Danger and opportunity. ICTs and Women's human rights defenders

This edition of GenderIT.orgⁱ is dedicated to women human rightsⁱ defenders. Those working on women's and sexual rightsⁱ often face challenges not only in the public space, but in their personal space, from their family and partners, as well. In this edition, we examine what new dimension brings ICTⁱs into this struggle, how they are used to mobilize around women's and sexual rights, and the risks many defenders face online.
Security emerged as not only one of the main topics in our interviews but also in living practice, forcing us to question and change our communication protocols in order to pull this edition together without jeopardizing the safety of our interviewees. We hope then that you find the readings engaging!

Read the editorial by Joy Liddicoat, a former New Zealand human rights commissioner, who coordinates APC's Project the new "Connect your rights!" campaign. Liddicot introduces this edition and explores online and offline issues that affect the ability of WHRDsⁱ to exercise their freedom of associationⁱ and assembly.

This edition is accompanied with the images of hands. Hands are a symbol of protest and safety. In the protest, as says writer David Schonauer, "we see hands that accuse, hands that shield, hands that threaten, hands that plead, hands that say "Enough." At the same time, we often depend on our hands to keep ourselves safe and connect with others.

The edition is a part of APC's “Connect your rights: Internet rights are human rights” campaign financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)