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Special Focus

AWID is an international, feminist, membership organisation committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development and women’s human rights

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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Dora Nkem Akunyili

Dora was born in Benue State, Nigeria. She was a globally acclaimed pharmacist, technocrat, erudite scholar and community leader.

Dora’s revolutionary work created a paradigm shift in the Nigerian public service when she served as Director General of National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) from 2001-2008. She spearheaded reforms in policy and regulatory enforcement that radically reduced the measure of fake drugs that plagued the Nigerian pharmaceutical sector during her tenure.

Having exemplified the reality of a courageous, competent woman who challenged the ills of a dominantly patriarchal society and drove change, she became an icon for women’s empowerment. She was appointed the Minister of Information and Communication between 2008 and 2010.

She died after a battle with cancer and is survived by her husband, six children and three grandchildren.


 

Dora Nkem Akunyili, Nigeria

Когда будут доступны результаты опроса?

Мы проанализируем ответы, чтобы получить представление о тенденциях, и представим результаты на 15-м Международном форуме AWID в Бангкоке, а также в режиме онлайн, в декабре 2024 года. Зарегистрируйтесь для участия в Форуме здесь!

Quelles sont les langues parlées au Forum ?

Les langues de travail de l'AWID sont l'anglais, le français et l'espagnol. Le thaï sera ajouté comme langue locale, ainsi que la langue des signes et d'autres mesures d'accessibilité. D'autres langues étant susceptibles d’être ajoutées si le financement le permet, nous vous invitons à consulter régulièrement les mises à jour. La justice linguistique nous tient à cœur et nous essaierons d'inclure autant de langues que possible en fonction de nos ressources. Nous espérons créer de multiples occasions pour que chacun·e d'entre nous puisse s'exprimer dans sa langue et communiquer avec les autres.

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Ghiwa Sayegh Snippet

Ghiwa-Sayegh-Walkthrough

Ghiwa Sayegh is an anarcha-queer writer, independent publisher, and archivist. She is the founding editor of Kohl: a Journal for Body and Gender Research and the co-founder of Intersectional Knowledge Publishers. She has an MA in gender studies from Université Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis. She is passionate about queer theory, transnational circulations, and imagined or unknown histories. Her influences are Audre Lorde and Sara Ahmed.

Privacy and cookies - before 25 Apr 2023

AWID Privacy Policy, Your rights to privacy and cookies

This policy governs all pages hosted at www.awid.org, and any other websites under the control of the AWID (the “Website”) and registrations for these sites. It does not apply to pages hosted by organisations other than AWID, to which we may link and whose privacy policies may differ. Please read the following policy to understand our privacy policy regarding nature, purpose, using and sharing of your personal identifiable information that is collected via this website.

1. Types of information collected on this site

Generally, you can browse this website without submitting your personal information to us. However, in some circumstances, we will ask for your personal information.

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When you are on the website and are asked for personal information, you are sharing that information only with AWID.

1.1.1 The information you provide to get updates from AWID:

When you register to use the website – for example, subscribe to receive emails from us or apply to become a member - you provide us with the mandatory information about you like Name, country, language to receive email updates and email address. This information is provided by you through secure forms and is stored on secure servers.

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Also, while becoming a member or registering for events, you may need to provide payment information. AWID doesn’t store any credit card information on its servers and uses payment gateway to process the payment information.

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When you communicate with AWID, provide optional information through forms on the website or use the site to communicate with other members, we collect information about your communication and any information you choose to provide.

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When you communicate with us, we collect your communication and any other information you choose to provide us.

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In addition, when you interact with the Website, our servers may keep an activity log that does not identify you individually (“Non-Personal Information”). Generally, we collect the following categories of Non-Personal Information:

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For more information about cookies, please see www.allaboutcookies.org.

If you do not wish to receive cookies you can easily modify your web browser to refuse cookies, or to notify you when you receive a new cookie, see how here.

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3. Distribution of information

If you have subscribed to AWID´s e-newsletters or email updates or you have become a member, we will send you regular communications as specified in the relevant area of the website. You are able to unsubscribe from any of the e-newsletters or email updates at any time by using the unsubscribe information provided in our emails.

