination and neglect. Twenty years after UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, which recognises the indispensability of women defenders’ work for peacebuilding in the territories, their work continues to be fraught with risk.

In the spirit of focusing our attention on gender-based violence and its impact on human rights defenders, in October 2019 SweFOR launched an internal investigation on the application of the gender approach in the international accompaniment method. Based on that here are some of our observations and recommendations:

The risks for women human rights defenders

In recent years, we have observed an increase and worsening of gender-based violence in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico, the three countries where SweFOR conducts international accompaniment projects. Research highlights the advance of fundamentalisms and anti-rights movements as a factor in the worsening of gender-based violence, which jeopardises advances in rights that were considered self-evident. Moreover, it highlights a connection between gender-based violence and weaknesses and inabilities of state institutions, not only because of sharing a living space with the perpetrators who commit the crimes, but also because of the lack of capacity to ensure the lives and human rights of women and/or the existence of discriminatory laws based on gender orientation and identity.

In this context, women human rights defenders face threats related to gender-based violence, characterised by:

• Attacks against their leadership but also against their gender or sexual identity, and the fact that they do not conform to traditional gender roles.
• Gender is a factor present in the threats, which are directed at women defenders but also at people around them.
• It generates secondary violence against those who defend women’s, LGTBIQ+ and sexual and reproductive rights.
• Both state and non-state actors are a source of threat.
• The normalisation of gender-based violence and the tendency to disassociate the violence suffered by women defenders from the human rights work they do.

The gender approach in international accompaniment, why is it important?

At SweFOR we advocate for, and recognise the existence of, diverse gender identities as an essential principle for peacebuilding. As a form of domination, gender-based violence affects the safety and security of human rights defenders, perpetuates the subordination of women and the LGBTIQ+ community, and is an obstacle to peace.

In recent years, SweFOR has been committed to a recognition of differentiated protection needs in international accompaniment, which has resulted in initiatives such as:

• Use of the gender-neutral term “defender” and “human rights defender” (in Spanish) our projects
• Introduction and use of a policy of inclusion and outreach to people affected by gender-based violence as a strategically prioritised group to accompany.
• Development and introduction of a Protocol for Cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
• Recognition of differentiated protection needs in the construction of protection and risk assessment tools.
• Recognition of differentiated protection needs in advocacy and strategic communication actions, such as the adoption of guidelines on inclusive language and a differential approach and signing The Esperanza Protocol
• Arranging a regional meeting of women human rights defenders to build protection strategies.
• Internal research and training on new fundamentalisms, or on key framework documents such as Resolution 1325.