Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) in Uganda operate in increasingly complex environments where their safety online and offline is constantly under threat. Recognising the urgent need for structured, feminist-centred protection, WOUGNET implemented the Reclaiming Our Spaces project from
Duration: May to December 2025
Funded: Association for Progressive Communications (APC).
Goal: The project was designed and led by WHRDs themselves, ensuring that the strategies, tools, and knowledge developed were grounded in the lived realities of the women it served. Through a structured and intersectional approach to holistic security, WOUGNET equipped defenders with practical skills to identify, mitigate, and respond to the risks they face in their advocacy work whether digital surveillance, physical threats, or psychosocial harm.
Reaching across four regions of Uganda Central, Eastern, Northern, and Western the project built a resilient, cross-regional network of WHRDs prepared to sustain their work safely and confidently. Activities included training workshops, peer-learning sessions, and the development of context-specific security strategies tailored to the unique challenges faced by defenders in each region.
Reclaiming Our Spaces affirms WOUGNET’s commitment to centering women’s voices, safety, and leadership in the fight for human rights across Uganda.
The Holistic Security Toolkit: https://wougnet.org/download/holistic-security-toolkit-for-women-human-rights-defenders-whrds/