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.”

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Pourquoi devrais-je participer à cette enquête?
Mujeres indígenas por la defensa de los derechos
Estas defensoras lucharon por los derechos sobre la tierra, de las mujeres y de los pueblos indígenas; haciendo frente a las industrias extractivas, escribiendo poesía y promoviendo el amor. Una de ellas desapareció hace ya 19 años. Únete a nosotras para recordar y honrar a estas defensoras de derechos humanos, su trabajo y su legado, compartiendo los memes aquí incluidos; 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.





Je ne suis pas en mesure d’assister au Forum en personne, de quelle autre façon puis-je participer?
Plus qu’un simple évènement, le Forum de l’AWID s’inscrit dans notre voyage d’exploration des réalités féministes, qui offre de nombreux espaces où se réunir, en ligne et hors ligne, afin d’échanger, discuter, élaborer des stratégies et co-créer des réalités féministes.
Apprenez-en plus sur l’aventure des réalités féministes et sur tout ce qui se passera en amont du Forum. Et restez à l'écoute pour ne pas manquer les annonces post-Forum !
Nous explorons actuellement les possibilités de participer virtuellement au Forum et veillerons à vous partager l'information lorsque nous saurons ce que nous sommes en mesure de vous proposer.
Snippet FEA Environments Of Shelter (ES)
Metzineres proporciona los siguientes tipos de apoyo, conocidos como
Entornos de Cobijo:
Rosalyn Albaniel Evara
Snippet - WITM Start the survey 1 - ES
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La encuesta está disponible en árabe, español, francés, inglés, portugués y ruso.
Trans* rights require stronger protection
These transgender women were murdered because of their activism and their gender identity. There are insufficient laws recognizing trans* rights, and even where these laws exist, very little is being done to safeguard the rights of trans* people. Please join AWID in honoring these defenders, their activism 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




Le Forum de l'AWID est-il maintenu à Taipei étant donné la situation liée au COVID-19 ?
L’AWID examine avec attention la situation mondiale liée au COVID-19, et considère à ce jour pouvoir poursuivre la planification initialement prévue pour le Forum.
Si la situation exige un changement, nous vous en informerons immédiatement..
Le 14ème Forum international de l’AWID devrait ainsi se tenir du 20 au 23 septembre 2021, à Taipei.
Snippet FEA Occupation’s kitchen Instagram (FR)
Campagne publicitaire d'Ocupação 9 de Julho :
Les Femmes Maintiennent les Soins | Les Soins Soutiennent la Vie | La Vie Soutient l'Économie | Qui s'Occupe des Femmes ? | Pas Une de Moins1 | Ensemble | Déjeuner du Dimanche
1Nenhuna a menos se traduit littéralement par « pas une femme de moins » ou « ni una menos » en espagnol - un célèbre slogan féministe en Amérique latine qui a émergé en Argentine en réponse à l'augmentation de la violence sexiste.
Nuala Fennell
Miriam Mũmbi Nyoike
Snippet - WITM about research - FR
À propos de l’enquête Où est l’argent ?
L’enquête WITM mondiale est un des piliers essentiels de la troisième édition de notre recherche orientée sur l’action, intitulée Où est l’argent pour l’organisation des mouvements féministes? (abrégé en Où est l’argent ou WITM, pour l’acronyme en anglais). Les résultats de l’enquête seront développés et approfondis à l’occasion de conversations profondes avec des activistes et des financeurs, et les références seront croisées avec d’autres analyses et études existantes sur la situation du financement des mouvements féministes et de l’égalité des genres à travers le monde.
Le rapport complet de la recherche Où est l’argent pour l’organisation des mouvements féministes sera publié en 2026.
Pour en apprendre davantage sur la manière dont l’AWID met en lumière l’argent utilisé pour et contre les mouvements féministes, consultez notre dossier WITM et nos précédents rapports à ce sujet ici.
1. Gather your resources
This section highlights key resources recommended by AWID so you can conduct your own WITM research.
In this section
People needed
- 1 or more person(s) to lead overall implementation of research methodology and ensure all key pieces are on track (Sections 2-11)
- 1 or more person(s) to conceptualize the key research objectives and guiding questions
- 1 or more person(s) to refine and conduct the research methodology, including collecting data
- 1 or more person(s) to conduct relevant qualitative and quantitative analysis of collected data
- 1 or more person(s) to document and package research findings for desired audience(s)
- 1 or more person(s) to serve as an editor to your final products
- 1 or more person(s) to conduct outreach to spread the word about your survey and advocacy using your research results
Potential expenses
- Staff and/or consultant salaries
- Data analysis software if conducting analysis of large dataset in-house. Options:
- SPSS
- Stata
- R (this is free) - Cost of producing publications and research products
- If desired, incentive prize that survey participants can win if they complete the survey
- If desired, incentives to offer your advisors
Estimated time
- For research process: 6 to 18 months, depending on size of dataset(s) and staff capacity
- For advocacy: 1-2 years, as determined by your organizational goals
Resources needed
- List of advisor organizations, donors and activists
- List of online spaces and events/networks to distribute your survey and present your survey results
- List of donors, activists, and women’s rights organizations to interview
- Prepared interview questions
- List of publication sources to use for desk research
Resources available
- Sample 1 of Research Framing
- Sample 2 of Research Framing
- Example: 2011 WITM Global Survey
- Sample WITM Global Survey
- Sample letter to grantmakers requesting access to databases
- AWID Sample Interview Questions: Donors
- AWID Sample Interview Questions: Activists & Women’s Rights Organizations
- Sample Advocacy Plan
Online tools
- Survey Monkey: Free
- Survey Gizmo: Converts to SPSS for analysis very easily
- Tutorial: Gentle Introduction to Cleaning Data
- Visualization Tools
- “Ready to Go?” Worksheet
Once you gather these resources, you can estimate the costs for your research using our “Ready to Go? Worksheet”
Previous step
Next step

