Elisabeth Blanche Olofio
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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Chandrika Sharma
Seismic shifts: A year of completion, transition and reflection | Annual report 2017
The past five years have been huge for AWID.
We have contributed to some major victories, like expanding the women’s rights funding landscape with ground-breaking, far-reaching research and advocacy. At the same time, we have experienced some devastating setbacks, including the assassination of Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) like Berta Cacares of Honduras, Gauri Lankesh of India and Marielle Franco of Brazil, as well as the rise of anti-rights mobilizing in human rights spaces.
Five years ago, we committed to our movement-building role by producing knowledge on anti-rights movement trends, as well as on issues that feminists often engage with less, like illicit financial flows. We advocated side by side with our movement partners, strengthening young feminist and inter-generational activism, and expanding the holistic protection of WHRDs. As we close out the strategic plan, we are proud of our accomplishments and our growth as an organization. We end 2017 with renewed commitment, insights and learning for the continued struggle ahead!
CFA 2023 - Call for Activities is live- thai
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ด้วยเจตนารมณ์ของประเด็นสาระหลักของเวทีนี้ เราจึงขอเชิญท่านร่วมเสนอหัวข้อและรูปแบบของกิจกรรม อันหลากหลายซึ่งจะ
- เอื้อให้เกิดการเชื่อมต่อและการมีปฏิสัมพันธ์อย่างแท้จริงระหว่างผู้เข้าร่วมประชุม
- ส่งเสริมการเยียวยาและฟื้นฟูในรูปแบบต่างๆ ทั้งส่วนบุคคล ชุมชน และในขบวนการเคลื่อนไหว
- สร้างแรงบันดาลใจและความท้าทายที่ทำให้เราเติบโตร่วมกันในฐานะชุมชนและขบวนการ เคลื่อนไหว
Zuhour Mahmoud | Snippet FR
Zuhour Mahmoud est la stratège en communication de Kohl. Écrivaine, rédactrice et DJ à ses heures, elle est basée à Berlin. Son travail se concentre sur les approches critiques de la musique, de la technologie et de la politique et sur leurs cycles de vie au sein de la sphère numérique.
Alesha
Anne Marie Coriolan
2020: Annual Report
For many of us, 2020 was an especially challenging year due to the global health pandemic. Feminists and activists rose to the new challenges meeting community needs in innovative ways. Here are 5 highlights of how AWID contributed to feminist co-creation and resistance.
Watch our Annual Report Video below
Forum 2024 - FAQ - Registration EN
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Celluloid Ishtar | Small Snippet
Celluloid Ishtar
When I was 6, I learned that my grandfather owned a movie theater. My mother recounted to me how it had opened in the early 1960s, when she was also about 6 years old. She remembered that they screened The Sound of Music on the first night...
Rebecca Masika Katsuva
Clara Luper
Isabel Marler
Biography
Isabel is a feminist from the United Kingdom with over a decade of experience in feminist responses to fascisms, fundamentalisms, and anti-rights trends. At AWID, her work centers on knowledge-building and has included leading the production of the Rights at Risk series in collaboration with the Observatory on the Universality of Rights (OURs). She holds a Master’s degree in Gender Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and previously worked with Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML). She is passionate about cross-movement work, movement-centered knowledge-building, and the use of creative expression to disrupt systems of oppression. Outside of work, Isabel is active in various disability justice spaces for collective care, learning, and advocacy.
