Last October 17th and 18th in Barcelona and Madrid, respectively, IM-Defensoras, together with the PBI-Spanish State, Front Line Defenders, Calala Women’s Fund and JASS Mesoamérica, co-organized the International Seminar entitled Weaving Webs for the Protection of Women Human Rights Defenders, in the framework of protection mechanisms such as Women, Peace and Security.
At this seminar, women human rights defenders belonging to IM-Defensoras, Journalism and Democracy in Honduras, Women’s Roundtable Network of Ciudad Juárez and the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation of Colombia, were accompanied by Alda Facio, President of the United Nations Working Group on Discrimination against Women. They analyzed the situation of the infringement of women’s rights and shared their own on-the- ground experiences and their political and gender analyses of the corrent context of violence and attacks.
The Seminar began in Barcelona with a brief homage to Gladys Lanza, including the screening of our video "Thank you, Gladys".
On behalf of the National Network of Women Defenders in Mexico, Imelda Marrufo (Women’s Roundtable Network in Ciudad Juárez), María Martin, and Marusia López (JASS) visibilized the serious situation of violence and discrimination faced by women human rights defenders in Mexico and the Mesoamerican Region, as well as the lack of gender-focused protection mechanisms. Denia Mejía (a political refugee in the Spanish State and member of the National Women Defenders Network of Honduras), along with Honduran defenders Dora Oliva (COFADEH) and Dina Meza (Association for Democracy and Human Rights in Honduras), denounced the extremely serious situation of violence and discrimination faced by women human rights defenders in Honduras, as well as the lack of effective gender focused protection mechanisms.
On the morning of October 19th, our comrades in the national networks of Mexico and Honduras, along with other participants in the International Seminar on the Protection of Women Defenders in Conflict Areas, were received by the General Assembly of Madrid and the Congress of Deputies of the Spanish State, where they met with members elect of the Parliament to deal with issues including international cooperation and the protection of women defenders.
Related notes (in Spanish):
Interview in El País (Spanish State) with Alda Facio, Imelda Marrufo, Dina Meza and Andrea Torres, women defenders participating in the International Seminar, Weaving Webs for the Protection of Women Human Rights Defenders in Conflict Areas.
Women rights defenders of Honduras participate in International Seminar held in Spanish State on the protection of defenders in countries in conflict.
Imelda Marrufo: “The best practice for constructing peace is feminist”
María Martín: “Impunity perpetuates violence against women human rights defenders”
“Spain influences rights violations in Mesoamérica”