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
Ika Vantiani Snippet ES
Ika Vantiani
Ika Vantiani es una artista, curadora y artesana de Yakarta, Indonesia. Su obra explora la idea de ser mujer en la sociedad actual, en la cual los medios de comunicación y el consumo están entretejidos. Ika usa la disciplina del collage, y la expande al arte callejero, a talleres e instalaciones. Integra colectivos artísticos tales como Micro Galleries, The Collage Club y It’s In Your Hands Collective.
Concepcion Brizuela
Références intéressantes
Découvrez ces projets élaborés par les équipes de l'AWID pour promouvoir le plaidoyer et les perspectives féministes.
Nahia Sediqi
Snippet The revolution will be feminist_Fest (EN)
Plenary session:
The revolution will be feminist—or it won’t be a revolution
Manal Tamimi Palestine
Bubulina Moreno, Colombia
Karolina Więckiewicz, Poland
Anwulika Ngozi Okonjo, Nigeria
Imma Sala
¿El proceso para presentar propuestas de actividades virtuales es diferente del proceso para las actividades presenciales?
Es exactamente el mismo proceso, con la misma fecha límite. Por favor utiliza el mismo formulario para presentar tu propuesta de actividad, ya sea esta presencial, en línea o híbrida (presencial y en línea).
Snippet Festival Day 5, 6 Fest (ES)
![]() |
Asamblea Placentera: Tejiendo Proyectos Feministas ColaborativosGhiwa Sayegh, Kohl: A Journal for Body and Gender Research De brujeria, chamanismo y otros conocimientos insurrectos contra el patriarcadoSofía Blanco Sixtos, Colectiva Feminista MAPAS |
Luz Yohana Lopez Vidal
Y aura-t-il des mesures d’accessibilité au Forum ?
En un mot : oui ! L’AWID collabore actuellement avec un Comité d’accessibilité pour veiller à ce que le Forum soit aussi accessible que possible. Nous évaluons actuellement également l’accessibilité du lieu où se tiendra le Forum, des hôtels alentours et des transports. Des informations détaillées sur l’accessibilité lors du Forum de l’AWID seront disponibles dans cette section avant l’ouverture des inscriptions. Si vous avez des questions d’ici là, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter.
Meztli Omixochitl Sarabia Reyna
Snippet Festival Days 8-13_Fest (FR)
Beauty Mugijima
أنا ممول/ة أو مانح/ة فردي/ة. كيف يمكنني دعم منتدى جمعية حقوق المرأة في التنمية؟
ندعوك للتواصل معنا بشأن طرق المشاركة الهادفة في المنتدى.







