Online Gender-Based Violence against Women* Environmental and Human Rights Defenders in Latin America
Women environmental human rights defenders (WEHRDs) matters are individuals who identify themselves as women and advocate for environmental rights. Because of their role, women defenders are the target of offline and online reprisals. Murder is the most extreme manifestation of this violence.
In 2023, the organization Global Witness registered the killing of 196 environmental defenders, clarifying that this staggering figure could be even “higher”. Over 80 percent of documented murders occurred in Latin America.
This report investigates online gender-based violence faced by women environmental defenders (WEDs) in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. In this research context, online violence refers to attacks perpetrated through digital platforms to intimidate defenders
and hinder their activism.
About the Author
Fundación Multitudes is a non-profit organization founded in 2014 with the mission of reducing the gap between citizens and decision-making. With a multidisciplinary team of professionals and with an independent partisan seal, Fundación Multitudes seeks to articulate civil society organizations to have an impact on the public agenda by increasing participation, transparency, accountability, and implementing research-based advocacy.
At the global level, Fundación Multitudes advocates for human rights and democracy. Since 2020, with the Women’s Observatory on Disinformation and Democracy launch, the organization has focused on fighting gendered disinformation, addressing foreign influence and threats against Latin American democracies.
Product details
Table of contents
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Abbreviations
Executive Summary
Introduction
Key Concepts and Definitions
Methodology
- Research Principles: Feminist, Intersectional, and Human
- Rights-Based Approaches
- Risk Assessments and Research Limitations
Background
- International and Regional Frameworks
Results
- The Offline and Online Continuum
- The Pervasive Narrative Behind the Attacks
- Perpetrators and Means
- Intersectional Approach and Impacts on Women
Challenges
- Regulatory Challenges
- Organizational Challenges
- Mitigation Interventions to Respond to OGBV
National Snapshots
Colombia
- Context
- Expressions of Violence Against WEDs
- Relevant Law and Other Provisions
Ecuador
- Context
- Expressions of Violence Against WEDs
- Relevant Law and Other Provisions
Peru
- Context
- Expressions of Violence Against WEDs
- Relevant Law and Other Provisions
Recommendations
- To Governments and Policymakers
- To Donors and International Organizations
- To Civil Society
A Way Forward
Bibliography