I will now introduce you to 3 women who put their lives on the line to defend human rights.

Gertrude Hambira, General Secretary of the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ)

"I have been threatened and told to leave this job on several occasions… my children tell me, ‘mummy, your work is very dangerous.’

"Women play a big role in defending human and workers rights in their constituencies by using the non-violent approach. We [(GAPWUZ]) have done a lot of campaigns, we have done a lot of education and raising awareness so that women can speak for themselves on issues that affect them on a day to day basis.

"I do worry about the safety of my family and my own safety too. I’m a mother of five. They say, ‘mum, why don’t you leave the Zimbabwe?' and I say, no, not all of us can leave because who will continue the struggle?"

Zebo Sharifova, head of the League of Women’s Lawyers, Tajikistan

"Those women who don’t know their rights turn to centres including League of Women's Lawyers and ask them to defend their rights in courts.

"According to the statistics there are about 20 registered crisis centres [for women] in Tajikistan. But these crisis centres only work when foreign organisations provide funding for them. As soon as funding stops, their work also stops. The state does not have the funds to finance shelters [for women] and our organization has to accept these women. But eventually they are forced to return to their families where they are subjected to domestic violence."

"If we helped at least one woman who comes and tells [us], ‘Thank you! You have helped me. I live at my home now and I get the alimonies’, then we have won the process.

"We see how her eyes sparkle and it is worth working for such a moment."

Aminatou Haidar, Western Saharan human rights defender who has been on hunger strike since 15 November to protest her expulsion from Laayoune in Western Sahara by the Moroccan authorities. She is currently stranded in Lanzarote airport in Spain’s Canary Islands.

"When I was 20 years old, I went through kidnapping and enforced disappearance. I spent about four years, having my eyes covered and without any trial…I went through different physical and psychological torture. After that, I was released and then I was subjected to continuous surveillance."

"In June 2005, I was tortured on the street; it caused me serious injury requiring (14 stitches and I had three broken ribs… I was again arrested based on a fake police report. I was tried and sentenced to seven months imprisonment that I spent in a prison called ‘Lakhal,’ prison in Laayoune.

"It is very difficult for a Sahrawi woman, as a mentor to instill these values and at the same time be an activist outside of her home… It is hectic for a woman activist who works in the human rights field… The children are always very scared to loose their mother.

"It is our role as human rights defenders to call for peace… but our means are very limited, we are not authorized even to organise workshops, trainings… Now it’s becoming more difficult…."

WOW!!!!!

With the work these women do, I believe it is only fair that we lend our support. Please sign the petitions below.

• Morocco must allow human rights activist Aminatou Haidar to return home, click here to sign the petition.
• Make the United Nations more effective in realizing women's rights, click here to sign the petition

To read more about these wonderful women, please click here.

The Pictures of the Women were provided and copyrighted by Amnesty International**