Friday, 1 July 2011

International Women's Rights Movement: Global Groups

International Women's Rights Organizations

Note: You can find many more international women's groups on the Women's Antiwar Groups page, the Pro-Choice and Reproductive Freedom page, and the Feminist Activism page on this website. Also, there are now many recommended books available on international women's human rights issues in the site's new Women's Bookstore, where most of the books are written by women.

Equality Now is an excellent organization that fights for women's human rights around the world. Their website is in English, French, Spanish, and Arabic.

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom was perhaps the first international women's rights group to exist. If not, it's one of the first. They have been working for women's rights around the world since the days of Jane Addams.

The Global Fund for Women gives grants to groups around the world that are working to improve women's human rights. Many of their grantees have web sites.

The Sisterhood is Global Institute is named after the book by Robin Morgan, and works for women's human rights around the world

works in partnership with women's community-based groups worldwide to address issues of health, economic development and other human rights.

The Global Sisterhood Network monitors electronic and print media for information of interest to feminists and people working for women's rights around the world

Virtual Sisterhood is a global women's electronic support network (internet only)

The United Nation's Women Watch is an internet gateway to issues important to women around the world. There are documents from the UN conferences on women and many other useful materials.

UNIFEM promotes women's empowerment and gender equality. It works to ensure the participation of women in all levels of development planning and practice, and acts as a catalyst within the UN system, supporting efforts that link the needs and concerns of women to all critical issues on the national, regional and global agendas. UNIFEM focuses its work at the country level within the context of the United Nations Resident Coordinator System. Playing a strong advocacy role, the Fund concentrates on fostering a multilateral policy dialogue on women's empowerment.

WEDO, founded by the leader of the international women's movement, Bella Abzug, is an incredible organization that truly unites women throughout the world, working to improve social conditions through the empowerment of women.

The Tahirih Justice Center provides legal, medical, and other types of aid to women who come to the United States as refugees or seeking political asylum for human rights abuses

Human Rights Watch - Women's Rights An online collection of frequently updated articles on women's human rights issues around the world, and news about the campaigns of Human Rights Watch related to women's rights.

This organization works to promote the human rights and economic development of women in third world/low-income countries, as well as in the U.S. They have some excellent programs and will send you news via email.

This network of non-governmental organizations (NGO's) from around the world was first formed in preparation of the Beijing + 5 Conference. Though that conference is over, women in most regions can find links here to local organizations, as well as international organizations working to improve the status of women's rights generally, and implement the protections of women's rights that were stressed during the Beijing women's conference.

The Council of Women World Leaders is a network of current and former heads of state and heads of government

The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting social and economic development with women's full participation. ICRW generates quality, empirical information and technical assistance on women's productive and reproductive roles, their status in the family, their leadership in society, and their management of environmental resources. ICRW advocates with governments and multilateral agencies, convenes experts in formal and informal forums, and engages in an active publications and information program to advance women's rights and opportunities.

General Human Rights Organizations
(not complete and will never be comprehensive)

The World Organization Against Torture (OMCT for French abbreviation) has an excellent web site with frequently updated information. It's SOS network is a large group of organizations in many countries fighting for human rights.


The World Organization Against Torture - USA is a member of the SOS network.

Derechos Human Rights is the first internet-based human rights organization. Working primarily for people in South and Central America, its website is in English and Spanish.

The Resource Center of the Americas is an agency that helps fight human rights
abuses and build connections between the people of the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean.