INTERNATIONAL CONCEPTIONS OF THE FAMILY. Issue 4 (22nd August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Banda, Fareda; Eekelaar, John
• Is Part Of: International and comparative law quarterly. Volume 66:Issue 4(2017)
• Page Start: 833
• Page End: 862
• Publication Date: 2017-08-22
• Subjects: family, -- family life, -- gender discrimination, -- human rights, -- marriage, -- parental relationships, -- same-sex relationships, -- violence against women; International law -- Periodicals; Comparative law -- Periodicals; 340.2
• DOI: 10.1017/S0020589317000288
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0020-5893

Abstract

Abstract: This article examines the evolving way the 'family' and 'family life' have been understood in international and regional human rights instruments, and in the case law of the relevant institutions. It shows how the various structural components which are considered to constitute those concepts operate both between relevant adults and between adults and children. But it also shows that important normative elements, in particular, anti-discrimination norms, operate both to undermine the perception of some structures as constituting 'family', and to modify those structures themselves. This raises the question how far human rights norms should be seen as protecting family units in themselves or the individual members that constitute them.