The Role of Women’s Rights Organizations in Protecting Their Rights in Developing Countries

Feminist and women’s rights organizations are mediators between the social and political changes that women experience and want to bring about; educators on women’s rights and citizenship; and groups pressuring the state and society to take women’s rights seriously. However, assessing their impact remains a relatively under-researched task, particularly in the Global South. In this essay, I will critically examine the work of women’s rights organizations in developing countries (defined as a country with a low or medium human development index). I will examine the impact of their institutional and mobilization efforts and campaigns for social change and emancipation in supporting women's claims for their rights. I will base my arguments in the context of developing countries due to the additional structural challenges women face in these parts of the world. Moreover, the long-term marginalization of voices from the Global South in women and development discourse—from the mainstream 3/5 camp, when “women” were considered victims of development, to the current neoliberal consensus, when considering “ women” as agents of development—makes the analysis of women’s rights and development (mainstream or radical) more politically necessary in these contexts. The study used a multiple case study design to examine the role and influence of women’s rights organizations (particularly in the areas of health and violence) in efforts to change discriminatory gendered structures and improve women’s status in society, often against ruling class power and supportive maneuvers diplomatically sympathetic individuals, usually women, and international funding agencies willing to cooperate with women’s organizations.