how to write a speech about gender based violence

Speech at an event on gender-based violence

EIGE's Director Carlien Scheele delivered this speech at an event on gender-based violence organised by the Venice Office of the Council of Europe on 25 November 2021.

Good morning,

It is good to be here today on the first day of the 2021 Orange the World campaign, launching the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

As you may know, I was working at the Council of Europe before I took up my role as Director of the European Institute for Gender Equality, so I know first-hand of how committed my former colleagues are to eradicating violence against women.

One of the times this was most clear, was when the Istanbul Convention opened for signature. I remember the joy and excitement my colleagues felt, together with the many activists, member state representatives and professionals we had been working with to achieve this goal.

This marked a breaking point, where, after many years of struggle, we could finally place our hopes in a legally binding and far-reaching tool to combat violence against women.

We all recognised how significant this moment was for women and girls experiencing gender-based violence. We finally had detailed guidance on how to how to create a holistic system that would fully protect victims and bring us one step closer to ending their pain and suffering.

We could never have predicted the challenges we would face.  

First, we could not have predicted that we would we will be fighting two pandemics at once: Covid-19 and violence against women. We could not know that Covid-19 would trap women with their abusers, making it difficult for them to seek help and to escape.  

We also could also never have predicted that myths, misunderstandings and disinformation about the concept of gender would spread so quickly, prompting some countries to revoke this groundbreaking treaty.

But even in these challenging times, the power of the Istanbul Convention is unquestionable.

The Convention has loyal allies. Eradicating violence against women is one of the top priorities of the European Union. Right now, the European Commission is drafting new legislation to tackle violence against women across the whole of the EU.

The European Institute for Gender Equality also prides itself on being a strong ally of the Council of Europe.  

In our work on gender-based violence, we focus especially on intimate partner violence, and its most severe form: femicide. We share the Council of Europe’s belief there can be no equality until women and girls are safe in their own homes.

To help EU Member States properly measure intimate partner violence, we have developed 13 indicators to capture the different forms this violence takes. From rape, to psychological abuse, to femicide, our indicators can help EU countries see the real picture when they collect their data.  

On femicide specifically, we have just released a package to help correctly identify such killings, from murders at the hands of intimate partners, to deaths as a result of unsafe abortions. 

Of course, violence against women is about more than solid data. Next year we will be releasing an analysis of how countries try to give justice to the victims of femicide, and highlighting where they need to be doing more.

We also look beyond the police and justice sector in our work. We have carried out interviews with witnesses of intimate partner violence and with professionals working with victims, to understand what makes people take action, and what stops them. This is critical if we want to create a zero tolerance culture to gender-based violence. 

We also respond to ongoing events, and recently published an in-depth analysis of how EU Member States responded to spikes in domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Right now, we are looking at how violence against women is being replicated online, with an analysis of the different ways EU countries are dealing with cyber violence.   

Cyber violence is yet another example of how we cannot predict the future. Despite creating the most comprehensive document we have on combatting violence against women, the drafters of the Istanbul Convention could not anticipate the different ways abusers would use the online sphere to harass and threaten women.  

This shows how important it is to create a society where violence against women is not tolerated – not tolerated by neighbours, by the police, or by the justice system.

None of us are fortune tellers, and we cannot predict everything that will happen in our laws, so we need to erase violence from our culture – from schools, from workplaces and from our media.   

Thank you for working with us to achieve this important goal.  

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In conclusion, I would like emphasize that sexual violence poses an obstacle ...

In conclusion, I would like emphasize that sexual violence poses an obstacle to peace and security. It impedes women from participating in peace and democratic processes and in post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation. As a tool of war it can become a way of life: once entrenched in the fabric of society, it lingers long after the guns have fallen silent. Many women lose their health, livelihoods, husbands, families and support networks as a result of rape. This, in turn, can shatter the structures that anchor community values, and with that disrupt their transmission to future generations. Children accustomed to acts of rape can grow into adults who accept such acts as the norm. This vicious cycle must stop, as we cannot accept a selective zero-tolerance policy. Today's adoption of resolution 1960 (2010), on sexual violence, is an important step in that direction. It is for that reason that Slovenia joined in co-sponsoring it.

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Gender-Based Violence (Violence Against Women and Girls)

Photo: Simone D. McCourtie / World Bank

Gender-based violence (GBV) or violence against women and girls (VAWG), is a global pandemic that affects 1 in 3 women in their lifetime.

The numbers are staggering:

• 35% of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence.
• Globally, 7% of women have been sexually assaulted by someone other than a partner.
• Globally, as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner.
• 200 million women have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting.

This issue is not only devastating for survivors of violence and their families, but also entails significant social and economic costs. In some countries, violence against women is estimated to cost countries up to 3.7% of their GDP – more than double what most governments spend on education.

Failure to address this issue also entails a significant cost for the future.  Numerous studies have shown that children growing up with violence are more likely to become survivors themselves or perpetrators of violence in the future.

One characteristic of gender-based violence is that it knows no social or economic boundaries and affects women and girls of all socio-economic backgrounds: this issue needs to be addressed in both developing and developed countries.

Decreasing violence against women and girls requires a community-based, multi-pronged approach, and sustained engagement with multiple stakeholders. The most effective initiatives address underlying risk factors for violence, including social norms regarding gender roles and the acceptability of violence.

The World Bank is committed to addressing gender-based violence through investment, research and learning, and collaboration with stakeholders around the world.

Since 2003, the World Bank has engaged with countries and partners to support projects and knowledge products aimed at preventing and addressing GBV. The Bank supports over $300 million in development projects aimed at addressing GBV in World Bank Group (WBG)-financed operations, both through standalone projects and through the integration of GBV components in sector-specific projects in areas such as transport, education, social protection, and forced displacement.  Recognizing the significance of the challenge, addressing GBV in operations has been highlighted as a World Bank priority, with key commitments articulated under both IDA 17 and 18, as well as within the World Bank Group Gender Strategy .

The World Bank conducts analytical work —including rigorous impact evaluation—with partners on gender-based violence to generate lessons on effective prevention and response interventions at the community and national levels.

The World Bank regularly  convenes a wide range of development stakeholders  to share knowledge and build evidence on what works to address violence against women and girls.

Over the last few years, the World Bank has ramped up its efforts to address more effectively GBV risks in its operations , including learning from other institutions.

Addressing GBV is a significant, long-term development challenge. Recognizing the scale of the challenge, the World Bank’s operational and analytical work has expanded substantially in recent years.   The Bank’s engagement is building on global partnerships, learning, and best practices to test and advance effective approaches both to prevent GBV—including interventions to address the social norms and behaviors that underpin violence—and to scale up and improve response when violence occurs.  

World Bank-supported initiatives are important steps on a rapidly evolving journey to bring successful interventions to scale, build government and local capacity, and to contribute to the knowledge base of what works and what doesn’t through continuous monitoring and evaluation.

Addressing the complex development challenge of gender-based violence requires significant learning and knowledge sharing through partnerships and long-term programs. The World Bank is committed to working with countries and partners to prevent and address GBV in its projects. 

Knowledge sharing and learning

Violence against Women and Girls: Lessons from South Asia is the first report of its kind to gather all available data and information on GBV in the region. In partnership with research institutions and other development organizations, the World Bank has also compiled a comprehensive review of the global evidence for effective interventions to prevent or reduce violence against women and girls. These lessons are now informing our work in several sectors, and are captured in sector-specific resources in the VAWG Resource Guide: www.vawgresourceguide.org .

The World Bank’s  Global Platform on Addressing GBV in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings  facilitated South-South knowledge sharing through workshops and yearly learning tours, building evidence on what works to prevent GBV, and providing quality services to women, men, and child survivors.  The Platform included a $13 million cross-regional and cross-practice initiative, establishing pilot projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nepal, Papua New Guinea, and Georgia, focused on GBV prevention and mitigation, as well as knowledge and learning activities.

The World Bank regularly convenes a wide range of development stakeholders to address violence against women and girls. For example, former WBG President Jim Yong Kim committed to an annual  Development Marketplace  competition, together with the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) , to encourage researchers from around the world to build the evidence base of what works to prevent GBV. In April 2019, the World Bank awarded $1.1 million to 11 research teams from nine countries as a result of the fourth annual competition.

Addressing GBV in World Bank Group-financed operations

The World Bank supports both standalone GBV operations, as well as the integration of GBV interventions into development projects across key sectors.

Standalone GBV operations include:

• In August 2018, the World Bank committed $100 million to help prevent GBV in the DRC . The Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response Project will reach 795,000 direct beneficiaries over the course of four years. The project will provide help to survivors of GBV, and aim to shift social norms by promoting gender equality and behavioral change through strong partnerships with civil society organizations. 
• In the  Great Lakes Emergency Sexual and Gender Based Violence & Women's Health Project , the World Bank approved $107 million in financial grants to Burundi, the DRC, and Rwanda  to provide integrated health and counseling services, legal aid, and economic opportunities to survivors of – or those affected by – sexual and gender-based violence. In DRC alone, 40,000 people, including 29,000 women, have received these services and support.
• The World Bank is also piloting innovative uses of social media to change behaviors . For example, in the South Asia region, the pilot program WEvolve  used social media  to empower young women and men to challenge and break through prevailing norms that underpin gender violence.

Learning from the Uganda Transport Sector Development Project and following the Global GBV Task Force’s recommendations , the World Bank has developed and launched a rigorous approach to addressing GBV risks in infrastructure operations:

• Guided by the GBV Good Practice Note launched in October 2018, the Bank is applying new standards in GBV risk identification, mitigation and response to all new operations in sustainable development and infrastructure sectors.
• These standards are also being integrated into active operations; GBV risk management approaches are being applied to a selection of operations identified high risk in fiscal year (FY) 2019.
• In the East Asia and Pacific region , GBV prevention and response interventions – including a code of conduct on sexual exploitation and abuse – are embedded within the Vanuatu Aviation Investment Project .
• The Liberia Southeastern Corridor Road Asset Management Project , where sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) awareness will be raised, among other strategies, as part of a pilot project to employ women in the use of heavy machinery. 
• The Bolivia Santa Cruz Road Corridor Project uses a three-pronged approach to address potential GBV, including a Code of Conduct for their workers; a Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) that includes a specific mandate to address any kinds gender-based violence; and concrete measures to empower women and to bolster their economic resilience by helping them learn new skills, improve the production and commercialization of traditional arts and crafts, and access more investment opportunities.
• The Mozambique Integrated Feeder Road Development Project identified SEA as a substantial risk during project preparation and takes a preemptive approach: a Code of Conduct; support to – and guidance for – the survivors in case any instances of SEA were to occur within the context of the project – establishing a “survivor-centered approach” that creates multiple entry points for anyone experiencing SEA to seek the help they need; and these measures are taken in close coordination with local community organizations, and an international NGO Jhpiego, which has extensive experience working in Mozambique.

Strengthening institutional efforts to address GBV  

In October 2016, the World Bank launched the  Global Gender-Based Violence Task Force  to strengthen the institution’s efforts to prevent and respond to risks of GBV, and particularly sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) that may arise in World Bank-supported projects. It builds on existing work by the World Bank and other actors to tackle violence against women and girls through strengthened approaches to identifying and assessing key risks, and developing key mitigations measures to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse and other forms of GBV. 

In line with its commitments under IDA 18 , the World Bank developed an Action Plan for Implementation of the Task Force’s recommendations , consolidating key actions across institutional priorities linked to enhancing social risk management, strengthening operational systems to enhance accountability, and building staff and client capacity to address risks of GBV through training and guidance materials.

As part of implementation of the GBV Task Force recommendations, the World Bank has developed a GBV risk assessment tool and rigorous methodology to assess contextual and project-related risks. The tool is used by any project containing civil works.

The World Bank has developed a Good Practice Note (GPN) with recommendations to assist staff in identifying risks of GBV, particularly sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment that can emerge in investment projects with major civil works contracts. Building on World Bank experience and good international industry practices, the note also advises staff on how to best manage such risks. A similar toolkit and resource note for Borrowers is under development, and the Bank is in the process of adapting the GPN for key sectors in human development.

The GPN provides good practice for staff on addressing GBV risks and impacts in the context of the Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) launched on October 1, 2018, including the following ESF standards, as well as the safeguards policies that pre-date the ESF: 

• ESS 1: Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts;
• ESS 2: Labor and Working Conditions;
• ESS 4: Community Health and Safety; and
• ESS 10: Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure.

In addition to the Good Practice Note and GBV Risk Assessment Screening Tool, which enable improved GBV risk identification and management, the Bank has made important changes in its operational processes, including the integration of SEA/GBV provisions into its safeguard and procurement requirements as part of evolving Environmental, Social, Health and Safety (ESHS) standards, elaboration of GBV reporting and response measures in the Environmental and Social Incident Reporting Tool, and development of guidance on addressing GBV cases in our grievance redress mechanisms.

In line with recommendations by the Task Force to disseminate lessons learned from past projects, and to sensitize staff on the importance of addressing risks of GBV and SEA, the World Bank has developed of trainings for Bank staff to raise awareness of GBV risks and to familiarize staff with new GBV measures and requirements.  These trainings are further complemented by ongoing learning events and intensive sessions of GBV risk management.

Last Updated: Sep 25, 2019

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Improving gender equality will help end violence against women, but it’s only part of the puzzle

Research Fellow, La Trobe University

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Stephanie Lusby is Research Manager with Respect Victoria.

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The spike in reports of women murdered by men this year has prompted widespread conversations across Australia about how we end gender-based violence . Much of this discussion has been about the importance of creating a more gender-equal society.

This then spurred conversations about the “ Nordic paradox ”. This theory questions why countries closer to achieving gender equality still report high rates of violence against women.

Countries such as Iceland elect more women to parliament, have more equitable parental leave policies and better pay parity, but have rates of violence similar to ostensibly less gender-equal countries.

At first glance, this seems an interesting contradiction. However, research informing Australian approaches is clear. These forms of gender parity are important, but they’re not enough to prevent violence against women on their own.

What is Australia doing?

In Australia, there’s a large focus on primary prevention, or stopping violence happening in the first place. This work happens alongside other prevention efforts that ensure perpetrators are helped to change their behaviour and keep survivors safe. This continuum is often talked about as fitting into three categories of effort : primary, secondary and tertiary prevention.

Primary prevention means changing the social conditions that allow gender-based violence to occur. This requires comprehensive effort across every setting where we live, work, play and learn, to address the gendered drivers of violence and the reinforcing factors that can make this violence more severe.

Secondary prevention, also called early intervention, aims to support people ( predominantly men ) who have used violence (or are at risk of doing so) from perpetrating further harm. Tertiary prevention is also referred to as crisis response. This category supports victim-survivors to get help, such as safe housing and emergency funds when escaping violence. It also includes men’s behaviour change programs and law and justice responses to perpetrators.

Work to address the gendered drivers of violence happens across all these categories. However, Australia’s National Plan to end violence against women rightly emphasises the importance of dedicated attention to primary prevention. Most primary prevention efforts in Australia draw on international evidence reviews , developed by Our Watch into a framework called Change the Story . This sets out four categories of gendered drivers of violence against women:

condoning of violence against women

men’s control of decision-making and limits to women’s independence in public and private life

rigid gender stereotyping and dominant forms of masculinity

male peer relations and cultures of masculinity that emphasise aggression, dominance and control.

Layers of complexity

Violence against women is a complex, multi-layered problem. These four categories overlap with drivers of other forms of structural discrimination. Ableism , colonialism and racism and heteronormativity and cisnormativity (building society around the idea that heterosexual and cisgender people are the norm) all add complexity.

Change the Story also highlights additional factors to consider, such as heavy alcohol use or backlash to gender equality.

Alone, these do not necessarily cause gender-based violence, but they do reinforce the likelihood that violence will occur or cause significant harm.

All these dynamics shape how gender-based violence is perpetrated and experienced by different cohorts of the community. Addressing these different needs, therefore, should be tailored and comprehensive.

This is already happening in many areas. Programs in faith-based organisations and different diasporic communities , women’s health networks and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations take this approach. So too do programs led by people with disability and those in LGBTQIA+ communities.

Measuring the wrong things

Primary prevention calls on everyone to help change social norms, while not losing sight of the need for broader structural change.

The multifaceted nature of these strategies means measuring success based only on the data used to construct the Nordic paradox is like critiquing a theatre performance purely on the set design. It’s important, but you must also consider the efforts of the playwrights, actors and directors when deciding whether the play is a success.

Studies used to inform the Nordic paradox report on measures of gender equality where progress is easier to track across more countries. Measures include who is accessing education and health services, who is going to work, who is in parliament, how much people are paid, and what laws are in place.

These play an important role in progressing efforts on the ground. Reducing structural barriers to things like women’s financial security, for example, makes a tangible difference.

However, such broad metrics can’t tell us how individual people react to such changes. They don’t provide insight into how reforms are administered and taken up. They don’t reveal whether men think violence against women is a problem or how people think they should behave in intimate relationships. Nor do they say anything about how men think about consent or pornography , or how men talk to each other about women.

Piecing the puzzle together

In Australia, there are different studies that build a more nuanced picture of progress to address all the drivers. These exist alongside tracking progress towards gender parity across measures considered in the Nordic paradox.

We measure change over time in attitudes towards gender equality and violence against women across Australia. There’s also work considering how men’s endorsement of harmful masculine norms shapes their attitudes towards women and gender-diverse people. This research provides crucial insight into where change is happening at a national level.

We also need to understand how and why progress is (or isn’t) made locally. We need to consider the effectiveness of all prevention initiatives, including respectful relationships education , equitable parenting initiatives and digital campaigns . We need more research to understand how, why and by whom violence is perpetrated .

We then need to bring all these separate pieces together to complete the puzzle. What’s the cumulative impact of all these programs and services, and how do they work together?

This kind of evaluation is a work in progress for Australia . However, we know from international examples that they can demonstrate powerful change .

Ending gender-based violence requires complex strategies informed by an evolving evidence base. This must include more than high-level gender parity measures.

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You are here, speaking out about gender-based violence.

One of the most destructive weapons in the assault against the family today is that of gender-based violence and Mothers’ Union is joining in the fight against it

Violence or abuse perpetrated against women and girls, because of their gender, destroys lives. It rips families apart, devastates communities and perpetuates the continued oppression of one half of the world’s population. The scale of gender-based violence is simply staggering. In many contexts, gender-based violence is scarcely spoken of, being considered a taboo subject; however the impact of remaining silent about it is devastating. Silence allows gender-based violence to continue unabated, as well as condemning those affected to a voiceless and isolated existence. Speaking out is essential in order to: challenge societal attitudes and myths that allow gender-based violence to persist; ensure that survivors know they are not alone, and can access help, justice and healing; and to place pressure on governments and those in authority to take necessary action to combat it. Mothers’ Union around the world has been increasingly vocal in speaking out against gender-based violence, and our message is very simple: we are calling for the number of women affected by gender-based violence across the world to be reduced from one in three to zero.

16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE

Mothers’ Union participates in the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign, which runs from 25 November to 10 December each year. During the campaign, Mothers’ Union members call for an end to gender-based violence through various awareness-raising activities and practical projects. During 16 Days of Activism last year, many members held prayer vigils in order to raise awareness within their communities, show solidarity with those affected and bring the issue before God. In the Province of All Ireland, Mothers’ Union held 15 vigils simultaneously and gained some excellent media coverage. Members in Australia took part in a demonstration and, globally, members took to social media to raise awareness and call with a loud voice for an end to gender-based violence.

