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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Snippet FEA Metzineres activists (FR)
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Des militants de Metzineres en action |
Zarema Sadulayeva
Nous redistribuons une partie de nos fonds à des partenaires bénéficiaires et nous identifions comme un fonds féministe et/ou de femmes, devrions-nous participer à cette enquête?
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Snippet FEA Get Involved 2 (EN)
While in Sao Paulo, Brazil, you can visit the Ocupação 9 de Julho and have a collaborative meal. You can buy their products in their online store from abroad.
Visit the Association of Afro-Descendant Women of the Northern Cauca’s online store where you can find beautiful handcrafted products.
There are several ways to support Metzineres: you can make a financial donation, donate materials and services, or propose a training course, workshop, or activity (for more information, see here).
Faustine Mpanga Mule
Cecilia Loria
What are the WITM official survey languages?
For now, the survey on KOBO is available in Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. You will have the chance to select your language of choice at the beginning of the survey.
What happens to the activity proposals submitted through the CfA?
- Activity proposals will initially be screened by AWID staff.
- Organizers of shortlisted proposals will then be invited to participate in a voting process, to choose among the shortlisted activities. Those with the most votes will be included in the Forum program. AWID may make a few adjustments to the final selection to ensure our program has an adequate balance across regions, constituencies, issues and methodologies.
- Our Forum Content and Methodology Committee will reach out to the organizers of selected proposals to support them in further developing their activities.
We will update the outcomes of this process in the website in due time.
Snippet FEA EoS The Ivy (EN)

The Ivy
Community and neighborhood
Kate Millett
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The Young Feminist Wire
An online community for and by young feminists working on women’s human rights, gender equality and social justice around the world.
The Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs)
The platform is the go-to place for information and resources on safeguarding the universality of rights in international and regional human rights spaces.
The Young Feminist Fund-FRIDA
Provides funding for young feminist-led initiatives. It aims to strengthen the capacity of young feminist organizations to leverage resources for their work and to increase donors’ and allies’ commitments to resourcing young feminist activism.
Online Directory of Urgent Responses for WHRDs
A go-to site to learn about the urgent responses undertaken to protect women human rights defenders and to find tools and resources to support the work and wellness of WHRDs.
IM-Defensoras (Mesoamerican Initiative for Women Human Rights Defenders)
A regional initiative created to prevent, respond, document and make public all cases of violence against women human rights defenders in the Mesoamerican region.
The WHRD International Coalition
The WHRD IC is a resource and advocacy network for the protection and support of women human rights defenders worldwide.
Post-2015 Women´s Coalition
A Coalition of feminist, women´s rights, women´s development, grassroots and social justice organisations working to challenge and reframe teh global development agenda.
Women´s Major Group on Development
The role of the Women’s Major Group is to assure effective public participation of women’s non-governmental groups in the UN policy processes on Sustainable Development, Post2015 and Environmental matters.
Women Working Group on Financing for Development
An alliance of women’s organizations and networks to advocate for the advancement of gender equality, women’s empowerment and human rights in the Financing for Development (FfD) related UN processes.
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Snippet FEA Ecofeminism (ES)
África del Oeste
NOUS SOMMES LA SOLUTION
Somos la Solución
ECOFEMINISMO:
El respeto por todo lo que nos rodea
María Verónica Reina
María era reconocida internacionalmente por su extraordinario liderazgo dentro de la comunidad de personas con discapacidad.
Representó al Consorcio Internacional sobre Discapacidad y Desarrollo (IDDC por su sigla en inglés) durante la negociación de la Convención sobre los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad (2001-2006). Su trabajo estaba dedicado a la implementación del objetivo de la Convención: el goce pleno de los derechos humanos universales por, para y con las personas con discapacidades, en pos de un mundo inclusivo, accesible y sostenible.
En sus propias palabras, su liderazgo consistía en «servir a la comunidad de personas con discapacidad, comenzando por aquellas pequeñas tareas que otrxs pueden no querer realizar».
Falleció el 27 de octubre de 2017 en su ciudad natal de Rosario, Argentina.
En esta nota puede leerse más sobre María Verónica Reina, en sus propias palabras.




