Keira Knightley, Adwoa Aboah and Emma Thompson – along with 73 other high-profile women – have signed an open letter on International Women’s Day, calling for more protection of women’s rights activists and organisations.
The letter, published in the Guardian, demands international governments to take more action to protect women who choose to speak up – including trolling, online abuse and censorship. “Every woman should have the freedom to make her own choices and claim her rights,” the letter reads. “Yet, when women speak out, attempt to have a say in the decisions affecting their lives or defend their rights, far too often they are silenced, undermined and even endangered.”
The signatories of the letter, including Sienna Miller, Annie Lennox, Carey Mulligan, Gillian Anderson and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, believe the time is right for more action to be taken. “Women are at risk of backlash, censorship and violence wherever they speak out, both online and offline,” it continues. “The expertise and experiences of women human rights defenders are not being recognised or trusted. Women are not being meaningfully consulted on issues that directly impact them. Women who speak out are facing all forms of violence and abuse. This has to stop.”
The letter was put together by Womankind Worldwide, a global organisation supporting women’s rights groups in Africa and Asia.“Women’s rights are under threat like never before, with rising fundamentalism, financial crises and political turmoil,” said Caroline Haworth, the organisation’s CEO. “Support for human rights defenders on the frontline is something everybody can relate to because they are fighting the fight for the rest of us. People really appreciate that. A lot of women put themselves at real risk of violence and harm for the work that they do.”
You can read the letter in full here.