SPEAKING OUT FOR CHANGE

To mark the start of 16 Days, Mothers’ Union held a ground-breaking conference at Mary Sumner House (Head Office) in London, which looked at ways forward in tackling gender-based violence. The conference included high profile speakers from organisations such as Age International, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Revenge Porn Helpline, and was attended by a wide range of participants including academics, volunteers, and professionals working in the field. Minister for Women, Equalities and Family Justice, Caroline Dinenage, also sent an opening statement, acknowledging the valuable work of Mothers’ Union in this area. Further afield, Mothers’ Union in Rwanda held a conference on sexual violence and HIV, which was attended by representatives from the church as well as government ministers.

HEAR OUR VOICE

While campaigns such as 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence are key in providing a co-ordinated worldwide response, we know that gender-based violence does not stop after the 16th day. Mothers’ Union works throughout the year, raising awareness throughout the 83 countries in which we operate. Mothers’ Union has also lobbied for political change at United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW), a forum for UN member states to address the issues that disadvantage women and girls around the world. This is a unique platform through which to influence the international community, and ensure that governments around the world remain committed to addressing the issue of gender-based violence. Mothers’ Union has worked alongside government delegations from several countries over the past 16 years, and will be attending UNCSW in 2016, to ensure that the voice of Mothers’ Union members, and of all women affected by gender-based violence, is represented.

PREVENTION THROUGH ADVOCACY

Throughout the year Mothers’ Union works alongside partner organisations such as Restored and We Will Speak Out, and lobbies political figures around the world to end gender-based violence. In particular, Mothers’ Union is calling for: prevention of gender-based violence through education and awareness raising; legislation that protects women and girls from, and criminalises, all forms of gender-based violence; adequate provision of services for survivors of gender-based violence; and the rehabilitation of perpetrators.

In the words of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. ‘there is one universal truth, applicable to all countries, cultures and communities: violence against women is never acceptable, never excusable, never tolerable.’ (UN 2008) We know that we can stay silent no longer about gender-based violence, and while there is breath in our lungs we will speak out!

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World Speech Day Women is one of 1000 organizations across the globe whose bold financial, policy and program commitments culminated in the announcement of an unprecedented $40 Billion in commitments at the Generation Equality Forum in Paris.

Commitment-making organizations are from every sector of society – government, civil society, youth-led organizations, private sector, international organizations, and others.

As a Commitment Maker focusing on the theme of Feminist Movements and Leadership, WSD Women’s vision and activities align with that of UN Women to help advance Gender Equality by 2030.

World Speech Day Women forms an integral component of World Speech Day. Inspired by the activities set in motion on International Women’s Day 2020, we strive to be an immanent part of global conversations and actions seeking to champion gender equality.

World Speech Day Women’s vision, like the other facets of World Speech Day, seeks to empower women with a space to share their thoughts and ideas for a better world. Primarily, we embrace this through the power of speech making or ‘using our voices as catalysts for change’. Of course, the value of the written word cannot be underestimated and is also encouraged.

Women who support and uplift one another, women who take charge of their own circumstances and destiny, women and men who can offer support, guidance, and direction should be heard!

WSD Women encourages men and women to collaborate and connect to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. From featuring engaging dialogues, podcasts, and articles that are intended to motivate and inspire women; to the sharing of tools that address gender-based violence; and men who are taking a stand on toxic masculinity – we are constantly exploring new issues to feature.

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women across the globe heeded our call to pivot as a result of COVID-19 and demonstrate what we know to be the strength of women – adaptability and flexibility. They illustrated this by utilising this platform to inspire and empower other women in a time of uncertainty, despair, and turmoil by honing in on their wisdom, experience, insights, and expertise to offer value to others in this time.

The result – the World Speech Day Women #GenerationEquality Podcast Series!

In 2021, the second Podcast Series was launched. WSD Women has partnered with the International Women’s Federation of Commerce and Industry Singapore for the BRIM (Sustainability in Business, Relationships In Business, Image/Branding, and Mental Attitude) Podcast Series – in anticipation of the Global Women’s Trade Summit taking place in Singapore in September 2022.  WSD Women supports the empowerment of women in business and the workforce as a pivotal part of advancing Gender Equality.

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Our collaborations have seen various groups of women engaging in numerous virtual gatherings from chat room series, podcasts, dialogue series and skills development.

Our community of women share and inspire while nurturing their own skills.

WSD Women Tech2EndGVB Campaign  

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Phambano Technology Development Centre

For  #16DaysOfActivism2020 , our World Speech Day Women  #Tech2EndGBV Digital Literacy Campaign speakers joined many individuals and groups around the world raising their voices against Gender-Based Violence and by sharing the valuable digital literacy tools provided by Phambano Technology. This campaign encapsulates what World Speech Day is about – using our voices for causes and sharing ways to make this world a better place.

International Women’s Day 2023

World Speech Day Women is a proud United Nations Women Generation Equality Action Coalition Commitment Maker – promoting advocacy under the theme of Feminist Movements and Leadership. Our International Women’s Day 2023 Virtual Event is intended to reflect our commitment to amplifying the voices of individuals, organisations, and causes making significant strides in advancing gender equality through their work. A number of speakers aligned their presentations to the UN Women’s theme for #IWD2023 which is ‘DigitALL:  Innovation and technology for gender equality’. Men and women share their experiences and solutions for achieving gender equality. WSD Women continues to #PowerOn as we support #unwomen in its efforts to catayse urgent and sustained action to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

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Young African Leaders Initiative

Talking about what happens behind closed doors is hard and uncomfortable. However, having those conversations can change – and even save – lives. To help women and girls create a violence-free future, Africa4Her is focused on encouraging community discussions on gender-based violence (GBV).

The United Nations estimates that 35% of women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a non-partner at some point in their lives. As many as 70% of women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner, according to the same study. Behind these numbers are real women and girls, and behind those women and girls are communities that can create change. Communities that know about the effects of GBV can better address it.

Here are some tips on organizing a community discussion on GBV:

1. Reach a young audience. Today’s boys and girls will be tomorrow’s leaders. This guide walks you through how to plan a community dialogue to learn about the types and effects of gender-based violence. While reaching children at a young age is powerful in sharing values that contribute to a violence-free future, consider what particular demographics you want at your dialogue. These are great opportunities for everyone.

You can work with a church, school, or social group to plan a dialogue. Then, begin advertising it to your selected audience. Where and how you advertise the event will help ensure you reach the intended audience.

2. Establish ground rules. Before kicking off your dialogue, make sure to set some ground rules. For example, ask participants to be respectful, use appropriate language and stay aware of others’ feelings. You can also ask that people only share from their own perspectives so no one makes assumptions about others’ lives. Be sure to follow a facilitation guide to help structure the conversation. If you know your audience will be composed mainly of children, ask participants to raise their hands before speaking — something children will be familiar with from school.

3. Screen a video. One great way to facilitate conversation is by showing a video and then asking audience members to share how the video made them feel. A great place to start is with the new YALI “ What is Gender-Based Violence? ” video vignettes. Come prepared with your facilitation guide and have a few hypothetical, open-ended questions ready to spark discussion if the audience is hesitant about speaking.

4. Share your goals. Women and girls around the world have far-reaching dreams, and gender-based violence often gets in the way. Throughout the discussion, be sure to share your goals and encourage others to do the same. Some participants might be surprised to learn how much they have in common.

5. Look to the future. As the event concludes, encourage participants to go out in their communities and talk to their friends and family about gender-based violence — what it is, how it affects society and what they can do to address it.

It’s up to each one of us to make the world a better place. Having a community discussion can mobilize a whole neighborhood to work to end GBV.

The time is now to get out there and start the conversation, one community event at a time.

Learn how you can take a stand against gender-based violence on our Africa4Her page.

The views and opinions expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the YALI Network or the U.S. government. 

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Violence against women must stop; five stories of strength and survival

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Conflicts, humanitarian crises and increasing climate-related disasters have led to higher levels of violence against women and girls (VAWG), which has only intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing into sharp focus the urgent need to stem the scourge.

Globally, nearly one-in-three women have experienced violence, with crises driving the numbers even higher.

Gender-based violence (GBV), the most pervasive violation of human rights, is neither natural, nor inevitable, and must be prevented.

Marking the 16 Days of Activism to combat violence against women and girls, UN Women is showcasing the voices of five survivors, each of whose names has been changed to protect their identity. Be forewarned that each character sketch includes descriptions of gender-based violence.

‘Convinced’ she would be killed

From the Argentine province of Chaco, 48-year-old mother of seven, Diana suffered for 28 years before finally deciding to separate from her abusive partner.

“I wasn't afraid that he would beat me, I was convinced that he would kill me,” she said.

At first, she hesitated to file a police complaint for fear of how he might react, but as she learned more about the services provided by a local shelter, she realized that she could escape her tormentor. She also decided to press charges.

Living with an abusive father, her children also suffered psychological stress and economic hardship.

Leaving was not easy, but with the support of a social workers, a local shelter and a safe space to recover, Diana got a job as an administrative assistant in a municipal office.

Accelerate gender equality

• Violence against women and girls is preventable.
• Comprehensive strategies are needed to tackle root causes, transform harmful social norms, provide services for survivors and end impunity.
• Evidence shows that strong, autonomous women’s rights movements are critical to thwarting and eliminating VAWG.
• The  Generation Equality Forum  needs support to stem the VAWG violence.

“I admit that it was difficult, but with the [mental health] support, legal aid and skills training, I healed a lot,” she explained.

Essential services for survivors of domestic violence are a lifeline.

“I no longer feel like a prisoner, cornered, or betrayed. There are so many things one goes through as a victim, including the psychological [persecution] but now I know that I can accomplish whatever I set my mind to”.

Diana is among 199 women survivors housed at a shelter affiliated with the Inter-American Shelter Network, supported by UN Women through the  Spotlight Initiative  in Latin America. The shelter has also provided psychosocial support and legal assistance to more than 1,057 women since 2017.

Diana’s full story is  here .

Survivor now ‘excited about what lies ahead’

Meanwhile, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept through Bangladesh, triggering a VAWG surge, many shelters and essential services shut down

Romela had been married to a cruel, torturous man.

“When I was pregnant, he punched me so hard I ended up losing my baby...I wanted to end my life”, she said.

She finally escaped when her brother took her to the  Tarango  women’s shelter, which in partnership with UN Women, was able to expand its integrated programme to provide safe temporary accommodations, legal and medical services, and vocational training to abused women who were looking for a fresh start.

Living in an abusive relationship often erodes women’s choices, self-esteem and potential. Romela had found a place where she could live safely with her 4-year-old daughter.

Opening a new chapter in her life, she reflected, “other people always told me how to dress, where to go, and how to live my life. Now, I know these choices rest in my hands”.

 “ I feel confident, my life is more enjoyable ,” said the emancipated woman.

Tarango  houses 30–35 survivors at any given time and delivers 24/7 services that help them recover from trauma, regain their dignity, learn new skills, and get job placement and a two-month cash grant to build their economic resilience.

“Our job is to make women feel safe and empowered, and to treat them with the utmost respect and empathy,” said Programme Coordinator Nazlee Nipa.

Click  here  for more on her story.

Uphill battle with in-laws

Goretti returned to western Kenya in 2001 to bury her husband and, as dictated by local culture, remained in the family’s homestead.

“But they wouldn’t give me food. Everything I came with from Nairobi – clothes, household items – was taken from me and divided between the family,” she recounted.

For nearly 20 years after her husband’s death, Goretti was trapped in a life of abuse until her in-laws they beat her so badly that she was hospitalized and unable to work.

Afraid to go to law enforcement, Goretti instead reached out to a local human rights defender, who helped her get medical attention and report the case to the local authorities.

They wouldn’t give me food. Everything...was taken from me and divided between the family – Survivor

However, she quickly discovered that her in-laws had already forged with the police an agreement in her name to withdraw the case.

“But I cannot even write”, Goretti said.

Human rights defenders in Kenya are often the first responders to violations, including GBV. Since 2019, UN Women and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights ( OHCHR ) have been supporting grass-roots organizations that provide legal training and capacity-building to better assist survivors.

In addition to reporting the issue to local police and the courts, human rights defender Caren Omanga, who was trained by one of these organizations, also contacted the local elders.

“I was almost arrested when confronting the officer-in-charge”, Ms. Omanga explained. But knowing that the community would be against Goretti, she started “the alternative dispute-resolution process, while pushing the case to court”.

Finally, with her case settled out of court, Goretti received an agreement granting her the property and land title that she had lost in her marriage dowry, and the perpetrators were forced to pay fines to avoid prison.

“It is like beginning a new life after 20 years, and my son is feeling more secure… I’m thinking of planting some trees to safeguard the plot and building a poultry house”, she said.

Read Goretti’s story in its entirety  here.

Raising consciousness

In Moldova, sexual harassment and violence are taboo topics and, fearing blame or stigmatization, victims rarely report incidents.

At age 14, Milena was raped by her boyfriend in Chisinau. She was unaware that her violation was a sexual assault and continued to see her abuser for another six months before breaking up. Then she tried to forget it.

“This memory was blocked, as if nothing happened”, until two years later, upon seeing an Instagram video that triggered flashbacks of her own assault, she said.

Almost one-in-five men in Moldova have sexually abused a girl or a woman, including in romantic relationships, according to  2019 research  co-published by UN Women.

Determined to understand what had happened to her, Milena learned more about sexual harassment and abuse, and later began raising awareness in her community.

Last year, she joined a UN Women youth mentorship programme, where she was trained on gender equality and human rights and learned to identify abuse and challenge sexist comments and harassment.

Milena went on to develop a self-help guide for sexual violence survivors , which, informed by survivors aged 12 – 21, offers practical guidance to seek help, report abuse, and access trauma recovery resources.

Against the backdrop of cultural victim-blaming, which prevents those who need it from getting help, the mentoring programme focuses on feminist values and diversity, and addresses the root causes of the gender inequalities and stereotypes that perpetuate GBV and discrimination.

“The programme has shown that youth activism and engagement is key to eliminating gender inequalities in our societies”, explained Dominika Stojanoska, UN Women Country Representative in Moldova.

Read more about Milena  here .

Support survivors, break the cycle of violence

A 2019 national survey revealed that only three-out-of-100 sexual violence survivors in Morocco report incidents to the police as they fear being shamed or blamed and lack trust in the justice system.

Layla began a relationship with the head of a company she worked for. He told her he loved her, and she trusted him.

“But he hit me whenever I disagreed with him. I endured everything, from sexual violence to emotional abuse…he made me believe that I stood no chance against him”, she said.

Pregnant, unmarried and lonely, Layla finally went to the police.

To her great relief, a female police officer met her, and said that there was a solution.

“I will never forget that. It has become my motto in life. Her words encouraged me to tell her the whole story. She listened to me with great care and attention”, continued Layla.   

She was referred to a local shelter for single mothers where she got a second chance.

Two years ago, she gave birth to a daughter, and more recently completed her Bachelor’s Degree in mathematics.

“I was studying while taking care of my baby at the single mother’s shelter”, she said, holding her daughter’s hand. 

UN Women maintains that building trust and confidence in the police is an integral part of crime prevention and community safety.

When professionally trained police handle GBV cases, survivors are more likely to report abuse and seek justice, health and psychosocial  services  that help break the cycle of violence while sending a clear message that it is a punishable crime.

Over the past few years, the General Directorate of National Security, supported by UN Women, has restructured the national police force to better support women survivors and prevent VAWG.

Today, all 440 district police stations have dedicated personnel who refer women survivors to the nearest specialized unit.

“It takes a lot of determination and courage for women to ask the police for support”, said Saliha Najeh, Police Chief at Casablanca Police Unit for Women Victims of Violence, who, after specialized training through the UN Women programme, now trains her police officers to use a survivor-centred approach in GBV cases.  

As of 2021, 30 senior police officers and heads of units have been trained through the programme.

“Our role is to give survivors all the time they need to feel safe and comfortable, and for them to trust us enough to tell their story”, she said.

Prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Morocco has also expanded channels for survivors to report and access justice remotely through a 24-hour toll-free helpline, an electronic complaints mechanism, and online court sessions.

Click  here  for the full story.

These stories were originally published by UN Women.

• violence against women
• gender-based violence

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United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally 2022

The U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally elevates the human rights of women and girls globally as a U.S. national security, diplomatic, and foreign assistance priority. 

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• Introduction

The United States believes that preventing and responding to gender-based violence around the world is a matter of human rights, justice, equity, and equality.  In 2012, the U.S. Congress first requested a “multi-year strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls,” which led to the development of the first U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally .  This strategy, and the subsequent update in 2016, elevated the human rights of women and girls globally as a U.S. national security, diplomatic, and foreign assistance priority.  Ten years later, our commitment to this issue remains steadfast and our knowledge of best and promising practices has grown.  Nonetheless, gender-based violence remains all too common around the world, including in the United States.

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The global context in which we find ourselves today is different from a decade ago.  New challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, have exacerbated the “shadow pandemic” of gender-based violence around the world.  At the same time, the growing role of technology in daily life has led women, girl, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) human rights defenders to face targeted violence.  Climate-related migration and displacement has led to exacerbated risks of gender-based violence, and conflict-related sexual violence remains persistently high.  As women, girls, and LGBTQI+ individuals around the world face new risks, we need to reassess our policy and diplomatic and programmatic strategies to address these challenges.  At the same time, many challenges identified in the 2012 version of this strategy continue to require attention.  The prevalence of gender-based violence remains high, justice and healing for survivors and accountability for perpetrators are often lacking, and the grassroots organizations working to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in their communities too often lack sufficient funding to do so.

With this third iteration of the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally , we seek to:  advance equity and inclusivity and address the factors that increase the risks of gender-based violence and undermine access to services and safety, particularly for the most marginalized groups; support comprehensive approaches for addressing gender-based violence priorities across a range of thematic areas; and strengthen the commitment and work of the U.S. government to scale what works, enhance our partnerships, and improve our capacity to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.

The Strategic Challenge

Defining gender-based violence.

Gender-Based Violence is any harmful threat or act directed at an individual or group based on actual or perceived sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sex characteristics, sexual orientation, and/or lack of adherence to varying socially constructed norms around masculinity and femininity. Although individuals of all gender identities may experience gender-based violence, women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals face a disproportionate risk of gender-based violence across every context due to their unequal status in society.

• Drivers and Contexts

Gender-based violence is a human rights abuse, a form of discrimination, a manifestation of unequal power, and a public health crisis in the United States and globally. Gender-based violence is rooted in structural gender inequalities, patriarchy, and power imbalances. It has direct and indirect costs to individuals; families; communities; economies; global public health; development; and human, national, and regional security. Gender-based violence is a systemic global problem: it occurs in every country and level of society. It happens in public and private settings, including the home, work environments, transit, educational settings, and schools; criminal justice settings, including correctional facilities; the military and security sector; and digital and online spaces. Members of some populations face overlapping forms of discrimination that put them at an even higher risk of experiencing gender-based violence, including Indigenous peoples; historically marginalized racial and ethnic populations; religious minority populations; LGBTQI+ persons; persons with disabilities; older persons and widows; children and youth; low-wage and informal sector workers; migrants, refugees, and internally displaced peoples; and persons in fragile and conflict-affected states.

