Dear Colleague,

Since the founding of the United Nations, international law and policy have recognized a preeminent place for marriage and the family as the “natural and fundamental unit of society.”

This Definitions paper will evaluate the ongoing campaign by Western countries to redefine the family internationally and to make homosexual relations equivalent to marriage between a man and a woman. The paper will show how the definition of the family in international law is perfectly adequate and does not need modification.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Oas, Ph.D.
Director of Research

Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) defines the family as “the natural and fundamental group unit of society” and further declares the family as defined is “entitled to protection by society and the State.” This understanding of the UDHR is reflected verbatim in the provisions of major UN human rights treaties, including Article 23 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 10.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the Preamble to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). By virtue of these many provisions in international law, which have jointly achieved universal ratification, the family is a proper subject of human rights and is a bearer of rights in international human rights law..  Read more >>>