Manika Jha
One night in January 2009, a gang of men broke into the home of Manika Jha’s neighbour and fellow journalist Uma Singh, and knifed her to death. They scrawled a cross on Manika’s door, with the message that she would be next.
Manika writes on corruption, women’s rights and discrimination. In Nepal this is a dangerous profession if you are a man; as a young woman doubly so. Dhanusha district, where Manika is based, is one of the most volatile regions of Nepal. It is also very conservative, particularly when it comes to the role of women in society.
Since 2003, The association of Indigenous Women of Santa María Xalapán (AMISMAXAJ) has grown from a small group of rural women who met in secret and asked themselves “Do we have rights?” into a respected public organisation participating in debate on women’s and indigenous rights at a national level.
On 22 September in Mexico City, 21 Mexican women human rights defenders took part in a roundtable with 14 representatives of the diplomatic corps in Mexico, in which participants reflected on the implementation of the EU Guidelines on human rights defenders and on the prevention of violence against women. The roundtable was organised within the framework of an EU project which aims to develop tools to help Mexican WHRDs strengthen their capacities in areas crucial to their work. As part of the project, PBI is developing a learning platform to build defenders’ skills in advocacy and campaigning, awareness of national, regional and international protection mechanisms, and tools for reporting and documenting violations. This platform opens an educational space for the concept of integral protection and security through courses, workshops and roundtables in which participants can convey their protection needs to the diplomatic corps.
The CEDEHM legally represents victims and families of femicide, enforced disappearances, torture, people trafficking, sexual and domestic violence, and furthermore litigates in the international and national sphere for protection measures for human rights defenders. The members of the Center explain that the work they do takes place in a context of violence in the state of Chihuahua, which claims a high rate of murders and threats against human rights defenders. According to the Center, Chihuahua is characterized by impunity, absence of political will on the part of state institutions, resource constraints as well as the constant threats from the main groups of power in the state. Due to threats, harassment and various security incidents, members of the organization have had precautionary measures issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights since 2008. 