• Types of Gender-Based Violence

Gender-based violence is characterized by the use or threat of physical, psychological, sexual, economic, legal, political, social, and other forms of control, coercion, and/or violence. It can occur across the life course and is perpetrated by a diverse array of actors, including intimate partners; family members; persons in positions of power, authority, or trust; friends; acquaintances; or strangers. Types of gender-based violence include: child, early, and forced marriage; child sexual abuse; female genital mutilation/cutting; gender-related killing of women and girls, including “femicide” and female infanticide; so-called “honor”-based violence, including acid attacks and killings; some forms of human trafficking; intimate partner violence, including domestic and dating violence; reproductive coercion, including forced sterilization; sexual exploitation and abuse; sexual harassment; stalking; all forms of sexual violence, including sexual coercion, conflict-related sexual violence, rape (including marital rape; so-called “corrective” rape related to actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression; and rape as a weapon of war), and forced or coerced physical examinations (including virginity testing); and all forms of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, including gendered online harassment and abuse. Other types of violence that can be gender-based include: abandonment; bias-motivated violence or hate crimes; bullying; child abuse, including corporal punishment; elder abuse; and so-called “conversion” therapy practices that seek to change or suppress a person’s gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or sex characteristics. The prevalence of different types of gender-based violence varies across contexts and over time.

Setting the Scene

Promoting gender equity and equality is a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy and our commitment to advancing human rights globally.  The advancement of women and girls in particular is a moral imperative and is in the strategic national interest of the United States and our global partners.  This prioritization increases the likelihood that we will be effective stewards in achieving international peace, economic prosperity, stability, and sustainable development.  The prevalence of gender-based-violence around the world remains one of the primary barriers to achieving these goals.

Historically, diplomatic activities, programming, and research on gender-based violence have focused largely on women and girls.  Indeed, prevalence data consistently indicates that women and girls around the world experience disproportionately high rates of gender-based violence throughout the life course.  Women and girls are not equally represented or included in political processes and other foreign policy and development objectives.  Additionally, emerging knowledge suggests that members of additional groups or sub-groups may also be at acute risk of experiencing gender-based violence.  We recognize that gender-based violence affects people of all genders:  women and girls, including transgender women and girls; gender nonbinary and gender nonconforming people; as well as men and boys.

• Prevalence of Gender-Based Violence

The global prevalence of gender-based violence is vast, and estimates of global gender-based violence widely acknowledge a systematic underreporting.  The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 1 in 3 women worldwide has been subjected to intimate partner violence and/or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime 1 .  Over 650 million women alive today were married before the age of 18, and every year an additional 12 million girls are married before their 18th birthday 2 .  At least 200 million women and girls in the world today have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting across 30 different countries 3 , including in the United States 4 .  Global prevalence data is limited for other types of gender-based violence, such as forced sterilization, technology-facilitated gender-based violence, or gender-based violence against members of specifically targeted groups, such as LGBTQI+ persons.  However, growing research indicates that these forms of gender-based violence are also pervasive and harmful in their impacts.

• Consequences of Gender-Based Violence

Gender-based violence exists in the Global North and the Global South; in high-, middle-, and low-income countries; and across different religions, ethnicities, and social classes.  Research shows that countries with higher rates of gender-based violence suffer more frequently from conflict, instability, lack of adherence to the rule of law, low educational attainment, economic underdevelopment, and health crises, among other challenges.  In 2016, the global cost of violence against women was estimated at 2% of global GDP, or $1.5 trillion 5 .  Unfortunately, no groups are immune to this scourge.  Moreover, gender-based violence negatively impacts even those individuals who are not immediately targeted, including children, other family members, and broader communities, and its impacts reverberate over time, causing intergenerational trauma and related adverse consequences.  It creates constraints and chilling effects for women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals, hindering their full inclusion in society, including private, civic, market, and digital spheres.

Gender-based violence reflects and reinforces structural inequalities at global, regional, national, and local levels.  Members of marginalized populations 6 , especially women and girls, are disproportionately targeted with gender-based violence.  In turn, other forms of marginalization are exacerbated by gender-based violence, in part due to negative physical and mental health consequences; disrupted education; lost wages and barriers to advancement in formal and informal economies; familial or community ostracization; barriers to accessing services; and lack of access to justice.

Impunity for perpetrators of gender-based violence remains all too common.  In many contexts, gender-based violence is normalized and seen as an intractable part of life.  Moreover, social institutions including families, workplaces, the digital arena, public spaces, educational settings, and religious institutions can create the conditions in which acts of gender-based violence are either tolerated or sanctioned.  Despite these formidable challenges, over the last several decades the global community and grassroots advocates have advanced efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence so that all people can live peaceful lives free from such violence.  The United States continues to be a key partner in advancing these efforts.

• Current Context

In the decade since the first U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally was released, there have been profound changes in the world.  The #MeToo movement generated a renewed global recognition of how widespread and normalized gender-based violence is in the lives of women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals globally.  Brave survivors, journalists, and media outlets have helped foster a reckoning within the global community about gender-based violence, including sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by aid workers within both humanitarian and development contexts.  Furthermore, a renewed global recognition of the enduring impacts of racism and colonialism has reinvigorated public discussions about violence and ongoing discrimination against members of racial and ethnic minority communities, including some by law enforcement agencies, which undermines access to justice for survivors from these communities.  Even as public awareness of gender-based violence has increased, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing barriers and forms of inequality that many people around the world face because of their gender, created conditions that increase the risk of gender-based violence for members of many populations, and simultaneously decreased access to lifesaving response services.  The second-order impacts of this global shock will be felt for years to come.  Nations and communities are also facing increasing violent conflicts, humanitarian crises, food security crises, and natural disasters that exacerbate gender inequalities and gender-based violence risks, often in connection with climate change.  Finally, many nations are also facing increasing levels of political polarization and extremism, authoritarianism, and related rollbacks of rights for women, LGBTQI+ persons, and other marginalized communities.  These and other trends, including online harassment, abuse, and disinformation (including gendered disinformation) circulating in the digital sphere, shrink the space for civic and political discourse and participation.  Together and apart, these conditions create formidable obstacles to preventing and responding to gender-based violence and serve as a stark reminder of the urgent need to act.

The United States continues to advance efforts domestically to prevent and address gender-based violence.  While progress has been made after more than four decades of federal and state legislation and investments, especially in efforts to address sexual violence and intimate partner violence, our own rates of gender-based violence remain high.  Thus, we recognize that our global anti-violence efforts must work in tandem with those on the domestic front.  The United States will soon release the first U.S. National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.  These policies reflect our ongoing commitment to advance this work across both U.S. foreign and domestic policy.  These policies build on the key priorities established in the U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality and outline a plan to fully integrate gender-based violence throughout foreign policy, development, and national security decision-making.

Building on an Existing Foundation

• Policy Framework

Over the past three decades, the United States has substantially increased its diplomatic focus on foreign assistance programming directed toward addressing gender-based violence. This whole-of-government mobilization builds on the

legacies of women’s grassroots movements, LGBTQI+ advocates, and anti-violence activism. In addition to the momentum for women’s human rights that was generated with the passage of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and at the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women, several other contemporary events have sparked a broader recognition of the importance of addressing gender-based violence. The technical capacity of civil society organizations has improved substantially, yielding a more knowledgeable and dynamic global field of gender-based violence prevention and response. In addition, during the 1990s recognition grew of the prevalence and role of rape in mass atrocities and war, including in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and of the importance of holding those responsible for sexual violence accountable. 7 Today, it is recognized that gender-based violence, including sexual violence, may constitute an atrocity crime, and that increases in gender-based violence can serve as early warning indicators of mass atrocities and state fragility that the United States has a moral responsibility to address. The landmark United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security specifically calls for the protection of women and girls from gender-based violence, including in emergency and humanitarian situations. Additional UNSCRs have laid the groundwork for addressing gender-based violence, particularly in conflict and post-conflict settings.

With that foundation, and since our initial 2012 strategy, the United States has reiterated its commitment to gender equity and equality as part of its foreign policy and assistance efforts. Our current efforts are guided by a number of legal frameworks and policies, including the U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality; the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 and the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security of 2019; the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 and the U.S. Strategy to Anticipate, Prevent, and Respond to Atrocities of 2022; the Global Fragility Act of 2019 and the U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability of 2020; the Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act of 2018; Executive Order 14020 on Gender Equity and Equality; and the Presidential Memorandum to Promote Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence. A full list of policies guiding our work can be found in Annex B

• Programmatic Interventions

U.S. efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence have evolved as knowledge, technical capacity, partnerships, and internal processes have been strengthened. Points of intervention have expanded from a primary focus on criminal justice responses and service provisions for survivors, to more comprehensive efforts that also focus on prevention and education, social norms change, health and social services, economic security, access to housing assistance, and legal reform and accountability mechanisms. Engaging men and boys in gender-based violence prevention alongside women, girls, and gender non-conforming community advocates has also emerged as an important priority. The value of locally led development and the amplification of diverse community voices are both recognized as integral components of success. Finally, another pivotal development has been the recognition of the importance of integrating gender-based violence policy and programming across U.S. foreign policy priorities in addition to standalone efforts. The relationship between, for instance, gender-based violence and economic growth, education, or women’s political participation is now well-documented. Within this evolution, gender-based violence has also emerged as a standalone field that requires technical expertise and targeted staffing.

• Research and Data

The evidence base for understanding the scope, scale, and consequences of gender-based violence has improved over the past three decades. Many countries around the world have invested in collecting more robust national data on gender-based violence. In addition, the United States has invested in collecting population-level data on the prevalence of violence globally, 8 in particular intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and increasingly, violence against children and youth. 9 Complementing prevalence surveys, the U.S. government has also supported research to gather insights into the lived experiences of gender-based violence survivors to help demonstrate the global magnitude and root causes of the problem. Moving forward, it is crucial that we continue to reduce barriers for survivors to make disclosures of violence in both formal and informal contexts. It is also crucial to ensure that accurate, comprehensive, and recent data are collected in all countries and regions in a confidential and trauma-informed manner.

• Global Consultation Process

The first step in the review and update process for the 2022 update of the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally was a six-month period of consultations with key stakeholders from around the world. Virtual consultations were organized with representatives from a variety of sectors, organizations, and geographic locations. Consultations were hosted both through external partners and with internal contractors and U.S. government teams. Topics included the intersections of gender-based violence and conflict, climate, health, economic security, and technology, as well as population-specific considerations, such as those related to race and ethnicity, girls and youth, men and boys, LGBTQI+ persons, and persons with disabilities. Consultations included 450+ participants representing 200+ organizations. They included representatives from civil society, bilateral and multilateral partners, faith networks, the private sector, academia, implementing partners, and federal departments and agencies. Issues discussed at the consultations included: a) opportunities for innovation; b) macro-level trends that shape the prevalence and patterns of gender-based violence globally; c) impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual experiences of gender-based violence; d) recommendations on strategic vision, priority areas of focus, and key considerations; and e) ways that the strategy can be used to inform policies, programs, and funding. All components of the 2022 strategy are directly informed by the input from these generous partners.

The ultimate vision of this strategy is to build a future free from gender-based violence for all people.

To truly understand and eliminate gender-based violence around the world, we must recognize and address the intersecting forms of discrimination, marginalization, and oppression that too many individuals and communities still face. Acts of gender-based violence are rooted in social identity, status, and power. At its core, gender-based violence is an abuse of power and is a reflection and manifestation of power imbalances across different groups of people, especially related to sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and sex characteristics; race and ethnicity; age; socioeconomic status; nationality; disability; religion; and citizenship or refugee status. The importance of moving beyond engaging survivors and their communities in perfunctory or paternalistic ways has become clearer than ever before. We must strive for meaningful partnerships; engage in consistent and comprehensive consultations locally, regionally, and globally; and serve as a leader on the provision of financial and political support for organizations and networks, including those representing different marginalized and disadvantaged populations. These advocates and organizations are the heart of this work, and we must support them as they lead the way toward change.

• Theory of Change

If gender-based violence prevention and response is integrated across U.S. government international programs, policies, and diplomatic engagements; is focused on empowering and respecting all survivors, including those from marginalized populations; and increases accountability to survivors’ needs, then gender-based violence will decrease, thereby increasing security, stability, and well-being for individuals, families, and communities worldwide.

The successful implementation of this theory of change must be done in partnership with survivors, survivor-centered organizations, civil society, faith leaders and institutions, local and national governments, the private sector, academic institutions, bilateral partners, and multilateral partners. At the core of this theory of change is the understanding that our work to prevent and respond to gender-based violence must strive to be sustainable, holistic, and evidence-informed. The success of this strategy must be undergirded by respectful partnerships; address socioeconomic and political systems that ignore, perpetuate, or enable gender-based violence; and will depend on the successful implementation of our guiding principles and each pillar of this strategy.

• Guiding Principles to Our Approach

The following principles will guide our approach as the U.S. government to prevent and respond to gender-based violence globally.

Human Rights-Informed: We will implement an approach that respects and promotes human rights and that recognizes gender-based violence as a human rights abuse. We will include the prevention of and response to gender-based violence as part of our human rights policy priorities. We will incorporate international human rights considerations into policies, programming, services, and processes related to gender-based violence prevention and response. 10 This approach reflects values of respect, compassion, and human dignity for all and prioritizes transparency, accountability, empowerment, consultations, and participation.

Intersectional: In line with the U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, this strategy aims to address intersecting forms of discrimination to advance equity and equality. We will apply an intersectional framework to identify those who experience the harshest effects of inequality and violence based on interconnected and layered systems of oppression and discrimination (e.g., systems based on factors such as sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics; race and ethnicity; nationality; religion; disability status; age; socioeconomic status; caste; widowhood; or indigeneity). We recognize how these intersecting forms of oppression and discrimination can increase vulnerability to experiencing gender-based violence, while also increasing barriers to accessing safety, services, and justice. We recognize that a person’s individual experience of violence and oppression is shaped by these intersecting and layered identities, as well as by societal norms.

Inclusive: We will implement an inclusive approach that takes into consideration the historic, structural, sociocultural, and systemic disadvantages and power imbalances members of different groups face, as well as their strength, resilience, and leadership in developing tailored solutions; this will enable their equitable participation in, access to, and benefit from gender-based violence prevention and response efforts, including their participation in policy and program design, implementation, and evaluation. We will promote accessibility of policies, programs, services, and resources for survivors and communities from different country contexts, as well as for those working both within and outside of the direct gender-based violence technical sector.

Life Course Lens: We will address the continuum of gender-based violence across the life course, recognizing that individuals of all ages – from infants to older adults – can experience gender-based violence and that specific types of gender-based violence are more prevalent at different life stages. This includes a recognition of intergenerational trauma, including how experiencing or witnessing violence and exposure to other traumatic events experienced in childhood, known as adverse childhood experiences, 11 can have long-lasting health, social, and economic effects, including increasing a child’s likelihood of being a perpetrator or victim later in life. This also includes a recognition of the cumulative, lifetime impact of gender inequality and trauma on older adults, particularly older women, that exacerbates the risk for continuing to experience gender-based violence in older age. This approach supports policies and programs to improve prevention efforts and provide more comprehensive support for families, children, youth, adults, and older adults who may experience or be impacted by gender-based violence over the course of their lives.

Survivor-Centered: We will promote a survivor-centered approach that is trauma-informed; 12 non-stigmatizing; empowers the survivor; puts the rights and choices of each survivor at the forefront of all actions; ensures that each survivor is treated with dignity and respect regardless of their real or perceived identity; and includes survivors in policy and programming processes, including in high-level decision-making roles. This approach includes implementing the Do No Harm principles of safety, respect, confidentiality, and non-discrimination in all our work to take care not to put survivors, program participants, staff, and community members at physical or emotional risk. By putting the survivor at the center of our work, this approach promotes their recovery and healing, reduces the risk of further harm and revictimization, and reinforces their agency and self-determination. Practicing a survivor-centered approach means establishing a relationship with the survivor that promotes their emotional and physical safety, builds trust, and helps them restore some control over their life. A survivor-centered approach also focuses on accessibility and adaptability of appropriate, inclusive, and high-quality prevention and response services that include different options for safety and support (e.g., including for survivors who decide that they do not want to engage with the criminal justice system). Applying a survivor-centered approach extends beyond programming and direct services and should also be applied to policy design and implementation.

Locally Led: We will advance partnerships with other governments, multilateral organizations, civil society, and the private sector to collectively work toward a world free from gender-based violence. Our partnership approach acknowledges that gender-based violence is an issue that every country in the world faces, including our own, and that local individuals and communities who dedicate their careers and lives to preventing and responding to gender-based violence, including survivors, are the experts on how to prevent and respond to it in their own communities. We will seek to build partnerships with local partners, individuals, and communities, including faith communities, and enable them to take the lead as experts in gender-based violence prevention and response-related efforts in their countries and communities by providing them with resources and tools. We will work with local partners as a means of ensuring individuals, survivors, families, schools, communities, and national-level governments are all involved in and accountable for gender-based violence prevention and response, including by increasing political will, resource allocation, and prioritization. Advancing partnerships is key to the sustainability of our approach, enhances the efficacy of our work, and embodies our democratic ideals.

Pillar I: Focusing on Gender and At-Risk Populations

Pillar I puts our guiding principles, particularly on intersectionality and inclusivity, into action. As the United States’ definition of gender-based violence is inclusive of diverse populations, we are committed to understanding the depth and breadth of how gender-based violence impacts different groups. While there is a substantial evidence base about women and girls’ disproportionate risk of gender-based violence, we are still building the evidence base to better understand the risks facing other marginalized communities. This pillar includes a focus on specific population groups – girls and young women; LGBTQI+ persons; and boys and men – that are often overlooked and under-researched in gender-based violence. Of course, each of these groups is itself diverse and dynamic, and we recognize that other groups also face disproportionate rates of gender-based violence as detailed in Objective 1.4. We highlight these groups because advocates from these communities are important partners in our collective work to prevent and respond to gender-based violence globally.

Women and Intimate Partner Violence: Intimate partner violence remains one of the most common forms of gender-based violence, with high percentages of women experiencing intimate partner violence at some point in their lives. In some cases, violence continues in a relationship for many years. Women who experience intimate partner violence are more likely to experience reproductive coercion, whereby their autonomous decision-making related to contraception and pregnancy is restricted. Rates of intimate partner violence increase in the wake of crises, including natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies, and conflict. The costs to individual women, their communities, and their nations is shockingly high and has long-lasting, intergenerational effects. While it is crucial to recognize the impact of gender-based violence across a variety of populations, we will also continue to commit foreign assistance and diplomacy to addressing and eliminating violence against all women, inclusive of their diverse identities and across their life course. Research on what works to prevent gender-based violence and to mitigate its harmful effects when it does occur includes involving community leaders in interventions and intergenerational dialogues about violence prevention; engaging men and boys in prevention; increasing women’s economic security; empowering girls and other marginalized groups; and addressing structural drivers, including climate change, crisis, and conflict. It is important to note that the examples discussed in Pillar I are neither mutually exclusive nor exhaustive, but rather illuminate how gender-based violence impacts members of specific populations.

Objective 1.1: Girls and Young Women

Action: Expand opportunities for all girls and young women to achieve their full potential by addressing their unique needs and risks to gender-based violence and uplifting their voices as leaders, agents of change, and advocates in their communities.

