Clotilde Marquez Cruz
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
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.
Snippet FEA Lohana Berkins (FR)
L'une des dirigeantes fondatrices de la coopérative était Lohana Berkins, une militante, défenseuse et promotrice de l'identité trans. Lohana a joué un rôle crucial dans la lutte pour les droits des personnes trans et travestis.
Grâce à sa lutte, entre autres choses, l'approbation de la loi sur l'identité de genre a été obtenue. C'est l'une des lois les plus progressistes au monde, garantissant les droits fondamentaux des personnes trans et des travestis. Désormais, les personnes peuvent changer de nom et de sexe avec un affidavit et ont accès à des soins de santé complets sans intervention/approbation judiciaire ou médicale (Outright International, 2012).
2024: Renforcement des mouvements, soutenir le changement
La montée de la droite dans nombre de pays et le déluge de coupes dans les financements frappent durement la société civile de la Majorité mondiale ; le génocide en cours à Gaza, l’intensification des conflits violents au Soudan, la crise climatique à de nombreux endroits de notre planète : nous faisons face à des fascismes qui reviennent en force et un ordre mondial de l’impunité.
Téléchargez le rapport annuel 2024
Ensemble, nous pouvons construire un monde où la justice, la libération et la bienveillance ne sont pas des aspirations, mais des réalités.
Comment présenterez-vous et traiterez-vous les données collectées pendant l’enquête?
Les données seront traitées à des fins statistiques, pour mettre en lumière l’état du financement de l’organisation des mouvements féministes dans le monde entier, et ne seront présentées que sous forme agrégée. L’AWID ne publiera pas d’informations relatives à une organisation donnée ni ne divulguera d’informations qui permettraient d’identifier une organisation par le biais de son emplacement ou de caractéristiques qui lui sont propres, sans son accord explicite.
Marielle Franco
Marielle fue una política brasileña feminista lesbiana y activista por los derechos humanos.
Criticó abiertamente la brutalidad policial y las ejecuciones extrajudiciales. Su política declaradamente feminista, negra, centrada en las favelas, fue una fuente de esperanza para los grupos marginados de Río de Janeiro, gobernados actualmente por un gobierno municipal conservador y un intendente evangélico.
El 14 de marzo de 2018, después de dar un discurso en Río de Janeiro, Franco y su chofer fueron asesinados a balazos. A partir de la noticia de su muerte, multitudes se volcaron a las calles al grito de «¡Marielle presente!», en demanda de justicia.
En esta nota se puede leer más sobre Marielle y la situación en Brasil
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.
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Snippet FEA Bauen Hotel (EN)
Only a year after it was founded, the members of Nadia Echazú started to work in haute couture and organized a fashion show in the historic Bauen Hotel.
They showcased five models and some workers of the textile cooperative walked down the runway with their own designs.
This was revolutionary not only because they were designing alternatives to mainstream fashion, but also because they were creating accessible, inclusive clothes for all trans and travesti bodies.
Feminist economies should also be about feeling amazing and comfortable in the clothes we are wearing.
Domitila Barrios de Chungara
Inna Michaeli
Biography
Inna es una activista y socióloga feminista queer. Posee muchos años de profundo compromiso con las luchas feministas y LGBTQI+, la educación en política y en procesos de organización de y para las mujeres migrantes, así como por la liberación de y la solidaridad con Palestina. Se incorporó a AWID en 2016 y cumplió diferentes funciones, la más reciente como Directora de Programas. Reside en Berlín (Alemania), creció en Haifa (Palestina/Israel), nació en San Petersburgo (Rusia), y ha puesto todo ese recorrido geográfico político y de resistencia a los colonialismos pasados y presentes al servicio del activismo feminista y la solidaridad transnacional.
Inna es autora de Women's Economic Empowerment: Feminism, Neoliberalism, and the State (Empoderamiento económico de las mujeres: Feminismo, neoliberalismo y Estado. Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), basado en la tesis que le valió un doctorado de la Universidad Humboldt de Berlín. Como académica, impartió cursos sobre globalización, producción de conocimientos, identidad y pertenencia. Inna posee una maestría en Estudios Culturales de la Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalén. Integra la Junta de Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East (Voces Judías por una Paz Justa en Medio Oriente, Alemania) y, con anterioridad, fue miembro de la Junta de +972 Advancement of Citizen Journalism (+972 Avance del Periodismo Ciudadano). Antes, Inna trabajó con la Coalición de Mujeres por la Paz y es una apasionada de la movilización de recursos para el activismo de base.
Position
Codirectora Ejecutiva
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Our aim is to reach a total of 2,000 responses, almost double the number from the last WITM survey in 2011.
Razan Al-Najar
Razan était une infirmière palestinienne bénévole âgée de 21 ans.
Elle a été tuée par balle à l'est de la ville de Khan Younis, au sud de Gaza, alors qu'elle courait vers une clôture de la frontière fortifiée dans le but de porter secours à une victime.
Dans son tout dernier post sur Facebook, Razan avait déclaré : « J’y retourne et ne reculerai pas », ajoutant: « Frappez-moi de vos balles. Je n'ai pas peur ».
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 The fight for a world full of workplaces (ES)
La lucha por un mundo lleno de lugares de trabajo libres de todas formas de discriminación, estigma y exclusión es digna. Un mundo en el que el trabajo sexual sea descriminalizado y reconocido como trabajo es parte integrante de esto.
Un mundo donde todxs lxs trabajadorxs tengan condiciones de trabajo seguras, salarios dignos y puedan disfrutar de los mismos derechos como el acceso a la salud, pensiones, permisos por enfermedad, vacaciones, seguridad laboral y más, sin importar su género, raza, etnia, edad o capacidad.
