Women defenders of the land and the environment

The expansion of large-scale mining activities and agribusiness in Uganda has greatly increased
land disputes and resulted in an alarming rise in violence suffered by individuals who defend
water, land, forests and the rights of women, afro-descendants, indigenous and farming
communities. Threats, bullying, judicial harassment, illegal surveillance, forced disappearances,
blackmail, sexual assault and murder are common practice.
Women defending the land and the environment fight peacefully in the frontline against
climate change, the preservation of the world’s ecosystems and the protection of women’s
rights, but at the same time, they are facing terror campaigns on a daily basis that aim to
silence their voices. Meanwhile, the government and companies are not assuming their duty to
guarantee women’s safety and tackle the root causes of such assaults.
In this context, women defenders are perceived as a threat because they question and
jeopardize the power structures that are based on class privileges and gender discrimination.
Moreover, they routinely and clearly denounce just how harmful it is for humanity to continue
supporting a system that permanently exploits life on the planet. These women are the victims
that most suffer the consequences of the loss of access to land and natural resources.
In addition to the risk that women defending the rights of the land, the territories and the
environment have to face, they also have to withstand the difficulties derived from living in
rural areas, from belonging to farming communities, from being afro-descendants or
indigenous, from being women or from their sexual orientation or diverse gender identity.
In Uganda, Women defenders of the land, territories and the environment are a nuisance to
those that have an economic interest in areas with rich natural resources. As a result, they are
being threatened and attacked for raising their voices, demanding respect and dignity.
At Chapter Fifteen, we are working to support Women defenders of the land, territories and
the environment and defend their voice. We want to ensure that the valuable contribution by
these women defenders is acknowledged as well as to protect their lives, their right to be
leaders and to live with dignity in their communities. As a result, we work together with women

groups and organizations in the field so that they can be trained to prevent violence, self-
defense and to protect their communities. Moreover, we support their demands and
emphasize their situation, both nationally and internationally. But this is not enough.
We ask the Uganda government to listen to these women defenders and to apply specific
urgent protective and preventive measures in order to reduce the alarming numbers of
murders and threats. We want the criteria of these women to be applied since they know
better than anyone else the problems they are facing, their land and the needs of their
communities.