Problem: Gender equality and girls’ empowerment are not achievable without addressing the unique forms of gender-based violence that girls, including adolescent girls and young women, around the world disproportionately face, including sexual violence; sexual exploitation and abuse; intimate partner violence, including dating violence; female genital mutilation/cutting; child, early, and forced marriage; reproductive coercion; gender-related killing of women and girls; human trafficking; stalking; and technology-facilitated gender-based violence. These forms of gender-based violence, as well as witnessing gender-based violence in the household or community as children, have lifelong health, education, and economic consequences and can fuel an intergenerational cycle of violence. Global health, economic, and climate crises, among other emergencies, disproportionately put girls and young women at further risk of experiencing gender-based violence. School closures, economic strain, and other consequences of these emergencies have contributed to increased reports of child sexual abuse and exploitation; female genital mutilation/cutting; child, early, and forced marriage; adolescent pregnancy; 13 online harassment and abuse; and mental distress among youth globally. 14 For example, an estimated 10 million additional girls are at risk of child marriage due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 15

All girls and young women need targeted and effective information, respectful and age-appropriate services, opportunities to develop life skills, and safe and supportive environments to address the multitude of challenges they face. Girls and young women in conflict or humanitarian settings; who are members of historically marginalized racial and ethnic or Indigenous communities; with disabilities; who are migrants or refugees; who are impacted by child, early, or forced marriage; or who identify as LGBTQI+ must be uniquely considered and included in all policy and program design and implementation. Importantly, girls and young women are and can be leaders in their own right, though their voices are too often overlooked in decision-making about policies and programs that affect their daily lives.

Forms of Gender-Based Violence The below forms of gender-based violence disproportionately, though not exclusively, affect girls and young women.

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: All procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. Female genital mutilation/cutting is typically carried out on young girls between infancy and adolescence, and occasionally on adult women. Female genital mutilation/cutting is a human rights abuse and form of gender-based violence.

Child, Early, and Forced Marriage: Child or early marriage includes any formal marriage or informal union where one or both parties is under the age of 18. Forced marriage is a marriage at any age that occurs without the free and full consent of both parties, including anyone under the age of 18 who is not able to give full consent. Child, early, and forced marriage is a human rights abuse and form of gender-based violence.

Approach: We will employ a comprehensive and empowering approach that emphasizes gender-based violence prevention and addresses harmful social norms; ensures services are comprehensive, welcoming to, and inclusive of adolescents’ needs; and meaningfully engages with diverse girl- and youth-led organizations and networks. Examples of our approach include:

Policy and Diplomacy

• Elevating the voices and needs of girls and young women in multilateral forums and donor working groups, and advancing political commitments that promote the health, well-being, and human rights of all girls and young women. This includes support for advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights and age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education, and for ending female genital mutilation/cutting and child, early, and forced marriage.
• Leveraging public diplomacy opportunities, such as the International Day of the Girl, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, and the International Day of Zero Tolerance on Female Genital Mutilation, to advance the human rights of girls and young women and to amplify their voices.
• Ensuring the integration of gender-based violence prevention and response specific to girls and young women across U.S. government policy efforts, including the U.S. Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls, U.S. Government Strategy on International Basic Education , United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Youth in Development Policy , and U.S. Strategy for Advancing Protection and Care for Children in Adversity.

Programming

• Continuing to fund global programming that specifically addresses child, early, and forced marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting, including through contributions to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)-United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Joint Program to End Female Genital Mutilation and to UNFPA.
• Investing in comprehensive, multi-sectoral programming that addresses the unique vulnerabilities of girls and young women, including their experiences of gender-based violence, through efforts such as the Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-Free, Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) Partnership through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
• Prioritizing the ethical and systematic collection of age- and sex-disaggregated data in our programs, including growing efforts to support data collection on online forms of violence and exploitation; supporting the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) and Demographic and Health Surveys; and centering the lived experiences of all girls and young women.
• Strengthening the capacity of our partners to provide adolescent-friendly and girl-friendly gender-based violence and health services that are non-judgmental, non-stigmatizing, and survivor-centered
• Objective 1.2: LGBTQI+ Persons

Action: Increase the inclusion of LGBTQI+ persons, advance recognition of LGBTQI+ human rights, and create conditions in which all LGBTQI+ individuals can live free from violence, stigma, harassment, discrimination, marginalization, and criminalization.

Problem: Gender-based violence can occur within LGBTQI+ populations or against members of LGBTQI+ populations. This violence is often rooted in or linked to discrimination against those who do not conform with traditional social expectations. LGBTQI+ persons face a disproportionate risk of gender-based violence, as well as violence, stigma, harassment, discrimination, marginalization, and criminalization based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, sex characteristics, or some combination thereof. Non-LGBTQI+ persons may also experience gender-based violence if they are perceived by others to be LGBTQI+. These harms, including gender-based violence as well as other forms of violence against LGBTQI+ persons, result in a variety of adverse outcomes, including familial estrangement, exclusion from educational and economic opportunities, legal and political disenfranchisement, and poor physical and mental health and psychosocial outcomes. LGBTQI+ persons can be harmed by various forms of gender-based violence, including dating violence, stalking, sexual assault, or family violence, and often experience significant barriers to safety and justice. These harms may be exacerbated because LGBTQI+ survivors may not be believed, and the general social stigma they experience may reduce viable exit pathways from harmful situations. LGBTQI+ survivors may face additional barriers to accessing legal, health, and mental health and psychosocial support services.

Although many research gaps remain about how gender-based violence and other forms of targeted violence impact LGBTQI+ persons, there are reports of: intimate partner violence; gender-related killings; hate crimes and hate speech; extrajudicial killings and so-called “honor” killings; so-called “corrective rape”; forced marriage; mutilation of genitalia of intersex infants and adolescents; so-called “conversion therapy” practices; and blackmail, extortion, and other forms of intimidation to “out” LGBTQI+ persons without consent. These and other acts of gender-based violence may also take place in online spaces or be facilitated by technologies. Collectively, such acts of violence against LGBTQI+ persons lead to societal exclusion and oppression.

Historically, most research on and advocacy for addressing gender-based violence has focused on women and girls, given the high global prevalence of violence against women and girls and the patriarchal roots of such violence. There has been less focus to date on those who are also targeted with violence based on their real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, sex characteristics, or some combination thereof. Globally, LGBTQI+ persons frequently experience high levels of gender-based violence compared to their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts.

Approach: We will work to ensure that LGBTQI+ persons are able to achieve their greatest potential and live lives free from gender-based violence, and that the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons are not violated or abused. We will increase research, diplomatic efforts, and programmatic investments to prevent and respond to forms of gender-based violence that disproportionately affect LGBTQI+ persons. We will work to decrease silos that have historically maintained boundaries between LGBTQI+ advocacy and gender-based violence prevention and response efforts. Examples of our approach include:

• Advancing recognition of the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons in multilateral forums and as part of our multi-stakeholder bilateral relationships, including supporting the mandate of the United Nations Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity as well as the continued renewal of the mandate.
• Amplifying and respecting the voices of LGBTQI+ persons by leveraging public diplomacy opportunities like Women’s History Month; International Transgender Day of Visibility; International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia; Pride Month; LGBTQI+ History Month; 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence; Intersex Awareness Day; and Transgender Day of Remembrance to raise awareness of the U.S. government’s efforts to support all LGBTQI+ persons in living lives free from gender-based violence.
• Shedding light on the gender-based violence experienced by LGBTQI+ persons through the Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (Human Rights Reports), which include a subsection in each report summarizing “Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.” To further critical data collection, Executive Order 14075 requires all United States embassies and missions worldwide to submit information on the practice and incidence of so-called “conversion” therapy as part of the Human Rights Reports.
• Developing and implementing programs to end gender-based violence in partnership with and under the leadership of LGBTQI+ civil society that expands recognition of the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons and promotes a world free from violence, stigma, harassment, discrimination, marginalization, and criminalization based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics.
• Expanding the research and evidence base to more effectively document the prevalence, scope, and types of gender-based violence experienced by LGBTQI+ persons.
• Identifying and seeking to increase foreign assistance funding for gender-based violence service provision by and for LGBTQI+ communities and service providers, e.g., mental health, medical, and legal.
• Ensuring federal foreign assistance programs include non-discrimination protections and prevent human rights abuses against LGBTQI+ individuals.
• Investing in multi-angle approaches, including economic development, organizational leadership, political and civil society participation, academic research, and advocacy activities that provide effective support and empowerment of LGBTQI+ individuals and organizations.
• Building and increasing the capacity of local organizations and leaders by providing accessible, practical tools and resources to strengthen strategic planning, governance processes, and human resources that support LGBTQI+ communities.
• Developing an action plan to promote an end to the use of so-called “conversion” therapy around the world, as outlined in Executive Order 14075. In developing the action plan, the Secretary of State shall consider the use of foreign assistance programs and the U.S. voice and vote in multilateral development banks and international development institutions, of which the United States is a shareholder or donor, to take appropriate steps to prevent the use of so-called “conversion” therapy, as well as to help ensure that U.S. foreign assistance programs do not use foreign assistance funds for so-called “conversion” therapy.
• Objective 1.3: Men and Boys

Action: Engage men and boys in the prevention of gender-based violence by fostering healthy relationships and responding to the needs of male gender-based violence survivors.

Problem: Engaging men and boys in all their diversity as partners in short- and long-term gender-based violence prevention is essential to a future in which all people can live and thrive without the threat of gender-based violence. Engaging men and boys alongside women and girls is critical to reducing violence, but we must better understand the driving factors of violent behavior and which men are more likely to commit gender-based violence. Research shows that the two strongest factors associated with men who perpetrate violence against women are: a) childhood experiences of physical and sexual abuse; witnessing gender-based violence; and exposure to or victimization of other forms of violence; and b) attitudes related to gender-based violence and to gender equity overall. 16 Additional research and evaluation are needed to improve the development of holistic, trauma-informed efforts that aim to prevent gender-based violence, reduce impunity and increase accountability, and prevent cycles of violence from continuing among men and boys who have witnessed or experienced violence. Finally, it is critical that research and advocacy against men’s perpetration of gender-based violence avoid pathologizing certain groups of men as inherently violent.

Men, and especially boys, experience gender-based violence in a variety of social contexts. Boys are vulnerable to gender-based violence due to their age and correspondingly limited social power, as compared to adults in their communities. Types of gender-based violence that men and boys experience may include: child sexual abuse; conflict-related sexual violence; sexual hazing; intimate partner violence, including dating violence and stalking; some forms of human trafficking; and homophobic and transphobic violence. Many men who have experienced gender-based violence report that it is difficult to make such disclosures because of the stigma against male victimization. In addition, they may face unique barriers in accessing necessary support services because, in many communities, there remains strong disbelief that men can be survivors of gender-based violence. Like other populations, men and boys are not homogenous groups, and the social identity of an individual man or boy influences their respective protective and risk factors. The evidence base documenting gender-based violence against men and boys remains under-developed because research studies to date have largely had smaller samples, and population-level surveys tracking the global prevalence of the types of gender-based violence affecting men and boys have not been completed.

Approach: While we continue to elevate the voices of women and girls who are gender-based violence survivors, advocates, and leaders, we must do more to fully address the root causes of gender-based violence by addressing social norms and engaging more fully with men and boys in their roles as survivors, community leaders, supportive partners, caregivers, and perpetrators. This engagement must also include restorative justice responses that are trauma-informed to reduce recidivism and break cycles of violence. Examples of our approach include:

• Seeking out and incorporating perspectives from men as champions, allies, advocates, and survivors in our engagements on gender-based violence topics with civil society and other stakeholders and considering how they can be uniquely engaged as partners in the prevention of different forms of gender-based violence.
• Recognizing and seeking to meet the unique needs of male survivors of gender-based violence, including in conflict settings, for whom stigma, shame, and social norms may serve as barriers to their accessing services or justice.
• Addressing men and boys as stakeholders, survivors, perpetrators, allies, and agents of change across the life cycle and prioritizing early intervention programs and social norms change programs that promote healthy relationships and healthy masculinities wherever possible.
• Investing in comprehensive, multi-sectoral programming that builds the skills and capacity of men to engage in healthy forms of masculinity, including the Responsible, Engaged, and Loving (REAL) Fathers initiative, as well as data collection efforts through Demographic Health Surveys to better track the attitudes of men related to gender equity, decision-making, violence, and caregiving.
• Implementing programs that empower young girls and boys to be agents of change in challenging harmful gender norms and building a more positive future, in partnership with their schools, families, and communities, and providing access for all students to information about safety, consent, and healthy relationships.
• Ensuring that organizations that deliver gender-based violence services to men and boys are included during the development of referral pathways to meet their specific needs.
• Objective 1.4: Marginalized Groups

Action: Ensure safe and respectful gender-based violence prevention and response efforts that address patterns of vulnerability, which place members of some groups at higher risk of experiencing gender-based violence due to structural inequalities, social norms, discrimination, and marginalization.

Problem: Gender-based violence is pervasive, but not evenly perpetuated across populations. Members of some groups have a heightened risk of experiencing or being impacted by gender-based violence. Too often, individuals in the groups most at risk of gender-based violence are those that are already marginalized. Members of marginalized groups are too often at higher risk for experiencing or being negatively impacted by gender-based violence. Thus, it is essential to analyze how social identities and power dynamics impact and compound the prevalence, consequences, and individual experiences of gender-based violence to more effectively identify and address the risk and protective factors related to gender-based violence. Gender-based violence cannot be eliminated until the most marginalized are placed at the center of analysis and intervention, as both partners and leaders.

All people have social identities and status characteristics that shape an individual’s likelihood of experiencing violence. These include age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, sex characteristics, nationality and citizenship status, race and ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic class and caste, employment status, and marital status. Status characteristics can also be conferred through factors like geographic location or by membership in a vulnerable group, such as migrants, incarcerated persons, or persons engaged in trafficked or exploitative labor. Forced migrants and internally displaced persons experience substantially higher rates of gender-based violence than non-displaced persons, or persons with stable immigration status. Similarly, incarcerated persons and persons with disabilities living in facilities face disproportionate rates of gender-based violence due to institutional conditions that create vulnerabilities.

Approach: We will increase research, policy efforts, and programmatic investments to prevent and respond to forms of gender-based violence that disproportionately impact individuals from marginalized groups. Examples of our approach include:

• Amplifying, elevating, and including individuals from marginalized groups in bilateral, multilateral, and public diplomacy efforts related to gender-based violence prevention and response.
• Partnering with survivors and local organizations to ensure that any gender-based violence-related policy is designed with and for survivors and local organizations from different social identities, particularly those traditionally excluded.
• Leading and coordinating the Trilateral Working Group on Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls with the Governments of Mexico and Canada to exchange information about policies, programs, and promising practices to prevent and respond to violence against Indigenous women and girls through increased access to justice and services, with a human rights and culturally responsive approach.
• Promoting that gender-based violence risk, mitigation, and response policies and programs are inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities, as committed to at the 2022 Global Disability Summit.
• Selecting and targeting interventions based on the stage of development along the lifespan, to include early intervention programs that focus on youth in advancing gender-based violence prevention efforts, and interventions targeted to the unique needs and vulnerabilities of older adults.
• Collaborating with survivors, local organizations representing survivors, and individuals from marginalized groups to conduct assessments and analyses in the local context to determine how services need to be updated and adapted to be responsive to members of these groups’ needs (e.g., ensuring services and resources are appropriate to the cultural and linguistic context, and are accessible to persons with disabilities and other marginalized populations).
• Devoting more resources to training cohorts along the gender-based violence referral system (in both humanitarian and development settings and including healthcare and social welfare workers, police, and lawyers) on first-line responses and providing respectful, unbiased, non-judgmental care regardless of social identity. This includes the ability and prioritization of connecting survivors to other services, whether healthcare, legal, children’s services, services needed for persons with disabilities, or others.
• Working with survivors and local organizations representing various social identities to implement survivor-led healing and restorative justice work.

Pillar II: Integrating Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response Across Sectors

• Objective 2.1: Peace, Security, and Democracy

Action: Consider and incorporate gender-based violence risks, prevention, and response as part of our national security and human rights efforts to promote peace, security, and democracy around the world.

Problem: Women and girls bear unique and often disproportionate impacts of conflict, including deliberate targets and attacks with various forms of violence including, but not limited to: physical and sexual violence; torture; mutilation; child, early, and forced marriage; sexual slavery; forced pregnancy; reproductive coercion; non-governmental forced recruitment into or service to armed forces; and human trafficking. In many contexts, gender-based violence is perpetrated with impunity by security forces, both state and non-state actors, leaving survivors with limited options for reporting their experiences and making it harder to collect comprehensive data on security force abuse. Conflict-related sexual violence may constitute an atrocity crime in certain circumstances and is frequently perpetrated by men against men and boys as well. 17 In post-conflict settings, women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals frequently experience high levels of violence and insecurity. Gender-based violence is also frequently used by violent extremist organizations to terrorize and control populations, and they often exploit traditional gender roles and norms to recruit and radicalize individuals. Most survivors never receive formal justice, and instead face considerable challenges in gaining access to the medical, psychosocial, legal, and economic support that is necessary to help them heal, recover, and rebuild their lives. This includes challenges faced by survivors of gender-based violence related to reintegration into their families and communities as they often face stigma and rejection as a result of the sexual violence perpetrated against them. The COVID-19 pandemic further diminished humanitarian access and diverted resources away from life-saving services that addressed gender-based violence and supported survivors, for displaced women and girls in particular.

Preventing and responding to all forms of gender-based violence is also essential to building and maintaining strong democracies and preventing atrocities and violent conflict. States with lower rates of gender-based violence are the most secure, peaceful, and democratic. 18 Women politicians, peacebuilders, civil society leaders, and human rights defenders often face disproportionate risks of gender-based violence online and offline, and this violence can cause women and girls to withdraw from public life or deter them from participating in the first place. Authoritarian regimes deliberately seek to perpetuate regressive social norms to increase their own hold on power, often in part by exacerbating gender inequalities and restricting the rights of women and LGBTQI+ persons

Forms of Gender-Based Violence

Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: Incidents or patterns of sexual violence that occur in conflict or post-conflict situations with a direct or indirect link to conflict. Conflict-related sexual violence may include rape, sexual slavery, sex trafficking, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity, against individuals of all gender identities. Depending on the circumstances, sexual violence could constitute a war crime, crime against humanity, or constituent act of genocide, and may therefore constitute a crime that is punishable under international law.

