By Rebecca Landy (With special thanks to the Nobel Women’s Initiative for partnering and providing some of the profile content)

Globally at least one woman in every three has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Gender-based violence affects as many women between the ages of 15 and 44 as cancer, and its impact on women’s health surpasses that of traffic accidents and malaria combined. It is a worldwide epidemic rooted in discrimination and a cult of masculinity. Gender based violence has no nationality, race, gender, ability, sexual orientation, or economic status.

We are currently in the midst of the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign. The 16 Days Campaign begins on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (November 25) and concludes on International Human Rights Day (December 10). Over 5,167 organizations in approximately 187 countries have participated in the 16 Days Campaign since its inception by civil society activists in 1991!

As part of the 16 Days, November 29th marks the 8th annual International Women Human Rights Defenders Day—celebrating the brave women around the world who are fighting for all human rights and those who promote and protect women’s rights and issues related to gender equality, often at the expense of their own safety.

These are the women working for safe access to toilet facilities for the Syrian women living in refugee camps in Jordan; the women in the conflict-ravaged Democratic Republic of the Congo who provide much needed assistance to survivors of sexual violence and in doing so are threatened; the Sudanese women challenging a law that prevents them from wearing clothing deemed “indecent” like pants or uncovered hair; or the Brazilian women in Spain who have used their own experiences of violence as motivation to start an NGO and an orange campaign to raise awareness. They are also the City College of New York students fighting for a women’s center at their school and holding events to analyze rape in pop culture.

Below are the profiles of just a few of the women. Profiling these Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) humanizes their stories and dignifies their work; I wish I had space to profile all the wonderful women (and men) who contacted me from around the world to share their fights against gender based violence. I was inspired and humbled by all of their stories and as I wrote this article on the heels of the Thanksgiving holiday, with its complicated history, I feel very thankful for their activism.

Jessica Lenahan (United States)

Jessica Lenahan is a WHRD and survivor of a heartbreaking domestic violence situation that resulted in the death of her three daughters in 1999 in Castle Rock, Colorado—Katheryn (age 7), Rebecca (age 9), and Leslie (age 10) — when they were abducted by her estranged husband whom she had a restraining order against.

Over a ten-hour period Jessica repeatedly called the police for assistance, but they were dismissive. Her estranged husband eventually drove to the police station and began shooting; officers returned fire and killed him. The bodies of her three daughters were discovered in the back of his truck. The authorities failed to conduct a proper investigation and the cause, time, and place of their deaths have never been confirmed.

Almost 15 years later she is still waiting for answers and is considering hiring a private investigator. Jessica filed a federal civil rights suit against the Castle Rock police, and in 2005 the US Supreme Court found that the Constitution did not require police to enforce the restraining order.

Some justice was rendered in 2011 when the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR) found the US responsible for human rights violations against Jessica and her girls. The US government has yet to fully implement the recommendations of the IACHR, in particular having greater law enforcement accountability in cases of violence against women.

Since 2012, Jessica has taken part in several meetings alongside women’s, civil, and human rights advocates with the US Department of Justice urging them to formalize the guidelines on gender-biased policing, but such guidelines still await publication. Additionally, instead of receiving the recognition and protection she deserves for her efforts to fight for accountability and justice, she has suffered reprisals and stigmatization from the Colorado community.

As a Latina and Native American woman, Jessica’s supreme goal is to open a domestic violence prevention and healing center for Native American women so others avoid experiencing similar tragedies. She is also passionate about educating youth about the signs of gender-based violence and implementing curriculum in schools to do so.

Bernedette Muthien (South Africa)

Bernedette Muthien is a scholar, poet, and activist. She co-founded and directed Engender, an NGO based in South Africa, which works in the intersectional areas of genders, human rights, justice, and peace. Bernedette describes herself as a born activist devoted to intersectional societal justice and has been participating in the 16 Days campaign for the last 15 years.

