Human Rights Council Resolutions on “Protection of the Family”

Resolutions on “Protection of the Family” were passed at the Human Rights Council in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

The “Protection of the Family” agenda is driven by ultra-conservative efforts to impose “traditional” and patriarchal interpretations of the family, and to move rights out of the hands of family members and into the institution of ‘the family’.

“Protection of the Family” discourse is employed to defend violations committed against family members, to bolster and justify impunity, and to restrict equal rights within and to family life.  It is one of the key discourses employed by anti-rights actors in international human rights spaces.

Resolutions

• Protection of the Family, adopted in June 2014 (A/HRC/RES/26/11)
• Protection of the family: contribution of the family to the realization of the right to an adequate standard of living for its members, particularly through its role in poverty eradication and achieving sustainable development, adopted in July 2015 (A/HRC/RES/29/22)
• Protection of the family: role of the family in supporting the protection and promotion of human rights of persons with disabilities, adopted in July 2016 (A/HRC/RES/32/23)