Approach: We will work to prioritize gender-based violence prevention and response across peace, security, and democracy policies; multilateral engagements; and programs. We do not accept conflict-related sexual violence or any other form of gender-based violence as an inevitable byproduct of war; rather, we understand that its prevention is an essential element of peacebuilding. Nor do we accept that gender-based violence, in its online and offline manifestations, should be the cost of participation in political or public life in times of relative peace. Women’s safety and leadership and the incorporation of a gender perspective are necessary to ensure long-term peace, security, and democracy. Examples of our approach include:

• Building on U.S. leadership as the first country in the world with a comprehensive domestic law on Women, Peace, and Security, 19 and subsequent release of the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security, to elevate the protection of the human rights of women and girls and their access to aid and safety from violence, abuse, and exploitation around the world as essential to their ability to meaningfully contribute locally, nationally, and globally and to participate in democracy and public life.
• Enhancing the integration of gender-based violence prevention and response efforts into atrocity prevention and violent conflict prevention and mitigation efforts. This will include efforts related to the implementation of the Global Fragility Act through the U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability, the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act, and the U.S. Strategy to Anticipate, Prevent, and Respond to Atrocities. Through the whole-of-government Atrocity Prevention Task Force, we will ensure that gender issues, particularly conflict-related sexual violence, include monitoring, prevention, response, and accountability, and are integrated across conflict and atrocity prevention efforts and internal training.
• Effectively utilizing multilateral tools and engagements with United Nations Special Representatives, Special Rapporteurs, and Independent Experts to advance the human rights of women, girls, and other at-risk populations to gender-based violence in conflict settings. We will revitalize our leadership as the lead penholder on conflict-related sexual violence in the United Nations Security Council and leverage our re-engagement in the Human Rights Council to work with partners to strengthen the implementation of existing conventions and international agreements on conflict-related sexual violence; proactively speak out against this crime wherever it occurs; strengthen timely documentation that respects the rights and needs of survivors; provide urgent assistance to survivors; and hold those responsible accountable. Through U.S. participation in high-level talks regarding our responses to and prevention of atrocities with allies and partners, including the International Atrocity Prevention Working Group, we will coordinate and advance joint diplomatic efforts that center human rights and address gender-based violence, including all forms of sexual violence, that could constitute atrocity crimes.
• Ensuring robust reporting on gender-based violence as a human rights policy priority through the Department of State’s annual Human Rights Reports and the Trafficking in Persons Report.
• Prioritizing the importance of preventing and responding to gender-based violence as a democracy, human rights, and governance issue, including through Summit for Democracy efforts; prioritizing the needs and inclusion of survivors and prevention of gender-based violence as a part of all democracy work; and working to empower women as advocates for democracy and good governance.
• Building the institutional capacity to analyze, mitigate, prevent, and respond to gender-based violence within national and regional security sectors through partnership with U.S. security forces and other nations.
• Investing in programs that implement the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security to enhance meaningful participation in stabilization, peacebuilding, and countering violent extremism, and that address the ways in which gender-based violence factors into engagement, sustainability, and inclusion of peace, security, and democracy programs.
• Engaging with the security sector to address gender-based violence across implementation of peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, or other security programs to improve the sustainability and inclusion of interventions.
• Strengthening and funding local, grassroots, and women- and survivor-led civil society efforts to investigate and document conflict-related sexual violence using a survivor-centered approach for the purposes of pursuing truth and justice for victims and survivors, and accountability for violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law.
• Objective 2.2: Humanitarian Assistance

Action: Support all people to be free from gender-based violence in emergencies and ensure gender-based violence survivors have access to quality services from the onset of emergencies.

Problem: Around the world, women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals face daily risks to their safety, mental and physical health, and sense of empowerment. During and after emergencies, these threats become more acute.

Destruction, flight, and upheaval erode the social protections, support systems, and access to services that are often insufficient even in times of stability. Furthermore, rates of gender-based violence increase in emergencies, and lack of accountability for perpetrators in emergency and non-emergency settings normalizes gender-based violence and further erodes prevention efforts.

Women and children civilians are most severely affected by conflict and environmental disasters, and research shows that gender-based violence, most notably intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and sexual exploitation and abuse, increases in emergencies and occurs during all stages of a humanitarian crisis. Despite this, emergency response efforts addressing the specific risks women and girls face in times of crisis could be better prioritized or resourced from the earliest stages. Moreover, such responses often lack the trained staff and accessible infrastructure needed to ensure holistic gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse prevention, response, and risk mitigation.

Approach: Through continued support for and investment in the Safe from the Start ReVisioned initiative, we will work to advance an approach in humanitarian responses that addresses discrimination and gender norms; promotes women’s and girl’s leadership; prioritizes support and advocacy for gender-based violence risk mitigation, prevention, and survivor-centered response programming; and more equitably allocates funding, influence, and decision-making power to women and girls within humanitarian response systems. Examples of our approach include:

• Increasing accountability for gender-based violence against women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals in emergencies. Advocating for and supporting collective action at the country, regional, and global level to ensure humanitarian response leadership prioritizes women and girls and funds gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, and abuse prevention; response programming; and risk mitigation across the entirety of the humanitarian program cycle process, coordination bodies, and interagency engagement.
• Strengthening the broader humanitarian system leadership on gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, and abuse prevention; mitigation; and response, including through enhanced humanitarian interagency coordination, leveraging interagency platforms, as well as strengthening institutionalization, agency and senior management leadership, and policy work.
• Driving increased representation of and leadership by women and girls, specifically women’s organizations and organizations led by members of marginalized groups, including LGBTQI+ persons, in decision-making structures and the delivery of humanitarian aid.
• Advocating for all humanitarian actors to prioritize steps to mitigate gender-based violence risks and address the rights and unique needs of women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals.
• Maintaining a leadership role in multi-stakeholder initiatives, specifically the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies, 20 to advance collective action that contributes to humanitarian system reform that prioritizes and resources gender-based violence programming.
• Bringing to scale effective gender-based violence interventions at the field level; increasing the impact, number, accessibility, and reach of quality, dedicated gender-based violence prevention and response interventions in all types of emergencies.
• Prioritizing, supporting, and resourcing protection from sexual exploitation and abuse efforts – including appropriate tracking mechanisms, coordination, staffing, risk mitigation, prevention, and survivor-centered response programming – as life-saving and essential from the earliest stages of emergency response efforts.
• Improving gender-based violence expertise by bringing to scale the existing capacity of organizations to prioritize, design, staff, implement, and coordinate gender-based violence prevention and response programming and risk mitigation.
• Increasing partnerships with women’s organizations and organizations led by members of marginalized groups to build their capacity and leverage their expertise as first responders and frontline workers to guide rather than simply receive aid.
• Integrating gender-based violence interventions with humanitarian sectors that provide basic services, such as health, water security, sanitation, hygiene, and nutrition.
• Objective 2.3: Justice and Accountability

Action: Ensure survivors have access to justice, leadership in restorative justice models, and needed services while strengthening efforts to hold those responsible for all forms of gender-based violence to account and prioritizing accountability as a means to prevention.

Problem: Impunity for acts of gender-based violence remains widespread and serves as a significant barrier to reporting and recovery for survivors and in the prevention of future violence. Survivors can be re-traumatized through the legal system when law enforcement or judicial personnel do not provide necessary support, and justice and accountability processes may be unsafe or impossible to access in cases where those perpetrating the violence are also those in power. Accountability mechanisms for security forces and police perpetrating gender-based violence remain lacking. Survivors often lack knowledge about their rights or how to navigate legal processes. Survivors and bystanders face stigma for reporting crimes; they may be blamed for crimes committed against them, not believed, or ostracized by families or society. LGBTQI+ survivors may fear persecution in countries where same-sex relationships are criminalized, not recognized by law, or culturally stigmatized. 21 Persons with disabilities face heightened challenges to accessing justice because of stigma, physical access barriers, and perceived lack of credibility, among other reasons. Some survivors of rape are forced to marry their rapists. Survivor and witness protection is often woefully insufficient, so survivors often cannot seek justice without publicly revealing their status or putting themselves at greater risk of violence. Other barriers include lack of time, money, legal assistance, transportation, and other resources required to move a case forward. For these and other reasons, many survivors do not feel they can report crimes through formal legal channels.

Across conflict and non-conflict contexts, transparent and survivor-centered accountability processes are critical to delivering survivors the justice they deserve and improving future prevention. While U.S. leadership, through diplomacy and programs, has helped address barriers to justice for survivors, in many places accountability mechanisms are still stalled by lack of legislation criminalizing certain types of gender-based violence, as well as by perceptions among police officers, judges, and prosecutors that gender-based violence is a private family matter. This inaccurate perception continues to place individuals in unnecessary danger. United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888, and 2467 22 bolster the resolve to end impunity, but implementation of these commitments remains challenging, and justice and appropriate service provisions for survivors are too often the exception rather than the rule.

Approach: We will support efforts to ensure that survivors of gender-based violence have access to justice and those responsible for gender-based violence are held accountable through judicial processes that fully respect fair trial guarantees. We will prioritize the meaningful representation of women as criminal justice practitioners, the training of law enforcement and justice sector personnel in handling gender-based violence cases in a trauma-informed manner, and appropriate survivor and witness protection and support. Justice and accountability processes must be informed by the voices and perspectives of women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals, and must include consideration of the needs of survivors of gender-based violence, including psychosocial, medical, and livelihood support. Examples of our approach include:

• In line with the U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality , bolstering accountability mechanisms for those responsible for gender-based violence and supporting the passage and implementation of stronger national laws and policies and international frameworks through our bilateral and multilateral diplomacy.
• Promoting fair, equitable, accessible, and inclusive justice systems that increase survivors’ access to justice, including redress and protection related to gender-based violence and access to legal representation. This includes working with partners and allies to encourage reform of discriminatory standards across justice systems, including gender bias in law enforcement and justice sectors. It also includes training of judges, defense lawyers, and prosecutors on gender-based violence and trauma-informed approaches, awareness of case law, changes in the law, and disposition of cases.
• Promoting justice systems, including transitional justice processes 23 and mechanisms, that include women and other marginalized populations’ meaningful participation, allow for women and survivors to define and shape dimensions and impacts of human rights violations and abuses.
• Coordinating with multilateral partners to strengthen accountability for those responsible for conflict-related sexual violence, including when committed by security forces. This will include continued support for and coordination with the Office of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict to identify how best to implement existing international commitments relating to accountability for conflict-related sexual violence. The United States will also continue working with allies and partners to coordinate accountability mechanisms for conflict-related sexual violence and to ensure that accountability or transitional justice mechanisms are designed to address gender-based violence and reduce impunity.
• Promoting accountability for conflict-related sexual violence through the use of sanctions and non-sanctions accountability tools, including those pertaining to visa restrictions and security assistance. This ensures equal consideration of and attention to relevant gender-based violence designations as a serious human rights abuse under existing authorities and accountability tools, as well as strengthening U.S. Government capacity to collect, identify, and assess information on gender-based violence including conflict-related sexual violence, such as by consulting with local civil society organizations, taking into account the importance of safely and ethically gathering evidence from survivors to support the use of such accountability tools.
• In support of a range of formal and informal transitional justice processes, advancing civil society efforts to investigate and document conflict-related sexual violence for the purposes of pursuing truth and justice for victims and survivors, and accountability for any international atrocity crimes committed.
• Working to support criminal and civil judicial systems that address gender-based violence; that support appropriate perpetrator accountability; that support the establishment and strengthening of legal frameworks for the effective investigation, prosecution, and detention of those convicted as appropriate; that ensure criminal and civil justice institutions provide safe and secure access for alleged victims and witnesses and adequate survivor and witness protection where needed; and that ensure public education about gender-based violence laws, including consequences and avenues for victim redress, is widely disseminated and accessible to all.
• Expanding avenues for reporting gender-based violence and obtaining assistance to increase accessibility, including for persons with disabilities, older survivors, those living in rural areas, and youth.
• Objective 2.4: Economic Empowerment

Action: Address gender-based violence prevention and response so that women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals can fully participate in the economy and experience economic security.

Problem: Gender-based violence is a direct threat to economic development and growth. Experiences of gender-based violence at home, online, in the work environment, and while commuting can restrict women and gender non-conforming individuals from feeling safe and protected in their professions as well as from fully participating in the global economy. Sexual harassment and abuse can negatively impact women’s abilities to receive promotions, equal pay, mentorship, and advance their careers and businesses, particularly in fields that are traditionally male dominated, as illuminated by the global #MeToo movement. Without efforts to make work safe and equitable, workforce participation may open women and gender non-conforming individuals to work environment violence and harassment, especially in informal, casual, and short-term positions where workers are most vulnerable and may lack sufficient bargaining power, legal and social safety nets, and other protections such as employer policies and regulations. Care workers, the vast majority of whom are women and are often migrants, face increased risks of gender-based violence when providing care in their own homes or the homes of others. This violence threatens their safety and exacerbates their already precarious economic position. As women earn income and defy entrenched social norms that strongly limit their roles to the domestic sphere, men may use violence as an attempt to control their family members. Discriminatory land and property laws can exacerbate gender-based violence, particularly for older women and widows, because they may leave women economically dependent on their perpetrators.

Those with heightened economic dependence on others, including persons with disabilities, migrant workers, and victims/survivors of human trafficking, face high risks of gender-based violence, including the withholding of economic resources as a form of coercion. Migrant workers are especially vulnerable to economic abuse, including human trafficking. These risks are amplified for particularly isolated or economically marginalized migrant groups, such as care workers, and those impacted by conflict and crises where economic insecurity and limited ability to meet basic needs heightens the risk of sexual exploitation, abuse, and trafficking.

Approach: We will work to strengthen the integration of gender-based violence prevention and response into programs and policies designed to increase labor force participation and economic growth, including through engagement and partnership with the private sector. Examples of our approach include:

• Incorporating gender-based violence prevention and response into U.S. women’s economic security policy. The U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality highlights the linkage between economic empowerment and gender-based violence and promotes quality, safe, and decent work that provides fair wages and labor protections from gender-based violence, including sexual harassment, while dismantling systemic gender barriers and ensuring freedom from gender-based violence as a precondition to women’s economic security.
• Encouraging the incorporation of core principles of International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 189 on domestic workers and ILO Convention 190 on violence and harassment into international assistance programming, strategies, policies, and action plans, including U.S. investments through international financial institutions, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, and global activities supported by the U.S. government.
• Assisting governments to enact or strengthen the implementation of laws, policies, and regulations against gender-based violence in the workplace and in support of workplace protections; to support survivors and witnesses of workplace harassment or abuse to report such occurrences without fear, penalty, or risk of retaliation; and to enable employers and employees to effectively apply those regulations in their work.
• Advancing the economic security of women and girls globally through efforts such as the Gender Equity and Equality Action (GEEA) Fund, including through addressing systemic barriers such as gender-based violence that prevent women’s full economic participation.
• Conducting gender and equity analyses and gender-based violence risk assessments across economic empowerment programming to mitigate and prevent gender-based violence for program participants. Programs that advance the economic empowerment of women and gender non-conforming individuals is crucial, but the risk of gender-based violence must be properly mitigated.
• Partnering with private and public sector actors and supporting workers’ efforts to shift power dynamics in work environments that normalize or tolerate gender-based violence by enabling workers to collectively hold employers accountable for developing, implementing, and enforcing workplace policies that prevent and respond to gender-based violence; and by providing workers affected by gender-based violence with safe channels, peer support, and institutional backing to safely report their experiences and pursue recourse.
• Investing in safe, inclusive, and accessible infrastructure (e.g., transportation, electricity, care facilities, lighting).
• Supporting innovations in economic empowerment efforts which bring awareness to employers on best practices for working with survivors and provide financial intermediaries with gender-based violence awareness and risk mitigation strategies for micro-enterprise efforts.
• Objective 2.5: Education

Action: Support partner countries to develop safer, more equitable education systems that address gender norms, ensure all learners and educators are treated with dignity and respect, and condemn violence and discrimination in any form.

Problem: Learners and educators need to be safe and supported in pre-primary through higher education. The relationships that learners form with peers and adults in education settings can be protective, particularly when there are high levels of violence or instability in the community or home. Safe learning environments provide essential services such as school feeding programs and service referrals for survivors of gender-based violence. However, research shows a prevalence of three types of school-related gender-based violence: 1) bullying and other forms of non-sexual intimidation; 2) corporal punishment; and 3) sexual violence, including harassment and abuse. 24 The risk of experiencing school-related gender-based violence is further amplified when individuals are marginalized in other ways as well, such as displaced persons, persons with disabilities, LGBTQI+ persons, and members of historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups. Gender-based violence, and school-related gender-based violence in particular, impedes progress toward global education goals, as evidence shows that physical, emotional, and mental safety is a prerequisite for learning.

Violent conflict and crisis, including climate and health-related events, can lead to extended and recurrent school closures. When not in school, girls and young women, displaced children and youth, persons with disabilities, and members of other marginalized populations, are subjected to increased psychosocial and physical risks, such as child/youth sexual abuse and exploitation; child, early and forced marriage; unplanned pregnancy; forced labor; child trafficking; and recruitment to gangs and militant groups.

Approach: We will invest in education systems to address gender-based violence in and out of schools. These education systems can provide safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environments, and equip learners and educators with the knowledge, skills, and mindsets to become gender-based violence advocates within their communities, challenge harmful gender norms, and create more just and peaceful societies. Examples of our approach include:

• Ensuring adolescent girls are educated, healthy, socially and economically empowered, and free from violence and discrimination including through the Education 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda 25 and the G7 Declaration on Girls’ Education: Recovering from COVID-19 and Unlocking Agenda 2030. 26
• Partnering with local actors to create safe, violence-free, and inclusive school environments that empower individuals to learn through the U.S. Government Strategy on International Basic Education.
• Leveraging USAID’s Global Partnership for Education to continue strengthening global education systems and improve learning outcomes, particularly for the most marginalized groups, including girls, LGBTQI+ communities, and children with disabilities, so all children can benefit from the transformative effects of education.
• Supporting local education leaders to contribute to the development, implementation, and enforcement of policies to prevent and address gender-based violence in schools, as part of comprehensive and holistic protection efforts.
• Engaging youth leaders to advocate for improved practices and attitudes in their communities to prevent gender-based violence. Partnering with locally based organizations that represent youth, women and girls, LGBTQI+ persons, persons with disabilities, and others to work with communities to challenge gender norms and link to post-gender-based violence services.
• Building the capacity of educators, parents, and community organizations to identify and report gender-based violence and school-related gender-based violence, as well as to monitor schools’ performance and provide social accountability for school-related gender-based violence.
• Investing in safe, inclusive, and accessible infrastructure (e.g., transportation, dormitories, teacher housing, and latrines).
• Improving methods for confidential reporting of gender-based violence, including school-related gender-based violence, and routinely collecting, analyzing, and disseminating age- and sex-disaggregated data about prevalence and types of school-related gender-based violence to inform data-driven, responsive programming.
• Increasing the availability of online education about gender-based violence prevention and response in education programming.
• Objective 2.6: Health

Action: Address gender-based violence in health programs and policies supported by the United States, including humanitarian and emergency responses, to ensure access to comprehensive, survivor-centered, trauma-informed health services for all populations as well as access to primary prevention programming. Ensure that health is appropriately addressed in gender-based violence programs and policies.

Problem: Gender-based violence has significant and long-lasting impacts on physical and mental health, including injury, early or unintended pregnancy and pregnancy complications, sexually transmitted infections, increased risk of HIV acquisition, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and even death. Addressing gender-based violence is a global public health imperative, and the health sector plays a key role in reducing the prevalence and impact of gender-based violence through primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. The healthcare sector is uniquely positioned to advance prevention and response efforts, including through community-based programming to prevent gender-based violence, the identification of violence, provision of first-line support and post-violence clinical care, collection of forensic evidence for pursuing justice, and integration of survivor-centered services and supports into broader health programming. The healthcare system serves as an important referral point for connecting survivors to services and supports to address their diverse needs, which may often be primary barriers to optimal health outcomes and can address the conditions that may put individuals at risk of repeated violence or perpetration.

However, survivors and those at risk for gender-based violence face numerous barriers to accessing services, including stigma and discrimination (particularly among members of historically marginalized groups); lack of physical access to services in geographically isolated areas or during humanitarian crises or public health emergencies; lack of necessary commodities at service delivery sites; and poor quality of services. These risks can re-traumatize survivors and lead them to disengage from the entire healthcare system. Despite being the first or even only point of contact for many survivors, few healthcare providers receive sufficient training or support on how to identify cases of gender-based violence, or on the provision of survivor-centered, trauma-informed care or immediate post-violence clinical care. Furthermore, linkages to other health, social, and legal services such as mental health, child protection, psychosocial support, and sexual and reproductive health services are often weak or absent.

