A/HRC/28/40 families who lost their main breadwinner. The impact of economic sanctions on the family was also raised. 22. Several delegations highlighted the importance of the family in their cultures and communities, and its contribution to stability. They outlined some of their achievements in protecting the family through legislation, recognizing it as the natural and fundamental group unit of society, entitled to protection by law. 23. Other delegations reiterated that the diversity of families was recognized in General Assembly and Human Rights Council resolutions and in the legislation of many countries. That diversity could comprise single-parent families formed by choice or resulting from divorce, separation, or death; child-headed households; extended and intergenerational families; and same-sex couples, all of which required different support. They called on the international community to respect that diversity, which should be reflected in familycentred policies and programmes. Several delegations indicated that they had been reluctant to support the holding of the panel discussion, as Human Rights Council resolution 26/11 did not refer to family diversity and the individual rights of family members. 24. Many delegations noted that individuals within families needed and were entitled to protection. They were the rights-holders, not the family, and as such, States bore the primary responsibility to ensure that their rights were adequately protected, no matter what form their family took. Citing the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report entitled “Hidden in Plain Sight”, which drew attention to the violence that could occur within families in all regions of the world, many delegations highlighted the fact that the family was not always the safest place for individuals, especially women, children and the elderly. Specific examples included forcing female victims of sexual assault to marry the perpetrator of the assault, and child, early and forced marriages, which were recognized by the Human Rights Council as violations, abuse or impairment of human rights. 25. Several delegations clarified that States were obliged to promote and provide support to the family in order to ensure that it could undertake its care responsibilities. They indicated that States must consider the social and economic factors, and implement policies that helped provide for a balance between work and family responsibilities. Otherwise, they ran the risk of limiting parents’ ability to take care of their children. They also asserted that particular attention and assistance should be given to families in vulnerable situations, such as single-parent families, poor families with elderly members, families affected by child abuse and domestic violence, same-sex unions and others. 26. One delegation raised the situation of indigenous communities in which there were complex and intricate family kinship systems that often did not fall within the framework of the so-called “nuclear family”. The point was made that the appreciation of family diversity in all its forms went hand in hand with forging strong and productive partnerships with local indigenous communities, in order to ensure that government interventions were tailored, culturally appropriate, genuinely accessible and aimed at achieving the best possible outcome. Panellists were asked whether they had any additional recommendations of ways to ensure that policies relating to families and their members protected the diversity of indigenous and kinship families. 27. Observers highlighted the diversity of families and recalled that States must ensure that children and other family members were not discriminated against because of the form their family took. States and the Human Rights Council were asked to focus on the human rights of individual members of the family, including children. Some observers also drew attention to the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and intersex persons who might be vulnerable to being disowned, abused or forced to undergo involuntary psychological or medical treatment by their families. 7