News

The Advocates for Human Rights is rising to the challenges created by the current U.S. administration and the growing global anti-rights movement. Our Women’s Human Rights team is working hard to build coalitions, document attacks, and strengthen a coordinated response in defense of women’s rights.

Countering the Far-Right Movement

Women’s rights are under attack, and we are facing a global backlash. Well-connected and well-funded far-right movements are dismantling the protections we once thought secure. For the last decade, The Advocates has been at the forefront of investigating the global far-right movement. We work with human rights defenders to document the attacks on women’s protections, gender equality, and reproductive rights. We have also provided a secure communications channel for activists worldwide to share developments and strategies to counteract far-right attacks on women’s rights.

In March, The Advocates attended the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW): Beijing+30 at the UN General Assembly building. Our team participated in discussions on how the Political Declaration on Beijing +30 must be a catalyst for achieving global gender equality in a moment when the backlash jeopardizes the rights of all women and gender-diverse persons. In the fall, the work continued at the annual WAVE (Women Against Violence Europe) Network conference, where The Advocates for Human Rights trained women’s human rights defenders in collaboration with Linda Foreman leads a workshop at WAVE our Italian partners D.i.Re Donne in Rete contro la violenza, Rete Resistente, and Semia Fondo delle Donne. The workshop focused on building unusual allies and how to navigate through the discomforts of working with new alliances.

Analyzing Gender-Based Violence in Minnesota

The fight for women’s rights begins at home. The Advocates’ WATCH Project sends trained volunteers into courts to observe proceedings with a view to transforming Minnesota’s criminal legal systems and building a world that respects the rights of all survivors of gender-based violence. We seek to promote trauma responsive legal systems that foster healing and community based approaches to combat gender-based violence. Through monitoring and collaborating with survivors and local partners, we can keep eyes on our legal systems to ensure they appropriately address harms while remaining trauma-responsive.