SRI & WILPF coordinate response to “Protection of the Family” Joint Statement at UN HRC

Published on марта 19, 2014

During the 25th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI) and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) coordinated a response the “protection of the family” joint statement initiated during the session.

The response outlines the dangers associated with initiatives that aim to ‘protect the family.’ The response makes clear that families are often times are also the site of violence, and most often “do not function in a democratic and participatory fashion, but rather in an autocratic and hierarchical manner, with one “head of the family” which is usually the eldest male member of the family, who has the authority to make decisions on the family’s behalf. This kind of patriarchal set up with a paternalistic head who makes decisions for everyone in the family is a situation that is neither unique to any one State, nor is it new.” Therefore “endorsing this “protection of the family” statement moves the Council (and potentially efforts on the ground) backwards from the important advancements that have been made.”

Click here to read the full response.

Protection of the family response