To mark International Women's Day 2008 and to Celebrate 30 years of CEDAW, Front Line launches new manual of security strategies for women human rights defenders. The publication is called - Insiste Persiste Resiste Existe and is presented by Front Line, the Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights and Kvinna Till Kvinna.

Full Text of Front Line Press Release

PRESS RELEASE

DATE: 05 March 2009 For immediate release

To mark International Women's Day 2009 and to Celebrate 30 years of CEDAW, Front Line launches new manual of security strategies for women human rights defenders. The publication is called - Insiste Persiste Resiste Existe

Insiste Persiste Resiste Existe

“All over the world, women defend the rights of individuals and communities facing oppression, discrimination and violence. Their work is powerful, and controversial. And it often meets with bitter, and violent, opposition.”

Resiste brings us the voices of women human rights defenders (WHRDs) from all over the world. Each woman speaks from her personal experience of combating violence and discrimination in complex contexts – in situations of overt or hidden conflict, organised armed violence as well as rising fundamentalisms in Iran, Colombia, Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Algeria, Tunisia, Bosnia, Serbia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Resiste is a journey and an exhilarating celebration of resilience. The astonishing strategies that enable WHRDs to survive, thrive and succeed – despite the challenges and risks of the work, and the extremely limited resources and support.

Resiste introduces the concept of ‘integrated security’ – coined by Colombian activists and echoed by other WHRDs across the world: a concept that challenges us all to redefine the militarized, disconnected concept of ‘security’ and recognize that integrated security is about feeling safe in all aspects of our lives – from our ability to feed our families to speaking freely about our governments.

Vahida Nainar is at the heart of this book. For more than a year, she travelled around the world to meet with women human rights defenders in their own countries and in exile—in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran and Nepal. She met with Tunisian and Algerian defenders in France and Burmese defenders in Thailand.

So, basically, it is the conviction of our belief in women’s rights work that has been our main source of strength and support. When we step out to do social work, we cannot be deterred by threats and the difficulties. Plus, when we have done no wrong, why should we worry? – Sarita Devi Sharma, Saathi, Nepal

Insiste, Resiste, Persiste, Existe: Women’s Human Rights Defenders’ Security Strategies (Resiste) by Jane Barry and Vahida Nainar is presented by Front Line, the Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights and Kvinna Till Kvinna.

For further Information please contact:

Jim Loughran, Head of Communications, Front Line

Telephone 00 353 1 212 3750 MOBILE 00353 (0)87 9377586