Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to the committee for initiating this very important study.
To be a woman fighting for rights and peace has never been risk-free. I'll never forget, about 15 years ago, a Kenyan politician telling me that when she went to campaign events, she wore two pairs of very tight jeans to prevent thugs associated with the opposition party from raping her at her own campaign events. As well, a Colombian woman told me just a few years ago that she refused an award from her own government for brokering a peace deal, because she knew that the recognition could lead to credible death threats to her family.
Now we have data showing that the risks facing women human rights defenders and peacebuilders are increasing. Last month, the UN Secretary-General reported that they “have increasingly been targeted with attacks that silence their advocacy and prevent them from participating in public life.” He said that with respect to women's rights, “we are going backwards” and are “experiencing a reversal of generational gains”.
Afghanistan is without a doubt an extreme example, where the Taliban is trying to completely erase women from public life. It’s an approach that many activists have described as gender apartheid.
We’ve witnessed attacks against peaceful protesters in Iran, Sudan and Myanmar, where the army has killed hundreds of protesters.
We have also witnessed sexual violence linked to conflicts in Ethiopia and Haiti, as well as in the context of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Indigenous women fighting for the climate have been murdered.
Dangerous disinformation campaigns target human rights defenders as well as women fighting for peace.
Why are we seeing these trends?
One of the main reasons relates to attacks on democracy. In general, authoritarianism and misogyny mutually reinforce each other. Authoritarian leaders often perceive women who defend human rights and peace as a direct threat to their power. It is therefore in those leaders’ interest to silence these women.
The government of Canada reacts in various ways. I will briefly describe only five of them, but it would be my pleasure to discuss them further during our conversation.
First, our starting assumption is that women human rights defenders and peacebuilders face significant risks because of their work. Particularly when they seek funding, the burden should not be on them to prove that their work can be dangerous. Our programming support to women peacebuilders now includes specific funding related to safety, recognizing they must sometimes buy locks or surveillance cameras for their offices or undertake digital security training.
Also, with civil society's input, we develop the “Voices at Risk” guidelines to give practical advice to Canadian diplomats to support human rights defenders.
Second, we’re trying to obtain more funding for feminist organizations fighting the erosion of women’s rights.
We have made significant investments, but we know that it is not enough. We must try to increase the quantity of resources, increase flexibility and improve accessibility.
Third, we're determined to listen to women human rights defenders and peacebuilders themselves to understand the changing nature of the threats they're facing. For example, they tell us that they're often the subject of online abuse and threats, and we're learning that these threats made against women online are more likely than threats against men to translate into physical violence.
In Moldova, just a couple of weeks ago, I asked a journalist about threats made against her and her peers. She explained that she and her team of four journalists had recently completed a study, an investigation, on corruption within the government. All four of them received death threats, and two women on the team had their photos and contact information posted across dozens of prostitution-related websites.
Dialogue with Canada-based diaspora refugees and women human rights defenders and peacebuilders has also been essential to understand their unique needs while here in Canada. For example, some have shared that unlike many other refugees, they prefer not to be located in areas with significant diaspora populations from their home countries because that can increase their vulnerabilities. Some have also raised the need for greater collaboration and coordination among federal partners.
Fourth, Canada is making an effort to increase this essential work’s visibility, which is increasingly under threat. We are trying to raise awareness about it, for example during speeches and statements.
Fifth, we are proactively creating coalitions and networks, some official and some not, to correct the false narrative that gender equality is a Western idea.
To save time, I’ll stop here. I’m happy to answer your questions.