Approach: We will work to engage with global, national, regional, and municipal health entities to prioritize the integration of health and gender-based violence programming policies, strategies, plans, budgets, and legislation to help ensure coordinated system approaches to promote the integration of high-quality gender-based violence prevention and response in health services, health programming at the community level, and national health policies that are accessible, appropriate, and acceptable to all populations. Examples of our approach include:

• Supporting the incorporation of gender-based violence prevention and response considerations, including essential sexual and reproductive health services, into health-related multilateral, bilateral, and diplomatic engagements and negotiations, including United Nations resolutions and regional-level negotiations. Ensuring health and gender-based violence are concurrently addressed in relevant global strategies and national policies, guidelines, and laws.
• Advocating for the integration of gender-based violence prevention and response considerations into health system responses, including during the COVID-19 pandemic and other future pandemics.
• Addressing critical policy, programmatic, and structural barriers, including gender-based violence, in HIV service access, uptake, and continuity, as highlighted in the PEPFAR Country and Regional Operational Plan Guidance and updated Strategic Direction, 27 and building on our work educating governments and health systems on health-based gender-based violence care minimum standards.
• Continuing to support key United Nations agencies, funds, and programs including UNFPA, UNICEF, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), WHO, and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/Aids (UNAIDS), all of which contribute to accelerating global progress toward preventing and responding to gender-based violence globally and addressing key health and gender-related Sustainable Development Goals.
• Building resources and best practices to support countries in creating a health and care workforce that is skilled and supported in addressing gender-based violence. This includes improving the ability of providers (including first responders and community health workers) to understand and recognize gender-based violence, appropriately respond to disclosures of gender-based violence in a compassionate and non-judgmental manner, incorporate principles of Do No Harm in services, provide appropriate referrals, and support the respectful treatment of clients, as well as their safety from violence. Beyond training, assisting countries in identifying best practices for creating an adaptable and effective health workforce, which ranges from investing in quality management and recruitment, to policies to protect the health and care workforce, including from experiencing gender-based violence themselves.
• Delivering quality first-line support and clinical care for gender-based violence survivors that is aligned with WHO clinical and policy guidelines and standards, including prevention and response services for children, youth, and
• LGBTQI+ persons. This also includes addressing health provider mistreatment of pregnant patients during labor and delivery.
• Explicitly including health in gender-based violence strategies, policies, and guidelines to improve the prevention of and response to gender-based violence, particularly to deliver mental health services as a gender-based violence prevention strategy, including for men; deliver psychosocial services and sexual and reproductive health services for gender-based violence survivors; and ensure that services are child-, youth-, and LGBTQI+-friendly and accessible to persons with disabilities.
• Grounding programs and policies in the best available evidence and existing guidelines, including continuing to align integrated gender-based violence and health programming in humanitarian and conflict settings with the Interagency Field Manual on Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Settings and the Interagency Minimum Standards for Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies Programming and providing services outlined in the Minimum Initial Service Package for Sexual and Reproductive Health in Crisis Situations.
• Objective 2.7: Climate, Environment, and Resilience

Action: Anticipate and address the increased risk of gender-based violence in climate crises and natural disasters, and ensure our responses are inclusive of survivors and those at increased risk for experiencing gender-based violence, including as they access and protect natural resources and deploy climate solutions.

Problem: The climate crisis impacts a myriad of facets of life for communities around the world. Women and girls in particular are often disproportionately impacted due to their unequal access to and control over resources. Climate change and environmental challenges are a threat to global food security due to production disruptions, interrupted transportation, and diminished food safety, among other causes. In contexts where women are responsible for feeding the family, they may be at increased risk of gender-based violence during times of food shortage if they are seen as not fulfilling this role. Women may also have to resort to risky behaviors to procure food for their families, exposing themselves to a higher risk of experiencing gender-based violence. Climate-related migration and forced displacement compound the risk of violence, including gender-based violence and human trafficking. Women and girls are especially vulnerable to these harms, including on migration routes, in refugee camps and temporary housing facilities, and in host communities

The compounding effects of the climate crisis, including household stresses and community-level conflicts, also contribute to state fragility, conflict, and displacement. In turn, these consequences have been shown to increase various forms of gender-based violence. 28 For instance, water scarcity exacerbated by climate change increases the likelihood of women and girls traveling to farther or unfamiliar destinations to collect water for their families, which heightens their risk of experiencing gender-based violence. Additionally, food insecurity exacerbated by droughts and floods (which are worsened by climate change) creates pressure for families to reduce expenses, leading to rising rates of child, early, and forced marriages as a coping mechanism. 29 In the aftermath of natural and climate-related disasters, rates of intimate partner violence have been shown to increase, and unsafe conditions in temporary shelters can expose women, girls, and gender non-conforming persons to gender-based violence. LGBTQI+ persons have reported feeling unsafe or discriminated against in evacuation shelters. 30

Gender-based violence is harmful to efforts that seek to address the climate crisis and environmental challenges, hindering women’s and girls’ crucial leadership and action in this space. For example, women environmental defenders are at high risk of gender-based violence, including online harassment and abuse, in addition to other types of violence faced by their male peers. Gender-based violence is used to intimidate and undermine their credibility and is often overlooked in broader conversations about violence against environmental defenders. Without the free and full participation of these women, climate solutions are less likely to be sustainable and effective. This detrimental feedback loop, in which the climate crisis exacerbates gender-based violence, and gender-based violence hinders efforts to combat the climate crisis, must be interrupted.

Approach: We will work to better integrate our foreign policy and programming efforts that focus on gender-based violence prevention, mitigation, and response with those addressing climate change and environmental challenges. We will do this work in partnership with local organizations, including Indigenous organizations and other ethnic groups. Examples of our approach include:

• Working within the U.S. government and with external allies and partners to address the disproportionate impacts of the climate crisis on women and girls while simultaneously empowering women and girls as leaders in overcoming the climate crisis, as outlined by the U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality’s commitment to “promote gender equity in mitigating and responding to climate change.”
• Advancing the integration of gender-based violence and climate issues across U.S. government policy efforts, including multilateral and bilateral engagements and negotiations, and through the efforts of U.S. Missions.
• Amplifying and partnering with women and girls, men and boys, and gender non-conforming individuals to develop solutions to gender-based violence and safety challenges exacerbated by climate stressors and to contribute to gender norms change efforts.
• Reinforcing existing international policy instruments addressing gender-based violence and working toward integrating gender-based violence considerations into relevant climate-related forum efforts and processes.
• Investing in programming that builds and acts on the evidence base around the intersections between gender-based violence and the climate crisis, including addressing the displacement and scarcity of food; water security, sanitation, and hygiene services; and other natural resources as drivers of gender-based violence.
• Accounting for and mitigating gender-based violence risks in climate, food security, disaster relief, resilience, and environmental programming and in our efforts to empower women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals as leaders in addressing the climate crisis.
• Investing in programming that addresses the risk of gender-based violence in spheres related to food and water security.
• Objective 2.8: Technology and Innovation

Action: Ensure all people have equal opportunity to access technology and to benefit from the digital economy; enjoy freedom of expression and association and privacy rights online and in other digital contexts; and safely participate in civic, political, educational, economic, and social activities without experiencing technology-facilitated gender-based violence from the use and misuse of information and communication technologies, including emerging and future technologies.

Problem: The digital world holds immense potential to amplify work to promote human rights and address gender-based violence. At the same time, social media platforms and other digital technologies have given rise to new forms and manifestations of gender-based violence both online and offline. They have also exacerbated preexisting forms of gender-based violence through the scale, speed, and reach with which information, images, and videos can flow. Moreover, those who design, and in some countries or regions access and use, communications technologies are disproportionately men.

While more data is needed to accurately measure the extent of technology-facilitated gender-based violence globally, studies suggest that 38% of women globally personally experience online violence and 85% of women witness violence against other women online. 31 The consequences of technology-facilitated gender-based violence straddle both the physical and digital worlds. Gender-based online harassment and abuse includes a wide range of acts that are amplified or enabled by social media, technology platforms, and devices to control, attack, and silence women and girls, with unique implications for persons with disabilities, LGBTQI+ persons, and racial, ethnic, or religious minorities. Social media presents an especially unsafe space: 68% of reported online abuse of women and girls takes place on social media platforms. 32 Experiencing online harassment and abuse can cause survivors to self-censor or limit online activity and step back from leadership roles, opportunities, and civic participation, leading to broader political, social, and economic exclusion. Acts of gender-based online harassment and abuse threaten the safety and ability of individuals to access educational, health, and social services as well as exercise their rights online and offline. Women leaders – from journalists to politicians and activists – face a particular risk of online abuse and harassment. The COVID-19 pandemic caused more activities to move to online spaces, which has only exacerbated this problem and its impacts, in parallel with the rise in other forms of gender-based violence during this public-health crisis.

Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: A threat or act of violence committed, assisted, aggravated, and amplified in part or fully by using information and communication technologies or digital media that is disproportionately targeted at women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals. It is a continuum of multiple, recurring, and interrelated forms of gender-based violence that takes place both online and offline. Examples can include online harassment and abuse; non-consensual distribution of intimate digital images; cyberstalking; sextortion; doxing; malicious deep fakes; livestreamed sexual violence of children, youth, and adults; rape and death threats; disinformation; intimate partner violence; and recruitment into trafficking and abusive labor.

Approach: We will work to tailor U.S. engagements and programs in ways that help women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals around the world be safer from gender-based violence that occurs through or with technology, so they can enjoy the dividends of digital tools and reach their full potential in meaningfully participating across their communities, societies, and economies. We will work to identify and create resources and recourse for survivors of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, enabling reporting actions by platforms and enhanced accountability. Examples of our approach include:

• Bringing together countries, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector to better prioritize, understand, prevent, and address the growing scourge of technology-facilitated gender-based violence through the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse and the domestically focused White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse.
• Promoting efforts to bridge the gender digital divide while equipping women and girls to use technology freely and safely, recognizing that to fully and equally participate in today’s connected world, women and girls must have access to information and communications technology, but that online harassment and abuse impedes their ability to realize the full benefits of this technology.
• Pursuing opportunities for constructive dialogue and engagement with the private sector and technology companies to support the responsible development and application of new technologies that incorporate innovation, diversity, and security in the design phase as well as establish globally recognized norms and enact policy reforms to address the global problem of technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
• Ensuring the inclusion of a gender lens that highlights the disproportionate, gendered, and sexualized nature and impact of technology-facilitated gender-based violence that women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals face online through U.S. government Department and Agency technology/digital/cyber strategies and offices, including the USAID Digital Strategy and the Department of State Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy.
• Strengthening U.S. government efforts to advance digital rights and democracy-affirming technology to include an intersectional gender lens, accounting for the misuse and abuse of technology by individuals, state, and non-state actors.
• Enhancing the global discourse and U.S. government efforts to protect freedom of expression to recognize the chilling effects of technology-facilitated gender-based violence against women and LGBTQI+ politicians, public figures, journalists, and civil society activists, and the societal consequences that erode democratic norms.
• Increasing the evidence base on the prevalence and manifestations of technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
• Investing in landscape studies of technology-facilitated gender-based violence in a variety of regions to assist in better targeted digital, democracy and governance, and gender programming.
• Piloting regional projects to raise awareness of technology-facilitated gender-based violence; providing mental health and psychosocial support to online survivors; and improving the online environment for all users, particularly women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals.
• Addressing technology-facilitated gender-based violence faced by women in politics, journalism, and activism.
• Addressing the connection between online misogyny, gendered disinformation, and violent extremism.

Pillar III: Strengthening Our Efforts

Since the first iteration of this strategy, institutionalizing and integrating gender-based violence work across U.S. policy and foreign assistance have been key objectives.  Pillar III emphasizes the renewed U.S. commitment to amplifying and expanding what works to prevent and respond to gender-based violence globally, and articulates our focus on continued research on topics where additional evidence is needed.  It discusses strengthening our support for building capacity to carry out gender-based violence work among advocates and partners globally, as well as within the U.S. government.  It builds on a major focus of our previous strategies, integrating gender-based violence prevention and response across U.S. foreign policy and assistance, and maps out plans for further integration and mainstreaming.  Finally, Pillar III promotes the revitalization of U.S. leadership and coordination on gender-based violence prevention and response, including how we will continue to leverage existing multilateral platforms and invest in new partnerships to make more progress, while holding ourselves accountable as leaders in this space.  The approaches outlined in Pillar III and throughout this strategy keep prevention at their core and use a multi-sectoral, public health approach with the goal of stopping violence before it begins.

• Objective 3.1: Amplify What Works: Bring to Scale Evidence-Based, Survivor-Centered, and Locally Led Approaches

Action:  Increase U.S. support for gender-based violence prevention and response interventions that are proven, adaptable to local contexts, and survivor-centered.

Approach:  The U.S. will continue to build the evidence base for gender-based violence prevention, mitigation, and response programming and policies, and bring to scale proven, adaptable policy and programmatic interventions.  A survivor-centered, locally led approach to build evidence on gender-based violence will enhance U.S. engagement and leadership in multilateral and bilateral forums, as well as across other U.S. strategies, policies, and programming.  By building and amplifying robust evidence that reflects the needs of diverse communities and different types of gender-based violence, our approach must replicate promising practices in evidence collection – particularly around research ethics, trauma-informed approaches, and centering the safety of survivors.  The United States will emphasize the recruitment and training of diverse local community members, including women, girls, gender non-conforming individuals, LGBTQI+ persons, persons with disabilities, and members of other marginalized populations, to build local capacity and buy-in for better evidence generation in gender-based violence programming and policies.

With this growing evidence base, the United States will work to collaborate across sectors, partnerships, and with local leadership to uplift and amplify what works in gender-based violence policy and programming.  This includes building partnerships with and learning from U.S. domestic research and promising practices on gender-based violence prevention and response.  The United States will also encourage other governments and funders to support scaling promising interventions and evidence-driven policies and practices.  We also commit to sharing this evidence base with and learning from partners around the world, ensuring that we can collectively fine tune services and policies to better assist survivors of gender-based violence and hold perpetrators accountable.  Examples of our approach include:

Policy and Diplomacy

• Tracking annual policy successes on preventing and responding to gender-based violence globally to identify best practices that can be shared, both internally across U.S. government Departments, Agencies, and diplomatic missions, but also externally with civil society, bilateral, multilateral, and other partners.
• Leveraging multilateral platforms such as the annual Commission on the Status of Women, UN General Assembly, Generation Equality Forum, and other venues as an opportunity to share lessons learned from our global and domestic work to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.
• Hosting events, consultations, and other learning opportunities to amplify research and promising practices on gender-based violence prevention and response across countries and regions.
• Dedicating resources to encourage learning and knowledge sharing through quarterly meetings with bilateral and private funders to assist in recognizing gender-based violence programming gaps, strengthening policy responses, and overcoming known obstacles to gender-based violence programming in all communities.
• Investing in the development of: 1) evidence-driven gender-based violence programming, including integrating foundational elements and minimum standards 33 for gender-based violence programming across the development and humanitarian continuum; and 2) locally led and driven responses to gender-based violence in coordination with organizations led by women and members of other marginalized populations.
• Supporting continuous learning and adaptation to meet the needs of all communities receiving gender-based violence services and interventions, including by prioritizing investments in monitoring and evaluation efforts to assess the long-term impacts of gender-based violence prevention and response programming.
• Continuing to support and strengthen global surveys and other data efforts that collect information on gender-based violence to better inform our policies and programs.
• Objective 3.2: Enhance Partnerships and Local Leadership

Action:  Advance partnerships and strengthen the capacity and agency of our partners and external stakeholders to jointly contribute to an enabling environment for people to live free from gender-based violence.

Approach:  Building and strengthening the capacity and agency of stakeholders across the U.S. government, gender-based violence serving organizations, and other partners that are committed to ending gender-based violence requires a whole-of-systems approach.  In supporting gender-based violence organizations and other partners, we are committed to using an intersectional approach.  This includes supporting partnerships with local researchers to generate policy solutions and programs with strong local ownership focused on ending gender-based violence.  As we support local solutions and work with individuals vulnerable to gender-based violence, the United States will do so in a learning mode, sharing the knowledge we have while learning from those leading this work within local communities.  We will seek to strengthen existing partnerships to increase the support of gender-based violence programming with encouragement for diverse leadership.  This could include providing assistance to organizations and partners that use the principles in this strategy to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.  An important element of this approach is considering innovative ways to resource local organizations committed to gender-based violence prevention and response, including through collaboration with other donors.  Examples of our approach include:

• Holding consultations with civil society and other external stakeholders on at least an annual basis to iterate and improve the implementation of this strategy.
• Identifying opportunities and developing partnerships to work with likeminded partners to fill data gaps and amplify solutions, such as the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse and other opportunities through the Summit for Democracy.
• Developing region- and country-specific policies, in partnership with local leaders, that contextualize the principles set forth in this strategy, such as Pillar V of the S. Strategy for Addressing the Root Causes of Migration in Central America , “Combatting sexual, gender-based, and domestic violence.”
• Investing in pooled financing with other funders addressing gender-based violence to fund local and women’s rights organizations.
• Investing in the continuous skill building of gender-based violence practitioners, including self and collective care practices, survivor-centered sexual exploitation and abuse protection policies and procedures, and peer-to-peer mentorship across regions.
• Expanding partnerships, funding, and technical assistance to local organizations on gender-based violence prevention and response. S. foreign assistance efforts on gender-based violence will seek to prioritize shifting financial and other resources to women’s rights organizations and other local groups working with communities to end gender-based violence.
• Strengthening collaboration across the federal government and with private sector partners to deepen understanding of the role and impact of gender-based violence in the context of investments and transactions across various sectors and to identify potential risk mitigating actions.
• Objective 3.3: Build and Strengthen Capacity within the U.S. Government

Action:   Build the capacity, knowledge, and skills of U.S. government staff to enhance integration of gender-based violence prevention and response priorities throughout U.S. foreign policy and programs.

Approach:  Consistent with the U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, U.S. government departments and agencies will comprehensively integrate gender-based violence prevention and response strategies into new and existing foreign policy, diplomacy, defense, and programming efforts.  To carry out and sustain this integration, as outlined in this strategy, departments and agencies will build up the capacity and technical expertise of their U.S. government staff across sectors.  This includes investing in, hiring, and maintaining well-qualified gender-based violence technical experts in foreign policy and foreign assistance roles.  We will strengthen formal gender-based violence training courses as well as informal learning tools that showcase holistic and multi-sectoral approaches to ending gender-based violence.  Further, we will leverage intra- and interagency platforms across sectors to more consistently and effectively integrate gender-based violence issues across U.S. efforts and to avoid duplication.  The U.S. government takes seriously our moral and ethical responsibility to ensure our staff and partners actively work to ensure safe delivery of assistance and programs, protect the populations they serve, ensure nondiscrimination for program participants, and hold those responsible for sexual exploitation and abuse to account.  To strengthen intra- and interagency efforts, we will encourage a robust community of practice within each agency contributing to gender-based violence prevention and response efforts.  Examples of our approach include:

• Through institutional reform efforts of the S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality , building the capacity and technical expertise of U.S. government staff across sectors to better understand gender-based violence and better tailor gender-based violence prevention and response activities, including by working with government advisors and working groups that specialize in gender issues across departments, agencies, and overseas missions.
• Ensuring that training and skills-building on gender-based violence issues, and on specific forms of gender-based violence, continue to be included and integrated in relevant standalone courses for U.S. diplomats. Resources, including training, will be geared to staff who are not specialists in gender-based violence, including diplomatic and foreign service officers, to ensure the integration of gender-based violence priorities and principles into policy and programming efforts.
• Encouraging all departments and agencies working on foreign assistance to have an agency-specific gender-based violence prevention, mitigation, and response training that would be required for all U.S. government staff.
• Educating U.S. government staff across sectors on the best and promising practices for safe and respectful engagements with gender-based violence survivors in policy, programs, and public diplomacy through gender and inclusion analysis, risk analysis, and gender-based violence mitigation.
• Supporting evidence-driven gender-based violence programming, including the integration of foundational elements and minimum standards. 34 Gender-based violence programming should be informed by the lived experiences of survivors and position them in leadership and advisory roles.
• Actively encouraging the integration of gender-based violence prevention and response efforts into all sectoral programming that receives U.S. funding. This includes incorporating the results of robust gender analyses in programs; acknowledging and understanding gender-based violence referral systems by working with communities; addressing the unique vulnerabilities of certain populations; and ensuring a survivor-centered approach.
• Enhancing the development, training, and implementation of internal policies and processes, including proactive risk analyses and mitigation measures to prevent and address sexual exploitation and abuse in U.S. government-funded efforts, regardless of their focus or sector.
• Conducting gender analyses and risk assessments across U.S. government programming that include identifying risks and mitigation for gender-based violence.
• Objective 3.4: Revitalize Leadership and Coordination

Action:  Strengthen U.S. engagement and collaboration on gender-based violence prevention and response on the global stage and lead by example through our domestic prioritization of ending gender-based violence within the United States.

