Human Rights Day Statement 2024

Today, December 10, 2024, we celebrate Human Rights Day, and we approach the end of the annual 18-day Campaign to End Violence Against Women.

Today marks our recognition of Indigenous women and women human rights defenders all over the world — defenders of human rights, leaders of resistance, carers of the environment, and protectors of life.

Amid the increasing destruction wrought by corporate-led projects—mining, logging, and large-scale infrastructure—Indigenous women are often on the frontlines of resistance. As the current administration, and all governments who came before it, continue to push for projects that devastate Indigenous lands and communities, Indigenous women continue to fight back.

They push back against the so-called development initiatives that primarily serve corporate interests, not the people whose life is intertwined with land. Indigenous women are the first to feel the devastating effects of these policies and programs, and also the first to stand against them.

Today, we recognize women human rights defenders, who work hand in hand with rural and indigenous women. Women who resist the rise of authoritarian regimes and continue to speak bravely against human rights violations amid threats, harassment, and intimidation.

Violence exists in our daily life and seeps into all the spaces we navigate—our schools, our communities, and our homes. This reality is proof that violence, especially violence against women, is an enduring tool of patriarchy. And so to begin dismantling this culture of violence, we must stand against systems, mechanisms, and beliefs rooted in patriarchy.

The cycle of violence that has ravaged women’s lives for centuries must end.

We must recognize the power of women and their right to move, speak, and live freely.

Sisters, we celebrate you.

LILAK honors the courage of all women to stand up and push back. For freedom, for human rights.

#HRDay2024 #HumanRights