A/HRC/40/60 Women human rights defenders working on women’s rights, gender equality, and sexual and reproductive rights, including sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression 79. Persistent discrimination in family, cultural and sexual and reproductive rights have a debilitating impact on the capacity of women to claim equal standing in all aspects of life and promote and protect human rights. 80. Women working on women’s rights and gender equality act on diverse issues. They highlight how laws and practices concerning inheritance, land and property leave daughters and wives subjugated and impoverished. They act to eliminate domestic violence, incest, early and forced marriage, marital rape and female genital mutilation. They call for women and girls to have the autonomy to make decisions about their lives and their bodies and access to safe and legal abortion. 81. These issues are often considered private or shameful matters, leading family members to pressure the women to give up their advocacy efforts. These are also issues that may be perceived as challenging religious and cultural norms and may trigger a backlash from religious and conservative groups. 82. Women defenders also stress that when they provide direct assistance and support to women survivors of violence, they put themselves in danger of harm. Safe houses or the offices of women defenders who find themselves subject to stalking, intimidation and threats sometimes receive no police protection. Women defenders working on sex workers’ rights 83. Sex workers are often stigmatized and treated as if they are not deserving of rights. Some sex workers who have sought help from the police for crimes perpetrated against them have been ignored, mistreated and subjected to sexual violence. Women who defend sex workers’ rights have also endured smear campaigns, threats and attacks. 84. Angélica Miriam Quintanilla, the director of Liquidambar, a sex worker-led organization in El Salvador, was found murdered on 6 May 2016 in an area known for sex work. There has been no progress in the investigation into her killing. VIII. Building diverse, inclusive and strong movements of women human rights defenders 85. Women defenders advance rights both individually and collectively. They draw strength and sustenance from each other, their families and communities. There are no short cuts to building diverse, inclusive and strong movements of women defenders. It requires the wholesale dismantling of harmful gender stereotypes and a radical reimagination of the world so that understandings of gender are not used to legitimize the domination and marginalization of women. Also required is an intersectional analysis of power relations that clarifies how gender interacts with such factors as age, race, ethnicity and disability to affect the risks and obstacles faced by women defenders and their space for action. Everyone must question harmful gender stereotypes and reflect on how expectations, conscious and unconscious biases and actions affect the rights and freedoms of women in diverse circumstances. This requires State actors to meet their legal obligations, and nonState actors to work with them. Recognition, commitment, resources and structural change are required. 86. In consultation with women defenders, the Special Rapporteur has identified eight interconnected priorities for action that require attention, resources and cooperation among States, national human rights institutions, donors, civil society, human rights defenders and other stakeholders. 15