Approach:   Revitalizing U.S. leadership and coordination on gender-based violence prevention and response globally will entail continued engagement in relevant United Nations and other multilateral forums and processes; raising gender-based violence issues in strategic and bilateral dialogues; ensuring adequate resourcing of global gender-based violence prevention and response efforts, including by maintaining leadership-level funding to relevant United Nations organizations; and sharing U.S. best practices and lessons learned on a global scale, including leading by example through our revitalized domestic efforts via the implementation of the U.S. National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence .  We will actively pursue new partnerships and explore new opportunities to collaborate with global allies to accelerate an end to all forms of gender-based violence.  We will work with, lead, and fund coalitions of bilateral and multilateral, private sector, civil society, private sector, and other partners to amplify our shared goals of preventing, mitigating, and responding to gender-based violence globally.  Examples of our approach include:

• Fulfilling U.S. commitments and continuing our leadership on gender-based violence issues through the Generation Equality platform as a member of the Multi-Stakeholder Leadership Group and “commitment-maker” under the Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence. 35  These commitments include policy, funding, and multilateral efforts and will be tracked and measured via the annual Generation Equality accountability reporting process.
• Continuing to elevate gender-based violence as a U.S. priority through various multilateral forums, including the UN Commission on the Status of Women, UN Security Council, UN General Assembly, UN Human Rights Council, G7, G20, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and other regional bodies. This may include negotiating the inclusion of gender-based violence language in all relevant resolutions, drafting or sponsoring new gender-based violence-related resolutions, hosting relevant high-level side events, and leveraging meetings of these forums to raise the profile of timely gender-based violence matters on the global stage.  As a top four “contributing country” on the Executive Board of UN Women, the United States will continue to support and advise on the board’s gender-based violence work.
• Coordinating, sharing learnings, and leading by example as we simultaneously work to end gender-based violence within the United States and around the world. The forthcoming S. National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence offers a unique leadership opportunity to memorialize U.S. domestic gender-based violence efforts to date and set a course for future domestic gender-based violence work.  It will also mobilize governments around the world to prioritize prevention and response efforts within their own borders.
• Exercising leadership in multilateral forums, including through funding for various key entities leading pioneering programs, research, and response services for gender-based violence. In addition to support for UN Women, the U.S. supports gender-based violence work through our funding for the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, UNFPA, UNICEF, the UNICEF-UNFPA Joint Program to End Female Genital Mutilation, and the Office of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict.
• Convening funders investing in addressing gender-based violence globally to share opportunities of co-investing, evidence generation, and strategic policy development to meet global goals in ending different forms of gender-based violence.

Implementing and Measuring the Strategy

The White House Gender Policy Council, in partnership with the National Security Council, coordinates the development of U.S. global gender-based violence prevention and response policy, including this strategy.  The Department of State and USAID are the U.S. government’s primary implementers of policy and programs to prevent and respond to gender-based violence around the world.  Bureaus, offices, and missions are strongly encouraged to use this strategy as a resource for incorporating gender-based violence prevention and response efforts into relevant, lower-level strategies and operational plans.  Participating U.S. government departments and agencies, including the Departments of Treasury, Defense, Justice, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and State; the Peace Corps; the Millennium Challenge Corporation; the Development Finance Corporation; and USAID will continue to designate one or more representatives, as appropriate, with incorporating the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally into policies and programs with the objective of full implementation.

• Implementation Plans

Pursuant to this strategy’s objectives, the Department of State and USAID will cooperate closely on implementing the pillars outlined above.  Following the 2022 update of this strategy, Department of State and USAID agency-specific implementation plans will be reviewed and updated as needed.  The implementation plans will outline U.S. government Agency and Department metrics and indicator reference sheets, as appropriate, to be used to measure progress of implementation in line with the below section.  Other participating Departments and Agencies will develop implementation and monitoring standards and definitions as needed for the metrics and milestones they volunteer to take on.

• Measuring U.S. Government Programs, Policy Engagement, Public Affairs, and Public Diplomacy Work

We are committed to accountability and iteration in implementing and measuring our progress under this strategy as a partner in ending gender-based violence.  Multiple departments and agencies contribute to this implementation, each with unique systems for reporting and measuring progress.  While each department or agency implementation plan or method of implementation will be detailed further, this interagency results framework is meant to discuss progress of the aggregate U.S. government.  Progress will be reviewed annually, through consultations across the interagency and with civil society, to identify challenges and gaps and find ways to adapt and improve our implementation and measurement of progress against this strategy.  These consultations may be coordinated with other gender equity and equality consultations, such as those held for the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security .

Results Framework

The following results framework will guide the measurement and monitoring of this strategy.  An illustrative results framework graphic is provided, followed by more detailed assumptions, actions, outputs, and outcomes across the three strategy pillars.  For reference across the pillars of this strategy, items are tagged with each pillar.  This framework supports the vision of this strategy to b uild a future free from gender-based violence for all people.

• Assumptions
• Thematic areas of U.S. government policy and program engagement will continue to need resources, technical support, and capacity building for collaboration and gender-based violence
• Gender-based violence will continue to manifest in different forms and will require an approach that is responsive, adaptable, and flexible.
• Harmful gender norms and power dynamics, including those within governments and multilateral organizations, will continue to create obstacles to enacting change.
• The world, including the global community as well as specific regions, will continue to face shocks and stressors that impede our collective ability to fully prevent and respond to gender-based violence.
• Capacity to deliver effective context and culturally tailored, inclusive, and survivor-centered gender-based violence programming at scale is dependent on political (U.S. and partner nation) buy-in and the availability of sufficient funding.
• Advancing accountability, survivor-centered justice, and restorative justice, developed within a survivor-centered approach for gender-based violence (Pillar II).
• Adapting and responding to new forms of gender-based violence and the contexts in which it arises (e.g., technology-facilitated gender-based violence) (Pillars II & III).
• Increasing support for gender-based violence prevention programs, aiming to build positive peace and challenge harmful gender norms (Pillars I & II).
• Adapting and localizing gender-based violence prevention and response programs and policy advocacy to better support survivors, communities, and civil society (Pillar I).
• Improving implementation of gender-based violence policy and programs, including gender analysis mandates and standards and systems to advance protection from sexual exploitation and abuse; encouraging gender budgeting, training, resourcing, monitoring and data collection and analysis; and encouraging continuous learning and adaptation (Pillar III).
• Improving coherence and alignment by the U.S. government across international engagements on preventing and responding to gender-based violence (Pillar III).
• Improved laws, policies, regulations, or other legal instruments implemented to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, including providing restorative justice approaches (Pillar II) [GNDR-1 & 5].
• Increased gender-based violence services delivered/ gender-based violence programs implemented with the U.S. government supporting high-quality, gender-based violence prevention and response (Pillars II & III) [GNDR-6 & PEPFAR GEND_GBV].
• Increased accountability, access to justice, or other forms of community/restorative justice that are developed and supported with a survivor-centered approach (Pillars I & II).
• Increased multilateral and bilateral diplomatic and policy engagements and/or advocacy actions that aim to uplift locally led efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (e.g., resolutions, statements, events) across all technical sectors (Pillar III).
• Increased integration of gender-based violence topics across U.S. government training (Pillar III).
• Increased training opportunities to improve staff capacity to prevent, mitigate, and respond to gender-based violence (Pillar III).
• Increase in inclusive, survivor-directed data collection and research to support evidence-informed advances in preventing and responding to gender-based violence (Pillar III).
• Increase in percentage of participants in U.S. government programs reporting disapproval of/disagreement with harmful gender norms that contribute to gender-based violence (Pillar II).
• Increase in gender integration, specifically related to preventing and responding to gender-based violence , across U.S. government thematic engagements (Pillars II & III).
• Increase in support of leadership at all levels and solutions to end gender-based violence across technical sectors (Pillars II & III).
• Increase in number of programs that challenge harmful gender norms, including those with survivor-leadership (Pillars I & II) [related to GNDR-4].
• Increase in application of intersectional approaches to preventing and responding to gender-based violence (Pillar I).
• Strengthened evidence base and monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems for preventing, mitigating, and responding to gender-based violence (Pillar III).
• Bolstered inclusive, survivor-centered evidence base that supports lived experience and promotes Do No Harm approach (Pillar III).
• Reduction in gender-based violence globally (Pillars I, II & III).
• More communities, nations, civil society organizations, and partner nation militaries engaged in partnership with the U.S. government to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (Pillar I).
• More easily accessible and quality services for all survivors everywhere (Pillars I & II).
• Enhanced U.S. government integration of gender-based violence prevention and response across training and programs increased across Agencies and Departments (Pillar III).
• Systems, laws, and policies that reflect a stronger, survivor-centered approach to ending gender-based violence (Pillars I, II & III).
• Improved U.S. government ability to partner with communities, countries, and bilateral and multilateral partners to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (Pillar III).
• Progress and Reporting Against the Results Framework

Each Department and Agency contributing to the implementation of this strategy will document how they will collect and measure progress for annual reporting and which metrics they plan to report against.  Variation is expected based on the mission and organizational structure of each Agency and Department.  Combining and analyzing each Department and Agency’s reporting across the interagency will require the White House Gender Policy Council and Department/Agency leadership to synthesize the reports, as described in the process milestones below.

Indicators:   Some standard foreign assistance indicators are listed below as potentially contributing to reporting against the specific strategy pillars and stages of the results framework, but many Departments and Agencies have their own indicators and metrics that will need to be defined, tracked, and analyzed to measure progress.  Standard foreign assistance performance indicator reference sheets (PIRS) exist for the indicators below, and Agencies and Departments may volunteer additional indicators for reporting against activities, outputs, and outcomes and should detail how they will work toward process metrics and milestones in their implementation plan.

• GNDR-1: Number of legal instruments drafted, proposed, or adopted with U.S. government assistance designed to promote gender equality or non-discrimination against women or girls at the national or subnational level.
• GNDR-4: Percentage of participants reporting increased agreement with the concept that males and females should have equal access to social, economic, and political resources and opportunities.
• GNDR-5: Number of legal instruments drafted, proposed, or adopted with U.S. government assistance designed to improve prevention of or response to sexual and gender-based violence at the national or subnational level.
• GNDR-6: Number of people reached by a U.S. government funded intervention providing gender-based violence services (e.g., health, legal, psychosocial counseling, shelters, hotlines).
• PEPFAR GEND_GBV: Number of people receiving a minimum package of post-gender-based violence clinical care services.

To ensure that Departments and Agencies implementing this strategy work toward continual improvement in implementation and increased effectiveness in preventing, mitigating, and responding to gender-based violence, this strategy proposes milestones and improvements in processes to support an ongoing cycle of learning, adaptation, and iteration.  The below milestones and measurements are proposed to ensure accountability for creating and implementing systems of improvement.

Coordination and Commitment Milestones

• Annual Gender Policy Council, aAgency, and dDepartment leadership reflection based on annual reporting against this strategy.
• Annual interagency consultation with civil society and other external stakeholders to provide feedback and ways to iterate and improve implementation of this strategy.
• Annual public report of progress toward implementing this strategy.
• Annual interagency reflection and internal consultation to improve coordination across related gender strategies to promote streamlining of gender equity and equality efforts and reporting.

Process and Accountability Measurements 

• Protection from sexual exploitation and abuse policy standards and best practices promulgated across U.S. government international departments and agencies.
• Programmatic risk assessments that include identifying risks and mitigation for gender-based violence.
• Gender analysis that includes consideration of gender-based violence prevention, mitigation, and response required across all programs.
• Increase in resources invested in preventing, mitigating, and responding to gender-based violence analyzed for quality, impact, and relationship to other resources invested (e.g., foreign assistance, personnel).
• U.S. investments in preventing, mitigating, and responding to gender-based violence (people, training, and programs).
• Data related to gender-based violence globally.
• Data related to the ecosystems of power, control, and violence that underpin gender-based violence.
• Measuring progress and encouraging adaptative management for programs preventing and responding to gender-based violence.
• Costs of gender-based violence for a community, nation, or region.
• https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women     [back to 1]
• https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/child-marriage/     [back to 2]
• https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation    [back to 3]
• https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/womensrh/female-genital-mutilation.html    [back to 4]
• https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2016/9/speech-by-lakshmi-puri-on-economic-costs-of-violence-against-women    [back to 5]
• Marginalized groups/populations:  Groups and communities that experience discrimination and exclusion (economic, political, social, and cultural) because of unequal power relationships across economic, political, social, and cultural dimensions.  Some individuals identify with multiple marginalized groups and may experience deeper marginalization and lack of representation as a result of their intersecting identities. [back to 6]
• The Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court, which entered into force in 2002, recognizes that certain forms of sexual violence may constitute a war crime, crime against humanity, or genocide. The United States is not a state party to the Rome Statute. [back to 7]
• https://dhsprogram.com/ [back to 8]
• https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/vacs/index.html    [back to 9]
• https://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/1498-rights-based-approach.html    [back to 10]
• https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html     [back to 11]
• Trauma-informed: A program, policy, or system that realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery; recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others involved with the system; and responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices, and seeks to actively resist re-traumatization; https://store.samhsa.gov/product/SAMHSA-s-Concept-of-Trauma-and-Guidance-for-a-Trauma-Informed-Approach/SMA14-4884 [back to 12]
• https://www.unfpa.org/news/millions-more-cases-violence-child-marriage-female-genital-mutilation-unintended-pregnancies    [back to 13]
• https://www.unicef.org/lac/en/impact-covid-19-mental-health-adolescents-and-youth    [back to 14]
• https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/10-million-additional-girls-risk-child-marriage-due-covid-19    [back to 15]
• https://www.unfpa.org/publications/international-men-gender-equality-survey-images   [back to 16]
• https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2020.08-UN-CRSV-Handbook.pdf   [back to 17]
• https://www.brookings.edu/research/democracy-gender-equality-and-security/    [back to 18]
• https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ68/PLAW-115publ68.pdf   [back to 19]
• https://www.calltoactiongbv.com/    [back to 20]
• https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/Toolkit_GENDER-BASEDVIOLENCE%20and%20RoL_final_Web_14SEP10.pdf   [ back to 21]
• https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/digital-library/resolutions/   [back to 22]
• https://www.state.gov/transitional-justice-policy-paper-series/ [back to 23]
• Bullying and corporal punishment can be forms of gendered violence as they are often rooted in widely held discriminatory gender norms and practices and enforced by unequal power dynamics; https://www.togetherforgirls.org/schools/#:~:text=School-Related%20Gender-Based%20Violence%20(SRGBV)%20is%20any,enforced%20by%20unequal%20power%20dynamics [back to 24]
• https://www.unesco.org/en/education/education2030-sdg4 [back to 25]
• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/g7-foreign-and-development-ministers-meeting-may-2021-communique/declaration-on-girls-education-recovering-from-covid-19-and-unlocking-agenda-2030   [back to 26]
• http://state.gov/reimagining-pepfar-at-20-to-end-the-hiv-aids-pandemic-by-2030 [back to 27]
• https://gender-based violenceaor.net/sites/default/files/2021-03/gender-based violence-aor-helpdesk-climate-change-gender-based violence-19032021.pdf   [back to 28]
• https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2020-002-En.pdf   [back to 29]
• https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2020-002-En.pdf   [back to 30]
• https://onlineviolencewomen.eiu.com/   [back to 31]
• https://webfoundation.org/2020/03/the-online-crisis-facing-women-and-girls-threatens-global-progress-on-gender-equality/    [back to 32]
• https://www.unfpa.org/minimum-standards   [back to 33]
• https://www.unfpa.org/minimum-standards   [back to 34]
• https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/30/fact-sheet-united-states-to-announce-commitments-to-the-generation-equality-forum/   [back to 35]

On This Page

• Annex A: Agency Roles and Responsibilities
• Annex B: Strategy Mandate and Policy Frameworks
• Annex C: Acknowledgements

U.S. Department of State

The lessons of 1989: freedom and our future.

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16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence Closing Statement

Part of the three livestream events “End Violence against Women Now: Respond, Innovate and Leave no One Behind to Orange the World!”

November 25, 2021

Levan Bouadze

Resident Representative, UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji

By stressing every one of the countries it touches, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the potential to create devastating social, economic and political crises that will leave deep scars. We have heard powerful experiences from today’s discussion in support of the need to undertake explicit measures so that access to services for survivors of GBV are maintained as essential during COVID-19 lockdowns. Violence is preventable and mitigating risks of violence is all the more important during COVID-19 when women and girls may be in lockdown with their abusers.

Data confirm that 1 in 3 women around the world have been subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or non-partner, indicating that levels of violence against women and girls remained disturbingly high. In addition to the impact of COVID-19, there is an evident increase in violence against women and girls globally due to the ongoing crises caused by natural disasters. As gains in women’s rights remain fragile, it is essential to prioritize funding for a minimum package of essential services that include GBV prevention and response in COVID-19 fiscal stimulus packages, and make flexible funding available for women’s rights organizations working at the nexus of COVID-19 and gender-based violence. We have heard how Spotlight Initiative in Vanuatu, for example, has supported Civil Society to raise awareness around GBV and has equipped women with knowledge on GBV and intimate partner violence. This experience, along with many others, shows the importance of sustainable funding for Civil Society Organizations and Women’s Rights Organizations to tackle GBV, especially during the pandemic.

Policymakers can play a huge role in this regard by investing in essential services to ensure the safety of women and girls, and to avoid creating another generation of violence. UNDP Pacific is committed to address gender inequalities through an increased support to women’s organizations, recognizing their role as first responders, together with key line ministries and the private sector. 

We all need to join hands during 16 Days of Activisms against Gender-based Violence with the aim of creating awareness and act to end violence against women and girls in partnership with governments and civil society. We need to work together to ensure essential services for survivors are maintained or adopted where they are non-existent.

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Raising the World Bank Group’s ambition on gender equality

Anna bjerde, makhtar diop, anshula kant, hiroshi matano, axel van trotsenburg, wencai zhang.