Position
Advancing Universal Rights and Justice Lead
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استنارة بضوء البدر: تجربة “بي دي إس إم” أفريقية COMIC moongirls | Snippet Small AR
استنارة بضوء البدر: تجربة “بي دي إس إم” أفريقية
هل اختبرتم من قبل لحظات من الصفاء الذهني العميق أثناء أو بعد ممارسة الجنس؟
Sherly Montoya
Contenido relacionado
Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura: Honduras: Asesinato de Sherly Montoya, integrante del Grupo de Mujeres Transexuales “Muñecas de Arcoíris”
Leyla Seylemez
Marianne Mesfin Asfaw
Biography
Marianne Mesfin Asfaw es una feminista panafricana dedicada a la justicia social y la construcción de comunidad. Es Licenciada en Estudios de Género y Relaciones Internacionales de la Universidad de Columbia Británica (UBC) y posee una maestría en Estudios de Género y Derecho de la Escuela de Estudios Orientales y Africanos de la Universidad de Londres. Anteriormente, trabajó en administración académica y apoyo para estudiantes internacionales. Asimismo, se desempeñó como investigadora y facilitadora en espacios feministas y sin fines de lucro. También ha trabajado como voluntaria en organizaciones no gubernamentales, incluida Plan International, donde cumplió funciones administrativas. Antes de asumir sus funciones actuales, se desempeñó en logística y apoyo administrativo para AWID. Marianne nació en Etiopía, se crió en Ruanda y, actualmente, reside en Tkaronto/Toronto (Canadá). Le encanta leer, viajar y pasar el tiempo con su familia y amistades. En los meses más cálidos, se la puede ver paseando por barrios conocidos y buscando cafés y librerías desconocidas donde pasar el tiempo.
Position
Coordinadora, Construcción de Economías Feministas
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Disintegration | Content Snippet FR
Mercredi une note arrive
avec une adresse au dos.
17 h, ce soir.
L’écriture sur l’invitation—
frêle et brusque—
je l’ai vue cinq fois en cinq ans.
Mon corps se réveille,
fébrile.
Je dois d’abord me baiser moi-même.
La marée est haute ce soir et
je
jouis.
Je veux tout ralentir,
goûter le temps et l’espace, les graver
en mémoire.
*
Je ne suis jamais allée dans cette partie de la ville auparavant.
Les endroits inconnus m’excitent,
la façon dont les membres et les veines et les os
résistent à la pourriture,
leur sort incertain.
Arrivée à la porte, je réfléchis à deux fois.
Le couloir est tout noir
et ça me fait faire une pause.
De l’autre côté,
un portail d’odeurs et de couleurs
s’ouvre comme une malédiction,
dans un après-midi ensoleillé.
La brise
fait danser mes cheveux,
pique leur curiosité,
les obligent à se déplacer.
J’entends le fauteuil roulant vrombir,
façonnant les ombres.
Puis je les vois :
un visage de lynx
et un corps comme le mien
et je me retrouve à désirer les deux
de nouveau.
La créature me fait signe d’approcher.
Ses gestes écrivent une phrase;
tandis que je m’avance,
je note ses détails :
flétrir, chair, bonheur
À sa commande, la vigne recouvre le couloir
étreignant des pierres chaudes,
serpentant le long du mur.
Cela devient un verbe,
« escalader »,
et je suis réorientée quand leurs griffes pointent
vers le lit de vigne au centre.
J’entends les roues derrière moi,
puis ce son.
Il résonne
comme aucun autre.
Ses longues ailes noires
montent vers le plafond
puis iel se précipite vers l’avant.
La vision féline scrute chaque détail,
chaque changement,
chaque désir.
Le désir peut-il liquéfier vos muscles?
Peut-il agir plus doux que le
plus puissant des tranquillisants?
Un lynx coud le monde
à travers nos différences,
tissant de la dentelle autour de mes genoux.
Le désir peut-il écraser la distance du monde, comprimant les secondes?
Iel se rapproche encore,
oeil de lynx rencontrant oeil humain,
reniflant l’air,
transformant le corps en
urgence.
Iel a battu des ailes.
Remuées,
les vignes s’emmêlent autour de ma taille/de mes pertes.
Sa langue amincit le temps,
terrains mouvants,
apaise, avec sa magie,
ce qui remue dessous.
Je vois le monde en toi,
et le monde est épuisé.
Puis iel plaide :
Laisse-moi me régaler de toi.