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The accuracy of your individual identifying information is important to AWID. We are always looking for ways to make it easier for you to review and correct the information that AWID maintains about you through our website. If you change your email address, or if any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, please write to us here.

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Except as explained below, AWID will not disclose any of your personally identifiable information, and will not sell or rent lists containing your information to third parties. AWID may disclose information when it has your permission to do so or under special circumstances, such as when it believes in good faith that the law requires it.

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We are continuously implementing and updating administrative, technical, and physical security measures to help protect your information against unauthorized access, loss, destruction, or alteration. Some of the safeguards we use to protect your information are firewalls and data encryption, and information access controls. If you know or have reason to believe that your AWID membership credentials have been lost, stolen, misappropriated, or otherwise compromised or in case of any actual or suspected unauthorized use of your AWID membership account, please contact us through on Contact Us.

7. Changes to this policy & Contacting us

This policy may change from time to time. The changed policy will be posted on this website and Last updated date at the end of the policy will be updated. There will be an email update sent to you for the revised policy and if you do not agree with the revised policy, you will have the option to cancel you registration(s) with us. You can also write to us here. We welcome your feedback!

Last updated: May 2019

Su’ad Al-Ali

Su’ad fue una firme defensora de los derechos de las mujeres y lxs niñxs y estuvo al frente de Al-Weed Al-Alaiami, una organización de derechos humanos iraquí.

Participó en las manifestaciones que tuvieron lugar en julio de 2018 en Basra y en varias otras ciudades iraquíes, en protesta contra el desempleo y en demanda de trabajo y servicios públicos adecuados para la ciudadanía, y exigiendo también la eliminación de la corrupción generalizada.

Su’ad fue asesinada el 25 de septiembre de 2018, en el barrio de Al-Abbasiyah, en el centro de Basra. En un video del hecho, se veía a una persona que se le acercaba mientras ella se subía a su automóvil, le disparaba un tiro en la parte posterior de la cabeza y apuntaba el siguiente disparo a Hussain Hassan, su chofer, quien resultó herido en un hombro. Al-Ali tenía 46 años y era madre de cuatro hijxs.


 

Su'ad Al Ali, Iraq

Membership why page - Paz Romero

"This community is a place for connections, to understand our individual fights as part of global struggles, and sometimes even dance! There aren’t places like this online where you can meet real grassroots activists from all over the world and build solidarity and sisterhood."

- Paz Romero, Argentina

ours 2021 - chapter 2 fr

Chapitre 2

Comprendre le contexte des menaces antidroits

La montée en puissance des antidroits a préparé son terrain. Nous devons comprendre la montée de l’ultranationalisme, du pouvoir incontrôlé des entreprises, de la répression croissante et de l’amenuisement de l’espace civique pour contextualiser les menaces actuelles contre nos droits.

En lire plus

Snippet Kohl - Panel | Tierras y territorios liberados: una conversación panafricana

Panel | Tierras y territorios liberados: una conversación panafricana

con Luam Kidane, Mariama Sonko, Yannia Sofia Garzon Valencia y Nomsa Sizani

YOUTUBESOUNDCLOUD (inglés)

Sin trabajadorxs domésticxs no hay economía de los cuidados

Un Manifiesto

Como movimientos feministas y sindicales, juntxs en solidaridad, articulamos los siguientes puntos como una visión colectiva de las economías de los cuidados con los derechos de lxs trabajadorxs domésticxs como eje central.

Nuestro manifiesto responde a un contexto complejo:

El trabajo doméstico y de cuidado estuvo en la primera línea de fuego durante y después de la pandemia de COVID-19, al proporcionar los medios para sobrellevar las múltiples crisis globales que se intersectan. El Banco Mundial, el Fondo Monetario Internacional y otras instituciones multilaterales también reconocen la importancia del trabajo doméstico y de cuidados para el sostenimiento de la economía. Sin embargo, vemos que esta atención adopta un enfoque utilitarista (es decir, el trabajo de cuidados contribuye a sostener a la economía "productiva") centrado en el lucro, sin reconocer los cuidados como un derecho humano y un bien público, ni prestar atención a lxs trabajadorxs que realizan la mayor parte de este trabajo.

