Nuala Fennell
Protection of the Family
The Issue
Over the past few years, a troubling new trend at the international human rights level is being observed, where discourses on ‘protecting the family’ are being employed to defend violations committed against family members, to bolster and justify impunity, and to restrict equal rights within and to family life.
The campaign to "Protect the Family" 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” efforts stem from:
- rising traditionalism,
- rising cultural, social and religious conservatism and
- sentiment hostile to women’s human rights, sexual rights, child rights and the rights of persons with non-normative gender identities and sexual orientations.
Since 2014, a group of states have been operating as a bloc in human rights spaces under the name “Group of Friends of the Family”, and resolutions on “Protection of the Family” have been successfully passed every year since 2014.
This agenda has spread beyond the Human Rights Council. We have seen regressive language on “the family” being introduced at the Commission on the Status of Women, and attempts made to introduce it in negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Our Approach
AWID works with partners and allies to jointly resist “Protection of the Family” and other regressive agendas, and to uphold the universality of human rights.
In response to the increased influence of regressive actors in human rights spaces, AWID joined allies to form the Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs). OURs is a collaborative project that monitors, analyzes, and shares information on anti-rights initiatives like “Protection of the Family”.
Rights at Risk, the first OURs report, charts a map of the actors making up the global anti-rights lobby, identifies their key discourses and strategies, and the effect they are having on our human rights.
The report outlines “Protection of the Family” as an agenda that has fostered collaboration across a broad range of regressive actors at the UN. It describes it as: “a strategic framework that houses “multiple patriarchal and anti-rights positions, where the framework, in turn, aims to justify and institutionalize these positions.”
Related Content
Snippet - WITM about research col 2 - EN
The full “Where is the Money for Feminist Organizing” report will be published in 2026.
To learn more how AWID has been shining a light on money for and against feminist movements check out the work of our Resourcing Feminist Movements Initiative here.
Kátia Martins
我的問題在這裡找不到解答
如有其他疑問，請使用我們的聯繫表，然後從下拉選單中選擇「第14屆AWID論壇」。
En su lucha por los derechos humanos enfrentan la injusticia en América Latina
Este año honramos a 19 defensoras de la región de América Latina y el Caribe. De ellas, 16 fueron asesinadas, incluyendo a 6 periodistas y 4 defensoras LGBTQI. Únete a nosotras en la conmemoración de sus vidas y trabajo, compartiendo los memes aquí incluidos con tus colegas, amistades y redes; y tuiteando las etiquetas #WHRDTribute y #16Días.
Por favor, haz click en cada imagen de abajo para ver una versión más grande y para descargar como un archivo.
[scald=2398:sdl_editor_representation]
[scald=2396:sdl_editor_representation]
[scald=2393:sdl_editor_representation]
[scald=2390:sdl_editor_representation]
[scald=2389:sdl_editor_representation]
[scald=2388:sdl_editor_representation]
Snippet FEA EoS Artisana (ES)
Artisana
Arte y creatividad
Saraswathi Gora
Quel est l’objet de l’enquête WITM?
Le principal objectif de l’enquête WITM est de faire la lumière sur la situation financière de divers mouvements féministes, de défense des droits des femmes, pour la justice de genre, de défense des personnes LBTQI+ et des mouvements alliés dans le monde entier. Sur cette base, nous souhaitons démontrer l’importance d’orienter davantage de fonds, de meilleure qualité, et de transférer le pouvoir vers les mouvements féministes.
Marta Vásquez
AWID為何選擇台北作為此次國際論壇的舉辦地點呢？
我們認為在亞太區域，台北最能讓我們為全球女性主義社群打造一個安全又可「造反」的空間。
即將召開的論壇與會者多元，台北提供了相當穩定與安全的環境。同時也具備穩健的勤務服務能力，方便許多旅客來往（提供國際論壇與會者便利的電子簽證流程）
當地的女性主義運動社群也歡迎論壇到來並積極與全球女性主義者串連。
WHRDs from the South and Southeast Asian region
7 Women Human Rights Defenders from across the South and Southeast Asian region are honored in this year’s Online Tribute. These defenders have made key contributions to advancing human and women’s rights, indigenous people’s rights, and the right to education. These WHRDs were lawyers, women’s rights activists, scholars, and politicians. Please join AWID in commemorating t their work and legacy by sharing the memes below with your colleagues, networks and friends and by using the hashtags #WHRDTribute and #16Days.
Please click on each image below to see a larger version and download as a file
Snippet FEA NSS has a vision of an Africa (ES)
“Nous Sommes la Solution tiene una visión de una África donde, en solidaridad, las mujeres rurales involucradas en la toma de decisiones puedan cultivar, procesar, vender y consumir productos de la agricultura familiar preservando el medio ambiente, para un desarrollo sostenible, armonioso y duradero”.
Zarema Sadulayeva
We re-grant money to grantee partners and identify as a feminist and/or women’s fund, should we take the survey?
No, we very much appreciate your work but are not asking for responses from women’s and feminist funds at this time. We do encourage you to share the survey with your grantee partners and feminist networks.
Elisa Badayos
Elisa era coordinadora de la organización de derechos humanos Karapatan, en la Provincia de Negros Oriental de Filipinas.
También era organizadora de comunidades urbanas empobrecidas de la Provincia de Cebú, y trabajaba con Desaparecidos, una organización de familiares de personas desaparecidas.
Elisa y dos de sus colegas fueron asesinadxs el 28 de noviembre de 2017 por dos hombres no identificados en Barangay San Ramón, en la ciudad de Bayawan de la Provincia de Negros Oriental, durante una misión que investigaba presuntas violaciones de derechos territoriales en la zona.
La sobreviven cuatro hijxs.
Snippet FEA What are the objectives (FR)
Quels sont les Objectifs de Nous Sommes la Solution?
Amanda Castro
¿Puedo responder la encuesta por fuera de KOBO y compartir las respuestas con ustedes a través de correo electrónico?
Salvo que existan cuestiones de accesibilidad o que respondas la encuesta en otro idioma, alentamos encarecidamente a usar KOBO a los efectos de contar con una recopilación y un análisis de datos estandarizados para la investigación ¿Dónde está el dinero?
Abby Lippman
Abby était une féministe pionnière, militante des droits humains.
Ancienne épidémiologiste de l'Université McGill, Abby était réputée pour défendre les causes sociales et pour ses critiques perspicaces concernant les technologies de procréation humaine assistée et d'autres sujets médicaux. Plus précisément, elle a fait campagne contre ce qu'elle a appelé la « généticisation » des technologies de procréation, contre l'hormonothérapie substitutive et pour des recherches plus qualitatives et plus longues avant l'approbation de nouveaux vaccins comme celui contre le papillomavirus humain.
À la nouvelle de son décès, ses ami-e-s et collègues l'ont décrite avec affection comme une « ardente défenseure » de la santé des femmes.
