DEFENDING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF GIRLS IN THE ERA OF POLYCRISIS The German poet Erich Kästner asks ‘Who can resist a speeding train?’ and answers: ‘Daisies between the tracks.’ It is civil society organisations all over the world that are resisting the train on the tracks, against accepted traditions and human rights violations. We are a non-governmental organisation that has been stubbornly and patiently advocating somewhere between ‘right’ and ‘violation’ for 16 years. We explain resistance not as a matter of courage, but as a manifestation of our belief that a just and equal life is possible. In a country where civic space is increasingly shrinking and defenders of the right to life are not very popular, we know that a women's organisation that wants a strong democracy on the basis of equal citizenship, knows that this cannot be achieved without women, defends women's human rights and reminds them that it is a constitutional duty to defend them, and works for a life where girls are not sacrificed to the darkness of culture, needs more than courage. We invest in an equal, accessible and human rights-based advocacy perspective against the masculine understanding that renders women's labour and identity invisible, against entrenched prejudices and against ideological apparatuses that instrumentalize women. Human rights advocacy is sometimes like writing on water; turning societies' established perceptions of rights, law and justice on their heads, defending equality against discrimination, proposing non-violence against violence may often seem futile. Because societies take time to change. Even if we develop the most comprehensive strategies and implement the most effective programmes, there are many examples where we cannot influence the attitudes of decision-makers. There can be no other explanation for this resistance other than the fear of equality. Despite the resistance of the public administration and their determination to frustrate all our efforts, defending children's rights in a country without a children's policy, raising our voice for gender equality in a country without a women's policy, drawing attention to the rights of disabled people in a country without a disability policy... this is exactly what we do. Organising difficulties can be overcome, but it is very difficult to overcome some social consensus. It can be possible to move on without crushing the daisies in our way. Flying Broom Women's Communication and Research Association 63