In her 2002 annual report to the Commission on Human Rights Hina Jilani, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders stated:

Women human rights defenders are on a par with their male colleagues in putting themselves on the front line in the promotion and protection of human rights. In doing so, however, as women, they face risks that are specific to their gender and additional to those faced by men.

In the first instance, as women, they become more visible. That is, women defenders may arouse more hostility than their male colleagues because as women human rights defenders they may defy cultural, religious or social norms about femininity and the role of women in a particular country or society. In this context, not only may they face human rights violations for their work as human rights defenders, but even more so because of their gender and the fact that their work may run counter to societal stereotypes about women’s submissive nature, or challenge notions of the society about the status of women.

Secondly, it is not unlikely that the hostility, harassment and repression women defenders face may themselves take a gender- specific form, ranging from, for example, verbal abuse directed exclu- sively at women because of their gender to sexual harassment and rape.

In this connection, women’s professional integrity and standing in society can be threatened and discredited in ways that are specific to them, such as the all too familiar pretextual call- ing into question of their probity when - for example - women assert their right to sexual and reproductive health, or to equality with men, including to a life free from discrimination and violence. In this con- text, for example, women human rights defenders have been tried using laws criminalizing conduct amounting to the legitimate enjoy- ment and exercise of rights protected under international law on spu- rious charges brought against them simply because of their views and advocacy work in defence of women’s rights.

Thirdly, human rights abuses perpetrated against women human rights defenders can, in turn, have repercussions that are, in and of themselves, gender-specific. For example, the sexual abuse of a woman human rights defender in custody and her rape can result in pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, includ- ing HIV/AIDS. Certain women-specific rights are almost exclusively promoted and protected by women human rights defenders. Promoting and protecting women’s rights can be an additional risk factor, as the assertion of some such rights is seen as a threat to patriarchy and as disruptive of cultural, religious and societal mores. Defending women’s right to life and liberty in some countries has resulted in the life and liberty of women defenders themselves being violated. Similarly, protesting against discriminatory practices has led to the prosecution of a prominent women’s rights defender on charges of apostasy.

Factors such as age, ethnicity, educational background, sexual orientation and marital status must also be taken into consideration, as different groups of women defenders face different challenges and therefore have different protec- tion and security needs.

The assessment of the protection needs of women defenders will help to clarify their specific and often different vulnerabilities and coping strategies. They can thus be more adequately addressed in emergency and day-to-day situations.