International Day of Families 2019

Get Involved on International Day of Families 

• Attend WLP's online webinar. On May 15th at 11:00 am EDT join WLP partners for a discussion about the global campaign Equality Starts in the Family. Participants will learn about international advocacy efforts, national family equality campaigns in Brazil, Lebanon, Malaysia, and Nigeria and be able to  interact with our webinar panelists. You can register for the webinar here. 
• Share daily info-graphics about inequality in the family. Beginning May 6th, follow WLP on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as we post facts daily about the need for #GenderEqualityinFamily. Share these important facts with your social media networks by downloading our social media kit, download here. 
• Host a film screening. Host a film screening of the WLP documentary  Equality: It's All in the Family at your school or workplace. Download our guide for hosting a film screening by clicking here. 
• Tell your story. Use social media to raise awareness of why we need #Genderequalityinfamily! 
  • We need #genderequalityinfamily because my daughter deserves all the same rights as my son.
  • To achieve gender equality in education, work, and politics, we first need #genderequalityinfamily.
  • #Genderequalityinfamily means that women are entitled to the same rights as men when it comes to inheritance, divorce, and citizenship, marriage, pay, etc.

Why do we need equality in the family?

• Cultural practices and law shape the social structure that perpetuates gender inequality.
• Throughout history and throughout the world, the status of women in the family has been remarkably the same all over the world.
• The structure of the relationship between men and women and boys and girls is hierarchical, top down, and segmented by gender roles. This patriarchal structure has been reproduced and reinforced in almost every aspect of life including education, religion, politics, arts, economics, and beyond. 
• The unequal status within the home is replicated in other areas of human relations in schools, places of worship, politics, and the workplace. 

What are our objectives to achieve gender equality in the family?

• Changing the culturally determined roles and beliefs that perpetuate gender discrimination. It is critical that we examine and amend the ways in which culture and tradition infringe on the rights of women and girls.
• To reform discriminatory family laws that are the foundation of the unequal status of women and girls in the family, community, and society. 

Why International Day of Families? 

• The International Day of Families is observed on the 15th of May every year. The Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 with resolution A/RES/47/237 and reflects the importance the international community attaches to equality and peace in families.