Practical Guide to Community-Based Security for Women Defenders of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

ProDESC presents this Practical Guide to Community Security for Women Defenders, built upon our previous publication “Community Security and Territory”. This guide focuses on strengthening the security of women working at the community level, recognizing their diverse identities and the multiple forms of sexist, racist, and classist violence they face.

Through an innovative and complementary approach, this guide offers a practical framework for defenders to develop effective community security plans tailored to their realities. The proposed steps, illustrated through the story of a women’s association in the context of an extractive project context, provide concrete tools for women defenders to improve their security conditions and continue their work in defense of human rights.

This document is the result of years of collaborative work and is dedicated to all women defenders who, despite the challenges, continue to fight for justice and equity. Additionally, ProDESC is committed to reviewing and updating this guide to integrate the experiences of other gender identities and their intersectionalities, aiming forgreater inclusivity and representation.