In the past, Engender has held workshops on societal cultures of violence, presenting alternatives to violence and drawing on ancient indigenous cultures. The organization has also educated service providers and community leaders, providing both the understanding of violence and victimhood, and practical tools and perspective that can help individuals break the pattern of violence and/or victimhood in their own lives.

South Africa has endemic rates of rape and sexual violence. It was highlighted in the news earlier this year for the horrific gang-rape and murder of seventeen year old Anne Booysen. As part of Bernedette’s activism for this year’s 16 Days campaign, she helped organize a panel at the first annual “Democracy from Below” conference in Durban, South Africa, entitled: The Country is Ready – Women Lead Society Already: Going Beyond 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence. She has also organized a self-defense workshop: Strength from Within: Aikido for Women, teaching women this Japanese martial art used for self-defense, which requires very little force on the part of the defender.

Bernedette describes this biggest struggle in her work as overcoming patriarchy. She notes that violence is structural-cultural and due to patriarchy. Follow her on twitter @bernemuthien to show solidarity.

Helen Mack (Guatemala)

A study found that in 2012 Guatemala registered the most attacks against WHRDs in Mesoamerica. Helen Mack is the founder and president of the Myrna Mack Foundation, an organization dedicated to challenging the culture of impunity within the Guatemalan military and seeking justice for survivors of human rights abuses.  The Campaign theme for this year’s 16 Days is, From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!, and Helen’s work highlights the intersections of gender-based violence and militarism.

In 1990, Helen’s sister, Myrna Mack, was assassinated by the Guatemalan military, but authorities reported her cause of death as a traffic accident. Myrna’s assassination and the lack of justice in her case led Helen to change careers from a businesswoman to a human rights activist. She began to seek justice for her sister—and the countless other activists silenced by the government.

Helen set legal precedent by initiating the first judicial process against high-ranking members of the Guatemalan Army in 1991.  Three officials were charged with organizing the assassination of Myrna. More than a decade later, Helen achieved a groundbreaking victory—the Guatemalan government acknowledged responsibility for Myrna’s death and the court convicted the primary author of the crime.

Helen’s victory led the way for those trying to bring justice for victims of Guatemala’s genocide in the 1980s.  Many of those killed were indigenous people. Earlier this year, former president Efrain Rios Montt was convicted of genocide and sentenced to 80 years in prison. The trial included the testimony of many brave indigenous women who lost family members and were sexually assaulted. However, justice faced a setback shortly after the verdict was delivered—Rios Montt’s sentence was annulled. The trial is expected to resume anew in 2015.

Despite the frustration of this setback, Helen remains hopeful that the indigenous people’s voices will be heard, and justice will be served. Helen—along with other courageous human rights defenders in Guatemala—is determined to reform Guatemala’s corrupt system into a fair and just one.

Hania Moheeb (Egypt)

Hania is a seasoned journalist turned activist after her own sexual assault. On the second anniversary of Egypt’s revolution, January 2013, Hania attended a demonstration in Tahrir Square along with thousands of other Egyptians. She was protesting against worsening oppression and gender-based discrimination at the hands of the conservative Muslim Brotherhood government. Her demands for peace were met with violence. A group of men surrounded her and proceeded to violate her body in a horrific and well-planned attack that prevented bystanders from intervening. On that night, 19 similar incidents of sexual assault were reported from Tahrir Square. Hania survived, and vowed to seek justice for herself and the countless other women experiencing gender violence in Egypt.

The use of politically motivated sexual assault against women has gained momentum in the post-Mubarak Egypt. Groups of perpetrators systematically attack women participating in public political arenas, such as protests or demonstrations. The acute coordination and pattern of the attacks strongly indicate that they are pre-planned, with the intent to instill fear in women who exercise their political rights. A recent report found that Egypt is the worst country in the Arab world for women. Politicians and the regime have remained silent about the attacks.