Previous step
Next step
The Ready to Go? Worksheet helps you estimate resources, staff and budget needed for your research
Pourquoi l’AWID a-t-elle décidé de changer le lieu du Forum de Bali à Taipei ?
Fin 2019, les événements en Indonésie - notamment les signes d’intensification de la militarisation et de reculs des droits LGBTQ – nous ont amené·e·s à questionner la capacité de l’AWID à maintenir un environnement sécurisé et accueillant pour les divers·es participant·e·s que nous voulons rassembler au Forum.
Après un examen attentif, la Direction de l’AWID a décidé en novembre 2019 de faire évoluer le lieu de tenue du 14ème Forum international de l’AWID, de Bali à Taipei.
Taipei dispose de fortes capacités logistiques et est accessible pour beaucoup de voyageurs·ses (avec une facilitation de procédure de visa électronique pour les conférences internationales).
Pour plus d’informations :
- Lisez notre communiqué du 10 décembre 2019 sur le changement de lieu du Forum
- Apprenez-en plus sur le choix de Taipei pour tenir le 14ème Forum de l’AWID
Snippet FEA EoS The Howl (FR)

Le hurlement
Participation et activisme
Saraswathi Gora
Yolanda Santana
¿Cuál es la finalidad de la encuesta ¿Dónde está el dinero?
El objetivo fundamental de la encuesta ¿Dónde está el dinero? es arrojar luz sobre la situación financiera de la diversidad de movimientos feministas, por los derechos de las mujeres, la justicia social, las personas LBTQI+ y demás movimientos aliados de todo el mundo y, sobre la base de dicha información, reforzar las razones fundadas para movilizar más y mejores fondos y transferir el poder a los movimientos feministas.
5. Conduct interviews
Interviews produce in-depth information that you cannot easily obtain from surveys. While surveys focuses mainly on quantifiable data and closed questions, interviews allow for expert opinions from activists and donors, and open-ended questions which can provide context to survey data results.
In this section
- General tips
1. Before conducting your interviews
2. During the interviews- Specialized interviews
1. Donor interviews
2. Women’s rights organizations and activists interviews- Preliminary findings
General tips
1. Before conducting your interviews
Send the interviewees a concept note with your objectives for the interview and for your overall research, as well as a list of questions.
This allows them to prepare answers for more complicated questions and look up information that they may not have immediately on hand.
2. During the interviews
- You can conduct interviews while your survey is running, in order to save time.
- Try to keep your interviews as consistent as possible in order to facilitate systematic analysis of results. This means asking the same questions. Coding identical responses to each question will allow you to uncover hidden trends.
- The interviews can also be used to flesh out some of the survey findings
Do not base your questions on assumptions about your interviewees’ knowledge.
Instead, first clarify what they know – this will reveal information as well.
- DON’T: “Given the current funding trends in Switzerland, do you know of any opportunities for collaboration? This question assumes that the interviewee knows current funding trends and that their understanding of funding trends matches yours.
- DO: First ask “What is your understanding of current funding trends in Switzerland?”, followed by “Do you know of any opportunities for collaboration?” This will reveal what their understanding is, giving you even more information than the first question.
Specialized interviews
1. Donor interviews
Interviews with donors will allow you to build deeper relationships with them, which will be useful when you conduct post-research advocacy. They will also provide you with deeper insight into funders’ decision-making processes.
Suggested topics of focus for donor interviews:
- What are their funding priorities? Why and how did they select those priorities? For example, why do they choose project-funding over core support or vice versa?
- What are annual amounts allocated to the advancement of women’s human rights? This will strengthen overall reliability of data collected.
- Have they noticed any funding trends, and what do they believe are the origins and politics behind these trends?
- What is their theory of social change and how does that impact their relationships with women’s rights organizations?
View samples of donor interviews
2. Women’s rights organizations and activists interviews
Interviews with women’s rights organizations and activists will provide you with insight into their on-the-ground realities. Again, these interviews will allow you to build deeper relationships that can be incorporated into your advocacy, particularly to encourage collaboration between donors and activists.
Suggested topics of focus for women’s rights organizations and activist interviews:
- Long-term funding priority trends noted by women’s organizations and their impact.
- Successful examples of feminist and collaborative resource mobilization strategies that build strong and complementary movements.
- “Making the case” for why it is important to support women’s organizations and organizing.
- How different actors understand the social change process and their role in advancing/achieving gender equality and women’s rights.
View samples of women’s organizations and activists interviews
Preliminary findings
Through the course of your WITM research, we recommend analyzing your preliminary findings. Presenting your preliminary findings opens up opportunities to conduct more interviews and get feedback on your research process and initial results. This feedback can be incorporated into your final research.
AWID conducts “WITM convenings” to share preliminary results of survey data and interviews. These gatherings allow participants (activists, women’s rights organizations, and donors) to debate and discuss the results, clarifying the context, creating more ownership amongst members of the movement, and providing more input for final research.
For example, the Resource Mobilization Hub for Indigenous Women’s Rights at the World Summit on Indigenous Philanthropy was used as a space to debut preliminary results.
Previous step
4. Collect and analyze your data
Next step

Estimated time:
• 1.5 - 3 months
People needed:
• 1 or more research person(s)
Resources needed:
• List of donors and women’s rights organizations and activists to interview
• Prepared interview questions
• Concept Note (You can use the research framing you created in the “Frame your research” section)
Resources available:
• AWID Sample Interview Questions: Donors
• AWID Sample Interview Questions: Activists & Women’s Rights Organizations
Previous step
4. Collect and analyze your data