El manifiesto está disponible en inglés, francés, español, amárico y tailandés.

Descargar el manifiesto completo

Fahmida Riaz

"Después

Después del amor la primera vez,
nuestros cuerpos y mentes desnudas:
un salón de espejos.
Totalmente desarmadxs, íntegramente frágiles,
nos echamos en los brazos del otrx,
respiramos con cuidado,
por miedo  de romper
estas figuras de cristal". - Fahmida Riaz

Fahmida Riaz rompió tabúes sociales al escribir sobre el deseo femenino en su poesía, creó narrativas alternativas sobre el cuerpo y la sexualidad de las mujeres y estableció nuevos estándares en la literatura urdu.

Su trabajo se enfrentó a duras críticas de los frentes conservadores, que la acusaron de utilizar expresiones eróticas y "pornográficas" en su lenguaje poético.

Eventualmente, Fahmida fue  incluida en una lista negra y acusada de sedición en virtud del artículo 124A del Código Penal de Pakistán, durante la dictadura de Zia Ul Haq. Fahmida fue obligada a exiliarse en 1981 y pasó casi siete años en la India antes de regresar a Pakistán.

En el prefacio de "Badan Dareeda" ("El Cuerpo Desgarrado"), una colección de poesía publicada en 1974, escribió:

Si, de hecho, me veo obligada a pararme ante este maqtal hoy y enfrentarme a la horca, debería enfrentarme a ellos con la cabeza bien alta. Mis poemas son el rastro de una cabeza destrozada  de la que emanan sonidos incluso  mientras cuelga de las cuerdas... El cuerpo desgarrado ha tomado la forma de una razmia, o el sonido de la ruptura. Y si tal ruptura  escandaliza a un pueblo, entonces consideremos que la poeta ha logrado su propósito: ha logrado perturbarlos. (Traducción del urdu por Asad Alvi)

La brillantez de Fahmida fue la de desafiar cualquier lógica singular o categoría de género, nación, religión o cultura.  Ella se negó a ser  colocada en el rol de la "mujer poeta",  rompió con las definiciones tradicionales de la poesía y los conceptos y temas femeninos (que van desde la conciencia política, el cuerpo, la cultura, el deseo, la religión, al hogar) y derribó las inhibiciones impuestas a su género.

"Tienes que entender que la cultura no puede tener esencia. Las culturas se mueven, fluyen unas en otras, formando nuevas culturas. La cultura nace de esa manera. No hay choque de culturas".

Fahmida es autora de más de 15 libros de poesía y ficción, incluido su poema "Taaziyati Qaraardaaden" ("Resoluciones de condolencia" - en inglés), que podría servir como un tributo apropiado a su vida y legado, y una colección de poemas (Apna Jurm To Saabit He "Mi crimen está probado") publicado en 1988, durante su tiempo en exilio.

Fahmida Riaz nació en Meerut (India) el 28 de julio de 1946 y falleció el 21 de noviembre de 2018 en Lahore (Pakistán). 

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Chinelo Onwualu Snippet ES

Chinelo Onwualu es una consultora editorial que posee casi 10 años de experiencia en la elaboración de comunicaciones estratégicas para entidades sin fines de lucro de todo el mundo. Algunos de sus clientes han sido ActionAid Nigeria, The BBC World Trust, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) y AWID. Posee una maestría en Periodismo de la Universidad de Siracusa, y ha trabajado como escritora, editora e investigadora en Nigeria, Canadá y Estados Unidos. Es además la editora de no ficción de la revista Anathema y cofundadora de Omenana, una revista de ficción especulativa africana. Sus cuentos se han publicado en diversas antologías galardonadas y ha sido nominada para los Premios Británicos de Ciencia Ficción, el Premio Nommo a la Ficción Africana Especulativa y el Premio Africano del Día de la Narrativa Breve. Es de Nigeria y reside en Toronto con su pareja e hijx.