Women Enabled International (WEI)

Channel Focus Areas:

Promoting the Rights of Women with Disabilities

Eradicating Legal Inequality

Mission:

Women Enabled International (WEI) works at the intersection of women’s rights and disability rights to advance the rights of women and girls with disabilities around the world. Through advocacy and education, WEI increases international attention to–and strengthens international human rights standards on–issues such as violence against women, sexual and reproductive health and rights, access to justice, education, legal capacity, and humanitarian emergencies. Working in collaboration with women with disabilities rights organizations and women’s rights organizations worldwide, WEI fosters cooperation across movements to improve understanding and develop cross-cutting advocacy strategies to realize the rights of all women and girls.

Impact:

In 2023 WEI helped to launch the U.S. Gender and Disability Justice Alliance (USGDJA), a disability justice-oriented collective convening women, nonbinary persons, and other gender minorities with disabilities from across the United States together to take action on issues important to the community. The USGDJA aims to “educate policymakers, related human and civil rights organizations, and the larger community about pertinent issues that affect our lives as women, non-binary persons and other gender minorities with disabilities. Our work addresses ableism along with other relevant intersections of discrimination and prejudice such as racism, sexism, and heteronormativity etc. In addition to engaging in education and initiating change, USGDJA is a safe, supportive, feminist, and disability justice-oriented space where members can connect with one another, and share experiences and insights.”

WEI created and hosts an interactive online Global Map of Advocates for the rights of women and girls with disabilities. This comprehensive map, the first of its kind, identifies the locations where women’s disability rights advocates and organizations are active, where the gaps are, and where there are opportunities for collaboration, and helps in achieving greater collective impact. Since the map’s launch in March 2016 (an outcome of WEI’s Survey and Mapping Project), WEI has added over 620 organizations.

WEI released the first-ever global report, Enabling a Global Human Rights Movement For Women and Girls with Disabilities, on March 8, 2016, focused on capturing and conveying the biggest challenges, needs, and concerns of women and girls with disabilities. The report shows where advocates are located, where the gaps are, and where there are opportunities for collaboration to achieve greater collective impact to push for more systemic and inclusive human rights policies.

Channel Grantee News

WEI in the News

Grantee Events

WEI Events

: WEI Convening of Disabled Women’s Rights Advocates Training on UN Human Rights Advocacy Strategies, July 11-14, 2016, Geneva, Switzerland

: Stephanie Ortoleva at a CSW59 Reception Honoring Bella Abzug

Channel Grants:

2021-24: Channel made a three year general operating grant to Consorcio Oaxaca to support their ongoing work ending gender based violence (GBV), promoting gender equality and sexual and reproductive rights, and integrated protection for women human rights defenders in Oaxaca, Mexico. Funds will be used to continue promoting a life free of violence and in defense of human rights for women of Oaxaca and to employ strategies for strengthening the organization’s internal cohesion which will include security, self care and wellbeing measures.

2020: Channel made a general operating support grant to Consorcio Oaxaca to continue supporting their work combating gender-based violence (GBV) via prevention and promotion of non-violent relationships, particularly among young people. Funds were used to advance these goals through student workshops, radio programs, and through meetings with elected officials. In addition, funds were also used to support security and self-care practices of lawyers, community legal advisors and staff.

2018 – 2019: Channel made grants to Consorcio Oaxaca to continue supporting their work on gender-based violence (GBV). Consorcio contributes to the prevention of GBV and the promotion of non-violent relationships, particularly among young people, via student workshops, radio programs, and through meetings with elected officials. They advise and accompany women who are victims of GBV for their empowerment and access to justice. In addition, Consorcio supports the security and self-care practices of the lawyers, community legal advisors and staff for the continuation and strengthening of women’s movements for the defense of human rights.

Consorcio has become internationally known for its work on self-care and integrated security for women human rights defenders as part of IM-Defensoras, the Mesoamerican Women Human Rights Defenders Initiative which is also a Channel grantee partner.

2017: Channel made a grant to Consorcio Oaxaca to continue supporting their work on gender based violence and on integrated protection for women human rights defenders in Oaxaca, Mexico. Funds were used to contribute to the prevention of gender based violence particularly among young people. Consorcio prioritized the following three objectives in 2018:

Strengthening the participation of young people to promote social sanctions and eradicate violence against women.
Legal counseling to empower and give  access to justice for women who are the victims of gender based violence.
Promoting integrated feminist protection measures (security and self-care) for the institutional  strengthening of Consorcio Oaxaca itself.

Also in 2017, following the major earthquakes in Mexico in September, Channel made a grant to Consorcio para el Diálogo Parlamentario y la Equidad Oaxaca A.C. to support earthquake relief in the area around Oaxaca, Mexico.

2016: Channel made a grant to Consorcio Oaxaca to support institutional strengthening to prevent and end gender based violence (GBV), to provide legal assistance and accompaniment for victims of GBV, and on integrated protection (which includes self-care and well-being) for women human rights defenders in Oaxaca, Mexico.

2015: Channel made a grant to Consorcio Oaxaca to support their work on GBV and on integrated protection for women human rights defenders (WHRDs) in Oaxaca, Mexico. Consorcio supports and accompanies women who are victims of GBV for their empowerment and access to justice. In addition, Consorcio works to improve integrated protection mechanisms, in particular the security and self-care of their lawyers, community legal advisers, and staff to ensure the sustainability and strengthening of women’s movements for the defense of human rights.

2014: Channel made a grant to Consorcio Oaxaca to support the prevention of violence, and the accompaniment and empowerment of young female victims of male violence in Oaxaca in their legal processes in the search for justice; and the capacity building of individuals and of Consorcio’s team as a whole to make their violence against women work sustainable.

2013: Channel made a grant to Consorcio Oaxaca to support three capacity building processes. Consorcio (1) continued providing legal and emotional support through the Community Legal Advisor and Assistants program to young women in the indigenous communities of the Mixe region; (2) disseminated information to influence the public about violence against women and feminicide; and (3) strengthened the capacity of the Consorcio Oaxaca with training in building a feminist agenda.

2010–2012: Channel made grants to Consorcio Oaxaca to support the Community Legal Advisor Training Project which fought GBV in several indigenous Mixe communities in Oaxaca. Consorcio Oaxaca trained volunteer assistants to help the Community Legal Advisors; increased the coordination between the Advisors and community authorities; increased participation of community authorities in building awareness of the need for prevention of violence against women; and built awareness raising campaigns about eradicating GBV.

2009: Channel made grants to Consorcio Oaxaca to support women’s human rights in Oaxaca, Mexico via the Community Legal Advisor Training Project. The Community Legal Advisor Training Project trains indigenous Mixe women from various communities in Oaxaca to become legal advisors and provide consultation to women victims of violence in their community. The Legal Advisor Training Program functions as a part of Consorcio Oaxaca’s overarching goal to create a network of women leaders to defend their rights as well as confront violence against women in Mixe communities. Through the Community Legal Advisor Training Program, indigenous women receive a certified diploma upon completion of six months of legal training. A follow-up series includes workshops in basic psychology and counseling skills as well as computer skills in order to complement their legal skills.

In 2010, four two-day training workshops provided space for all Community Legal Advisors to reflect on their experiences, share the cases of violence in their communities, challenges and strategies used in their work. The convenings also offered additional training on emotional support, and advocacy with institutions to obtain justice, among others.

Each of the ten communities received visits twice a month from Consorcio Oaxaca’s human rights lawyer who provided follow up support to the Community Legal Advisors, interviewed the local authorities to establish mechanisms for attending to cases of violence, and offered management support to strengthen the community.