Despite the growing risks against outspoken women in Egypt, Hania continues to challenge her country’s deep-rooted patriarchal attitudes. She refuses to be silent about her attack, and has even gone on national television in Egypt to tell the story.

Hania draws strength from the struggles of past female activists in Egypt.

She believes “that the Egyptian woman no matter how ignorant she might be, no matter how oppressed she might be, she is a very strong and decided woman.”

Julienne Lusenge (Democratic Republic of Congo)

Julienne is the President of Female Solidarity for Integrated Peace and Development (SOFEPADI), a coalition of 40 women’s organizations in the Eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). SOFEPADI works to defend and protect women’s rights and provide support to survivors of sexual violence by advocating for justice. Julienne works tirelessly to manage the coalition as it fights for an end to sexual violence in the DRC.

Julienne became an activist in 1998 after witnessing members of armed groups raping and brutalizing women in her community. She began documenting the cases of abuse and condemning the acts in public. She challenged the leaders of the armed groups in writing, demanding that they cease using violence against women in their war. “When armed groups confront one another, it is the women who pay,” she cried, “Women’s bodies are used as battlefields—and this must end.”

The situation is grave for women living in a region plagued by an on again off again two decades of fighting. Tensions between warring ethnic groups remain, resulting in women being the targets of systemic sexual violence as well as being subjected to more violence in the home. It is estimated that 48 women are raped every hour in the DRC. An October 2013 report by the Ministry of Gender stressed the high rates of sexual violence in areas of armed conflict—citing approximately 7,000 cases of sexual violence in North Kivu province in 2011 alone, and these numbers are most likely underreported. To make matters worse, communities throughout the country often disown and shun survivors of rape and sexual violence.

Julienne and SOFEPADI actively promote acceptance of survivors and reintegration into their communities.  She is beginning to see change. Community support groups are mobilizing around survivors—accepting women they would have turned away in the recent past—and providing them with much needed psychological and emotional support.

Julienne has acted as coordinator of the National Campaign of Congolese Women Against Sexual Violence and is Director of the Congolese Women’s Fund. Her life has been threatened for her efforts to create visibility and pressure international bodies to act against sexual violence in the DRC. Her work also extends beyond the borders of the DRC, as she sits on the Advisory Committee of the International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict.

16 Day Campaign Defending the Defenders

The work of these WHRDs causes them to face imminent threats of violence, and they need protections from these extraordinary threats so they can do their work. As the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders explained in her 2010 Annual Report: “Women Human Rights Defenders are more at risk of suffering certain forms of violence and other violations, prejudice, exclusion, and repudiation than their male counterparts.”

While some WHRDs have been on the ground in their home countries fighting for rights—like the women highlighted above—others have been in the halls of intergovernmental institutions. Just before 10pm on Wednesday night (November 27), the UN General Assembly passed the first ever resolution for the protection of Women Human Rights Defenders. Yet it is deeply regrettable that this last minute consensus came at the expense of a crucial language calling on States to condemn all forms of violence against women and women human rights defenders, and to refrain from invoking any customs, tradition, or religious consideration to avoid obligations related to the elimination of violence against women.

The resolution came from the hard work of many NGOs (like Amnesty International, ISHR, AWID, JASS, and EHAHRDP) and states (like sponsor Norway) and had the support of leading human rights defenders. Hopefully this resolution will help defend the defenders!

To learn more about these and other WHRDs, check out the Nobel Women’s Initiative featuring the stories of 16 Activists during 16 Days, JASS’ stories of Women Crossing the Line, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project campaign, and WITNESS’ new blog series and videos. And if you are looking for ways to get involved, Amnesty also has some really cool suggested ideas for ways you can take action throughout the 16 Days.

Also on Democracy Chronicles: International Day For the Elimination of Violence Against Women from November 25, 2013. “Many organizations around the world are taking part in the annual United Nation’s led International Day For the Elimination of Violence Against Women”