Clara Luper
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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¿Cuál es el tema del 14° Foro Internacional de AWID?
El tema del 14° Foro Internacional de AWID es «Realidades feministas: nuestro poder en acción».
Entendemos las realidades feministas como los diferentes modos de existir y ser que nos muestran lo que es posible, a pesar de los sistemas de poder dominantes, y en desafío y resistencia contra ellos. Entendemos estas realidades feministas como recuperaciones y corporizaciones de esperanza y poder, multidimensionales, dinámicas, y arraigadas en contextos y momentos históricos específicos.
Où et quand se déroulera le Forum ?
Du 2 au 5 décembre 2024, à Bangkok, en Thaïlande ! Nous nous rassemblerons au Centre national de convention de la Reine Sirikit (QSNCC) et aussi virtuellement en ligne.
Sherly Montoya
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Lieutenant Nigar
¿En qué será diferente este Foro?
Siempre hemos trabajado para garantizar que nuestros Foros sean desarrollados conjuntamente con nuestrxs afiliadxs, los movimientos, y nuestros colectivos prioritarios.
Para el Foro 2020 queremos profundizar y fortalecer este espíritu y esta práctica de creación conjunta y colaboración. También reconocemos la necesidad de mejorar el equilibrio entre la inclusión de muchas voces y experiencias y el espacio para que lxs participantes y el equipo respiren, se tomen una pausa, y disfruten de un poco de tiempo de inactividad.
Este Foro será diferente en cuanto a que:
- Tendremos muchas menos actividades organizadas, porque queremos que la gente tenga tiempo para relacionarse y hablar entre sí, experimentar, procesar, etc. Es fundamental que sepas que puedes venir al Foro, participar y ser muy activx, y no facilitar ninguna actividad organizada (o «sesión»).
- Tendremos Espacios Abiertos (al menos una tarde entera sin ninguna actividad organizada), y también espacios físicos disponibles durante todo el Foro para que la gente organice sus propias reuniones.
- Tendremos un Comité de Contenido y Metodología compuesto por feministas de distintas regiones con experiencia en metodologías participativas, para apoyar al equipo de AWID y a quienes lideren actividades en el Foro en el uso de formatos creativos e interesantes para las actividades del Foro.
Les droits des femmes et l’égalité de-s genre-s – La rubrique ‘Point de mire’ sur TheGuardian.com
How much does participation cost?
Please calculate your costs of travel to Bangkok, accommodations and per diem, visa, any accessibility needs, and incidentals, on top of a registration fee that will be announced soon. Hotels in the Sukhumvit area in Bangkok range from USD$50 to $200 per night, double occupancy.
AWID members receive a discount at registration, so if you are not a member yet, we invite you to consider becoming a member and joining our global feminist community.
Micaela García
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Anti-rights actors adopt a double strategy. As well as launching outright attacks on the multilateral system, anti-rights actors also undermine human rights from within. Anti-rights actors engage with the aim of co-opting processes, entrenching regressive norms, and undermining accountability.
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¿Cómo puedo financiar mi participación en el Foro de AWID? Muchxs activistas no podrán costearse el Foro: ¿AWID está haciendo algo para brindar asistencia?
Por favor consulta la página «Financiamiento» para obtener algunas ideas sobre cómo puedes financiar tu participación en el próximo Foro. Esto incluye el limitado apoyo que AWID podrá brindar.
Remembering: A Tribute to WHRDs no longer with us
AWID honors feminists and Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) who have died and whose contributions to the advancement of human rights are very much missed.
Celebrating Activists and WHRDs
AWID’s WHRD Tribute is a photo exhibition featuring feminist, women’s rights and social justice activists from around the world who are no longer with us.
The Tribute was first launched in 2012, at AWID’s 12th International Forum, in Turkey. It took shape with a physical exhibit of portraits and biographies of feminists and activists who passed away. The initiative was described by Forum participants as being a unique, moving and energizing way to commemorate our collective history.
At the 13th International Forum in Brazil, we honored activists and WHRDs with a mural unveiling ceremony in four languages, a dance performance and a Brazilian ritual.
In between the events, the Tribute lives as an online gallery that is updated every year as part of the 16 Days Campaign Against Gender Based Violence (25 November – 10 December).
Contributions from all over the world
Since 2012, through our annual Tribute to Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) no longer with us, over 400 feminists and WHRDs from 11 regions and 80 countries have been featured.
AWID would like to thank the families and organizations who shared their personal stories and contributed to this memorial. We join them in continuing the remarkable work of these women and forging efforts to ensure justice is achieved in cases that remain in impunity.
Visit the WHRD Tribute online exhibit
The violence and threaths against WHRDs persist
In addition to paying homage to these incredible activists, the Tribute particularly sheds light on the plight of WHRDs who have been assassinated or disappeared.
One third of those featured in the Tribute were activists who have been murdered or disappeared in suspicious circumstances. They were specifically targeted for who they were and the work they did to challenge:
- State power
- Heteronormativity
- Fundamentalisms
- Corporations
- Patriarchy
- Organized Crime
- Corruption
- Militarization…
Women like Agnes Torres, from Mexico, was killed because of her gender identity and sexual orientation; or Cheryl Ananayo, an environmental activist from the Philippines was assassinated as she struggled against a mining company; or Ruqia Hassan, a Syrian independent journalist and blogger killed for her criticism of ISIS. And so many others.
With the WHRD Tribute, we bring them all into our collective memory and carry their legacy of struggle as our torch in the feminists’ and women’s rights movements. We recognize that security, safety and self-care must be a priority in all our political agendas. And we call on to governments and international bodies to collectively address violence against feminists and WHRDs.
We believe this is a critical step to ensure the sustainability of our movements for gender equality, women’s rights, and justice for all.
¿Qué debo saber acerca del visado?
Somos plenamente conscientes de los obstáculos prácticos y la angustia emocional asociada con los viajes internacionales, especialmente desde el Sur Global. AWID está trabajando con la Oficina de Convenciones y Exhibiciones de Tailandia para brindar apoyo a lxs participantes del Foro en la obtención de visas. En el momento de la inscripción se facilitará más información sobre esta ayuda para la obtención de visados, incluidos los datos de contacto para saber dónde y cómo solicitarla.
Leonela Tapdasan Pesadilla
Historieta: Superheroína feminista refuta mitos anti-derechos
Historieta: Superheroína feminista refuta mitos anti-derechos
En esta historieta de la ilustradora Sophia, se puede seguir a nuestra superheroína feminista que recupera las narrativas capturadas por lxs actores anti-derechos en distintos lugares y salva al mundo.
Venecia Natinga
¿Habrá esta vez reuniones pre-Foro?
Nuestrxs asociadxs globales y regionales nos han contactado con algunas ideas para reuniones pre-Foro, y pronto compartiremos más información sobre estas ideas.
Si planeas organizar una reunión antes del Foro, ¡por favor avísanos!
Muchas cosas hermosas surgieron del Foro de Feminismos Negros (BFF) de 2016, organizado por un Grupo Asesor y financiado por AWID. Parte del activismo independiente que surgió del BFF incluye al activismo feminista negro de Brasil. Si bien este año no tendremos otro BFF, seguimos comprometidxs a compartir algunas de las enseñanzas fundamentales con cualquier persona interesada en continuar el trabajo sobre el activismo feminista negro.