Los derechos laborales son cuestiones feministas, y los sindicatos feministas desempeñan un papel clave en la promoción de los derechos legales, laborales y económicos de todxs lxs trabajadorxs, especialmente lxs trabajadorxs migrantes, lxs trabajadorxs domésticxs, lxs trabajadorxs informales y lxs trabajadorxs sexuales. Estas son personas que recientemente se han visto afectadas de manera desproporcionada por la pandemia, su crisis de cuidados, los confinamientos, toques de queda y el aumento de la vigilancia y represión policial.
Aquí les presentamos las historias de activistas feministas y sindicalistas que luchan por mejores condiciones de trabajo y mejores mundos para todxs.
Esther Chávez Cano
Margo Okazawa-Rey
Biography
Dre. Margo Okazawa-Rey est titulaire de la Chaire Barbara Lee pour le leadership des femmes et professeure invitée en études sur les femmes, le genre et la sexualité et en politique publique au Mills College à Oakland, en Californie. Elle est également professeure émérite à la San Francisco State University.
Ses principaux domaines de recherche et d’activisme au cours des 25 dernières années sont le militarisme, les conflits armés et la violence à l’égard des femmes, analysés de manière intersectionelle. Professeure Okazawa-Rey siège au conseil consultatif international de Du Re Bang à Uijongbu en Corée du Sud, au Conseil international de PeaceWomen Across the Globe à Berne, en Suisse, et est co-présidente du conseil du Highlander Research and Education Centre à New Market, Tennessee aux États-Unis.
Ses publications récentes incluent « Nation-izing » Coalition and Solidarity Politics for US Anti-militarist Feminists (en presse) ; « No Freedom without Connections: Envisioning Sustainable Feminist Solidarities » (2018) dans Feminist Freedom Warriors : Genealogies, Justice, Politics, and Hope, Chandra Talpade Mohanty et Linda Carty (ed.) ; Between a Rock and Hard Place: Southeast Asian Women Confront Extractivism, Militarism, and Religious Fundamentalisms (2018) ; à « Liberal Arts Colleges Partnering with Highlander Research and Education Center : Intergenerational Learning for Student Campus Activism and Personal Transformation, » numéro spéciale de Feminist Formations (Feminist Social Justice Pedagogy, (2018).
Position
Présidente
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Jacqueline Coulibaly Ki-Zerbo
Jacqueline was a pioneering Malian/Burkinabe feminist, nationalist and educator.
She taught English in Senegal, before being recruited in 1961 as an English teacher at the Lycée Philippe Zinda Kaboré in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Through her activism, she was involved in the popular uprising of January 3, 1966. Between 1961 and 1966, Jacqueline was also responsible for the trade union press, Voices of the Teachers. She was appointed as the head of the Normal Course for Young Girls (now known as Nelson Mandela High School) until 1974, and dedicated herself to girls’ education and advancing women’s rights.
In 1984 she was awarded the Paul G. Hoffmann Award for outstanding work in national and international development.
Before you begin
Before starting the WITM research methodology, it is important you prepare the background and know what to expect.
Capacity
With AWID’s WITM research methodology, we recommend that you first review the entire toolkit.
While this toolkit is designed to democratize WITM research, there are capacity constraints related to resources and research experience that may affect your organization’s ability use this methodology.
Use the “Ready to Go?” Worksheet to assess your readiness to begin your own WITM research. The more questions you can answer on this worksheet, the more prepared you are to undertake your research.
Trust
Before beginning any research, we recommend that you assess your organization’s connections and trust within your community.
In many contexts, organizations may be hesitant to openly share financial data with others for reasons ranging from concerns about how the information will be used, to fear of funding competition and anxiety over increasing government restrictions on civil society organizations.
As you build relationships and conduct soft outreach in the lead-up to launching your research, ensuring that your objectives are clear will be useful in creating trust. Transparency will allow participants to understand why you are collecting the data and how it will benefit the entire community.
We highly recommend that you ensure data is collected confidentially and shared anonymously. By doing so, participants will be more comfortable sharing sensitive information with you.
First step
We also recommend referring to our “Ready to Go?” Worksheet to assess your own progress.
Snippet FEA Georgia's minimum wage (FR)
Le salaire minimum en Géorgie est l’un des plus bas dans le monde. Cette réalité touche surtout les femmes.
Non seulement le pays a un écart de rémunération important entre les genres, mais les femmes travaillent également des heures plus longues et moins réglementées avant de rentrer chez elles pour s'occuper des tâches ménagères et de leur famille. Il n'y a pas de congé de maternité, pas d'augmentation de salaire pour les heures supplémentaires, pas d'assurance-chômage, et pas de congé de maladie ou d'autre protection sociale. Sous la pression d’organisations occidentales, les partis politiques oligarchiques géorgiens ont mis en œuvre des réformes qui détruisent l'État-providence, augmentent les mesures d'austérité et aggravent l'exploitation des travailleur·euses, le tout au profit des grandes entreprises qui applaudissent le pays pour sa «facilité à faire des affaires». Les médias, cooptés par des intérêts privés et corporatifs, sont partiaux sur ces questions ou les réduisent au silence. L'organisation syndicale reste l'une des rares options pour lutter pour les droits humains fondamentaux et pour tenir l'État et les entreprises responsables des violations et persécutions quotidiennes et généralisées contre les travailleur·euses, et en particulier les femmes.
Source: Minimum-Wage et entretien avec Sopo Japaridze dans Open Democracy