Gender equality is an urgent imperative. Crises, conflict, and global trends, including climate change, natural resource scarcity, and technological transitions, are exacerbating inequalities. In many societies, reversals and backlash against gender equality as well as sluggish economic growth and government fiscal and debt burdens are compounding the challenges. Progress on Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality is worryingly off-track and by some estimates it will take 134 years for women and men to reach parity in income and legal rights.

We cannot accept this.

At the World Bank Group, we are raising our ambition to help achieve gender equality. Our new Gender Strategy for 2024-2030 commits us to building the foundational well-being of women, to expanding economic opportunities for all, and engaging women as leaders—pillars that will help accelerate gender equality to end poverty on a livable planet.

This strategy was developed through detailed consultations with stakeholders from more than 100 countries . It builds on global research and operational experience, spanning a decade of gender and development reviews , and institutional and thematic retrospectives. As we implement the strategy, we will focus on replicating solutions at scale and keeping ourselves accountable to measurable progress.

We know it will not be easy to accelerate progress on equality. We need bold action and comprehensive engagement to tackle complex and persistent gender barriers.

This is why the strategy proposes to use the combined strengths, resources, and expertise of the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. This is why, in implementing the strategy, we will emphasize three critical drivers of change: innovation, financing, and collective action.

Innovation includes supporting institutional and policy reforms and programs that address gender constraints based on data, evidence, technology, and behavioral insights, among others, as well as learning from and refining local approaches.

Financing includes securing and allocating resources towards gender equality outcomes that also help build prosperity and a livable planet, with a focus on replicating successful public and private programs at scale.

Collective action means enlisting the concerted efforts—through data, knowledge, and advocacy—of stakeholders and partners.

The new strategy centers on three strategic objectives with outcomes that will be measured and tracked as part of the new World Bank Group scorecard.

First, build foundational well-being.

This requires ending gender-based violence and elevating human capital . We are appalled by the extent of gender-based violence, which affects one in three women worldwide—or about three-quarters of a billion women.  The new gender strategy is putting the fight against gender-based violence center stage. The impact of this violence extends far beyond individual survivors, affecting the productivity and well-being of families and communities, often across generations. Ending gender-based violence will protect individuals and lay the foundation for healthier, more productive societies.

Human capital is our most valuable resource, but access to quality education, health, and other social services is unevenly distributed and, as a result, leaves many people behind. Therefore, building and protecting human capital requires strengthening access to education, investing in health services, including sexual and reproductive health, and helping people build and access the skills that will allow all girls and boys to realize their full potential. 

Second, expand and enable economic opportunities for all.

Even though more young women are attaining higher levels of education, women still are only half as likely as men to have a full-time wage job. More concerted efforts are needed to ensure that all people can access more and better quality jobs, and for women to have ownership and use of economic assets, including capital, and greater financial independence. World Bank Group financing, guarantees, and technical support will be expanded to leverage public and private sector efforts that address constraints, including issues of care (childcare and other care) and lack of financial and digital inclusion, to create economic opportunities for women.

Finally, engage women as leaders.

This will help contribute to the resolution of global challenges as well as promote gender equality . When women thrive, the world thrives: households, communities, businesses, and countries. There is mounting evidence that the participation of women as leaders and decision makers improves development outcomes, including food security, natural resource management, community resilience, and service delivery. Through partnerships, we are working to expand our efforts and track progress.

Scaling solutions to accelerate equality for all and improving the lives of women and girls, men and boys, is embedded in our drive to become a better bank. This strategy is a call for action, both for the World Bank Group—in our work and in how we run as an organization—and for the world. 

We can no longer afford to marginalize the talents of half of humanity. We invite you to continue to partner with us to accelerate gender equality to end poverty on a livable planet. 

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Speech by Minister Bonginkosi Madikizela: Western Cape Minister of Transport and Public Works

The following speech was delivered in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament today by Minister Madikizela during a debate: Taking action against Gender Based Violence and Femicide in the Western Cape.

• Cabinet colleagues
• Members of the House
• Ladies and gentlemen.

Violence by men against women and children has become a norm. Animals who don’t deserve to be called men are raping and slaughtering our children, sisters, mothers and even grandmothers everyday.

There are 57 murders in South Africa everyday, 46 of those are men, 9 women and 2 children. But the Western Cape has the highest number of child murders while the Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal have the highest number of women murders.

Mr Speaker, for a very long time beside in isolated cases, we’ve been absent as men and have allowed victims to lead this campaign themselves. This norm has to change. Real men must now stand up and say “not in our name”.

I really appeal to the members of this House to use this debate as a rallying call by bringing to the fore practical interventions to curb the scourge.

On the 3rd of February 2013, we woke up to a horrific story of a 17-year-old young girl who was gang-raped and disemboweled with her abdomen slit open at a construction site in Bredasdorp. Anene Booysen’s death sent shockwaves to the nation. There was anger and frustration at how this young woman’s life was ended. We sent messages of condolences, organized marches and called for maximum sentence for the perpetrator who was only 16-years-old.

That horrific incident was followed by another one in the same area in January 2018 when Jordine Pieters was found raped and killed at a limestone factory.

Not long thereafter, Courtney Pieters, a three-year-old that was raped twice before she was killed and buried in a shallow grave in Elsies River.

This month, Jesse Hess, UWC student was found dead with her grandfather at their flat in Parow.

Janika Mallo, a 14-year-old from Mitchells Plain was raped and found dead with her head bashed in her grandmother’s yard.

We must never forget Lynnette Volschenk whose mutilated body parts were found in her flat in Bellville.

Meghan Cremer’s body was found on a sand mine in a farm Philippi. She was allegedly murdered during a robbery involving three men who had previous convictions.

Uyinene Mrwetyana was raped and killed by a monster who works in our offices. He appears to be a normal human being who is a frequent church goer. We then learned that he’s got a history and a record of sexual offenses.

With all these incidents and many more that are not reported, something drastic needs to be done colleagues - it can’t be business as usual.

Speaker, I want to take a moment and pay my respect to one of my unsung heroes who responded to a call for men to take a stand. Unfortunately, people like him get very little attention and recognition. Andrew Klein from Klapmuts was killed by a group of young men after he saved a woman from being gang-raped by nine men. May his soul Rest In Peace.

I also want to thank EFF Councillor, Lucinda Hansbaard for the role she played in assisting the family. I salute you my sister.

Mr Speaker, I want us to be honest with ourselves. Our system failed the rape victim. The Department of Health failed her after she went to hospital but did not get proper assistance. The Department of Social Development failed her. She did not get any counseling after the ordeal. The Police failed her because the perpetrators are still roaming the streets.

Thanks to all the colleagues who intervened to remedy the situation. Colleagues, we can wear black clothes and embark on marches everyday, but if we don’t act when it matters - it’s a cold comfort for victims and families who lost their loved ones.

Mr Speaker, all these incidents are showing a very disturbing pattern. We are dealing with a complex matter here. These are not normal human beings. They have no soul. We need experts to examine all these cases and individuals involved in order to understand what we are dealing with. Yes, protests and marches will raise awareness, but ultimately we need to deal with the root causes.

Populist responses and calling of death penalty will not solve this problem. It will not deter drug addicts who become zombies and oblivious to these acts. It will not deter children born with fetal alcoholic syndrome because their brain is so severely affected that 80% of the time cannot tell the difference between right and wrong. It will not solve the problem of children who join gangs and be forced to kill or rape as part of initiation because they don’t have fathers as role

models. It will not discourage people with mental illness and those with history of abuse but never received the help they need.

Let us start by getting our house in order as Government by protecting victims in our spaces. Uyinene was raped and killed by our employee.

Thousands of girls are sexually exploited and impregnated by teachers. 

Here in Western Cape, a Doctor was fired for raping a patient and another one for raping his colleague.

We have a disturbing culture of sex for jobs, sex for tenders, sex for marks etc.

Many of us know their pastors who abuse young girls but turn a blind eye.

It’s time to act and not just talk.

And this is my appeal to all of you in this House today. Whatever role you play – member of a family, leader in your community, holder of public office  - make every effort to counter the scourge we are addressing here this afternoon.

You all have influence. You can all be alert.

And you can all be united in your condemnation of gender based violence and femicide. We cannot and we must not leave this House today without searching our hearts and identifying the hundreds of opportunities which we all have on a daily basis to make the lives of the women and girls in our society safe and free from the constant fear of the dangers which sadly lurk in so many parts of their daily lives. 

I will be communicating this message to organisations and structures which operate within my portfolios. I am sure my colleagues will join me in doing so.

I thank you.

Ntomboxolo Makoba-Somdaka Spokesperson for Minister Bonginkosi Madikizela Tel: 021 483 8067 Cell: 082 953 0026 Email: [email protected]

Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Gender Inequality — A Discussion on Gender-Based Violence

Gender-based Violence: Effects and Prevention Methods

• Categories: Gender Gender Inequality Race and Gender

About this sample

Words: 382 |

Published: Jul 17, 2018

Words: 382 | Page: 1 | 2 min read

Gender-based violence: essay introduction

Works cited.

• World Health Organization. (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. Retrieved from https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/85239/9789241564625_eng.pdf
• United Nations. (n.d.). Violence against women: Facts everyone should know. Retrieved from https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures
• Heise, L. L., & Kotsadam, A. (2015). Cross-national and multilevel correlates of partner violence: An analysis of data from population-based surveys. The Lancet Global Health, 3(6), e332-e340. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(15)00013-3
• García-Moreno, C., Hegarty, K., d'Oliveira, A. F., Koziol-McLain, J., Colombini, M., & Feder, G. (2015). The health-systems response to violence against women. The Lancet, 385(9977), 1567-1579. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61837-7
• Jewkes, R., Flood, M., & Lang, J. (2015). From work with men and boys to changes of social norms and reduction of inequities in gender relations: A conceptual shift in prevention of violence against women and girls. The Lancet, 385(9977), 1580-1589. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61683-4
• United Nations Development Programme. (n.d.). Ending violence against women. Retrieved from https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-5-gender-equality/overview/ending-violence-against-women.html
• Krug, E. G., Mercy, J. A., Dahlberg, L. L., & Zwi, A. B. (2002). The world report on violence and health. The Lancet, 360(9339), 1083-1088. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11133-0
• Human Rights Watch. (n.d.). Violence against women. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/topic/womens-rights/violence-against-women
• United Nations Women. (n.d.). Gender-based violence. Retrieved from https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures/gender-based-violence
• World Bank. (n.d.). Gender-based violence. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/gbv

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Un neadquarters, 19 november 2018, remarks on international day for the elimination of violence against women, antónio guterres.

I am very pleased to be with you to discuss this essential topic.   Violence against women and girls is a global pandemic.   It is a moral affront to all women and girls and to us all, a mark of shame on all our societies, and a major obstacle to inclusive, equitable and sustainable development.   At its core, violence against women and girls in all its forms is the manifestation of a profound lack of respect – a failure by men to recognize the inherent equality and dignity of women.   It is an issue of fundamental human rights.   The violence can take many forms – from domestic violence to trafficking, from sexual violence in conflict to child marriage, genital mutilation and femicide.   It is an issue that harms the individual but also has far-reaching consequences for families and for society.   Violence experienced as a child is linked to vulnerability and violence later in life.   Other consequences include long-term physical and mental health impacts and costs to individuals and society in services and lost employment days.    This is also a deeply political issue.   Violence against women is tied to broader issues of power and control in our societies.   We live in a male-dominated world.   Women are made vulnerable to violence through the multiple ways in which we keep them unequal.   When family laws which govern inheritance, custody and divorce discriminate against women, or when societies narrow women’s access to financial resources and credit, they impede a woman’s ability to leave abusive situations.   When institutions fail to believe victims, allow impunity, or neglect to put in place policies of protection, they send a strong signal that condones and enables violence.     In the past year we have seen growing attention to one manifestation of this violence. Sexual harassment is experienced by almost all women at some point in their lives.   No space is immune.     It is rampant across institutions, private and public, including our very own.   This is by no means a new issue, but the increasing public disclosure by women from all regions and all walks of life is bringing the magnitude of the problem to light.   This effort to uncover society’s shame is also showing the galvanizing power of women’s movements to drive the action and awareness needed to eliminate harassment and violence everywhere.   This year, the global United Nations UNiTE campaign to end violence against women and girls is highlighting our support for survivors and advocates under the theme ‘Orange the World: #HearMeToo’.   With orange as the unifying colour of solidarity, the #HearMeToo hashtag is designed to send a clear message: violence against women and girls must end now, and we all have a role to play.   We need to do more to support victims and hold perpetrators accountable.   But, beyond that, it is imperative that we – as societies -- undertake the challenging work of transforming the structures and cultures that allow sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence to happen in the first place.   These include addressing the gender imbalances within our own institutions.   This is why we have adopted a UN system-wide gender parity strategy.   We have achieved parity in the senior management group and we are well on track to reach gender parity in senior leadership by 2021, and across the board by 2028.   The UN has also reaffirmed its zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment and assault committed by staff and UN partners.   We have recruited specialized investigators on sexual harassment, instituted fast-track procedures for addressing complaints and initiated a 24/7 helpline for victims.   I also remain committed to ending all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers and UN staff in the field – one of the first initiatives I took when I assumed office.   Nearly 100 Member States that support UN operations on the ground have now signed voluntary compacts with us to tackle the issue, and I call on others to join them, fully assuming their responsibilities, in training, but also in ending impunity.   Further afield, we are continuing to invest in life-changing initiatives for millions of women and girls worldwide through the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.   This Fund focuses on preventing violence, implementing laws and policies and improving access to vital services for survivors.   With more than 460 programmes in 139 countries and territories over the past two decades, the UN Trust Fund is making a difference.   In particular, it is investing in women’s civil society organizations, one of the most important and effective investments we can make.   The UN is also working to deliver on a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder, innovative initiative to end all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.   The 500-million-euro EU-UN Spotlight Initiative is an important step forward in this direction.   As the largest-ever single investment in eradicating violence against women and girls worldwide, this initial contribution will address the rights and needs of women and girls across 25 countries and five regions.   It will empower survivors and advocates to share their stories and become agents of change in their homes, communities and countries.   A significant portion of the Spotlight’s initial investment will also go to civil society actors, including those that are reaching people often neglected by traditional aid efforts.   But even though this initial investment is significant, it is small given the scale of the need.   It should be seen as seed funding for a global movement in which we must play a role.   It is that global movement that we celebrate today, as we look forward to the coming 16 days devoted to ending gender-based violence.   Not until the half of our population represented by women and girls can live free of fear, violence and everyday insecurity, can we truly say we live in a fair and equal world.   Thank you very much.

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Release of the National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for   Action

May 25, 2023

Today, the White House released the first-ever U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action . When President Biden issued the Executive Order establishing the first-ever White House Gender Policy Council , he called on the Gender Policy Council to develop the first U.S. government-wide plan to prevent and address sexual violence, intimate partner violence, stalking, and other forms of gender-based violence (referred to collectively as GBV).  

Gender-based violence is a public safety and public health crisis, affecting urban, suburban, rural, and Tribal communities in the United States. It is experienced by individuals of all backgrounds and can occur across the life course. Though we have made significant progress to expand services and legal protections for survivors, much work remains.

Through this National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence (National Plan), the Biden-Harris Administration is advancing a comprehensive, government-wide approach to preventing and addressing GBV in the United States. The National Plan identifies seven strategic pillars undergirding this approach: 1) Prevention; 2) Support, Healing, Safety, and Well-Being; 3) Economic Security and Housing Stability; 4) Online Safety; 5) Legal and Justice Systems; 6) Emergency Preparedness and Crisis Response; and 7) Research and Data. Building upon existing federal initiatives, the National Plan provides an important framework for strengthening ongoing federal action and interagency collaboration, and for informing new research, policy development, program planning, service delivery, and other efforts across each of these core issue areas. It is guided by the lessons learned and progress made as the result of tireless and courageous leadership from GBV survivors, advocates, researchers, and policymakers, as well as other dedicated professionals and community members who lead prevention and response efforts.

And while the Plan is focused specifically on federal action, it is designed to be accessible and useful to public and private stakeholders across the United States for adaptation and expansion—because all communities are vital to ending GBV.

The priorities in this National Plan to End GBV, as well as those included in the 2022 update to the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally , reflect our nation’s ongoing commitment to advancing efforts to prevent and address gender-based violence both at home and abroad. As stated in the National Plan, “Ending gender-based violence is, quite simply, a matter of human rights and justice.”

While the National Plan provides a roadmap to guide future efforts, addressing GBV has been a core priority since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, as reflected in the highlights below of recent and longer-term actions undertaken to prevent and address GBV.

Recent Federal Initiatives to Prevent and Address GBV in the United States Include:

• Elevating the Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services : The Assistant Secretary of the Administration of Children and Families (ACF) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) established the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) Program as its own office under the ACF Immediate Office of the Assistant Secretary in March 2023, now known as the Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services (OFVPS) . The establishment of OFVPS reflects the importance of work to prevent and address intimate partner violence, domestic violence, dating violence, and sexual assault; to coordinate trauma informed services and support across ACF, HHS, and the federal government; and to strengthen attention to policy and practice issues relating to addressing the needs of survivors. 
• Establishing New FVPSA Discretionary Grant Programs:   Funding for FVPSA programs increased by 20% in the FY 2023 federal budget. In addition to allocating increased funding for existing FVPSA programs, the OFVPS is publishing four new competitive discretionary notice of funding opportunities in May 2023. This includes $7.5 million to fund thirty cooperative agreements to support Culturally Specific Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault grants for community-based organizations to build and sustain organizational capacity in delivering trauma-informed, developmentally sensitive, culturally relevant services for children, individuals, and families affected by sexual assault and domestic violence. It also includes for the first time cooperative agreements in the amount of $500,000 each to fund two Sexual Assault Capacity Building Centers to provide national technical assistance to states, territories, and tribal governments in supporting comprehensive services for rape crisis centers, sexual assault programs, culturally specific programs, and other nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations or tribal programs that provide direct intervention and related assistance to victims of sexual assault, without regard to age.
• Announcing Grant Awards for the Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership through Alliances Initiative : On May 3,the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced funding awards for thirteen state domestic violence coalitions under the Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances (DELTA): Achieving Health Equity through Addressing Disparities (AHEAD) initiative . DELTA AHEAD recipients will work to decrease risk factors and increase protective factors related to intimate partner violence by addressing social determinants of health and health equity.
• Launching the  HRSA Strategy to Address Intimate Partner Violence : On May 16, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the Department of Health and Human Services launched the 2023-2025 HRSA Strategy to Address Intimate Partner Violence . The agency-wide Strategy identifies strategic objectives and activities for HRSA Bureaus and Offices to undertake that will contribute to these aims to enhance HRSA coordination of efforts to strengthen infrastructure and workforce capacity to address intimate partner violence and promote prevention through evidence-based programs.
• Expanding Support for the Administration of Grants to Tribes: OFVPS recently expanded staffing to support the implementation of FVPSA and American Rescue Plan grant programs. This includes hiring for the first time a Tribal Program Manager, and five Tribal Program Specialists who will lead OFVPS training, technical assistance, support, and engagement of the 252 tribes that receive FVPSA and ARP funding to meet the needs of American Indians/Native Americans and Alaska Natives surviving violence, trauma, and abuse.
• Allocating Increased Funding for Department of Justice VAWA Programs: Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) has administered close to a billion dollars (approximately $480 million and 750 awards in both FY 2021 and FY 2022) to implement the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) across states and territories to reduce and address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking by strengthening services to victims and holding offenders accountable. In FY 2023, OVW received $700 million through the bipartisan omnibus appropriations (a 20% increase over the FY’ 22 appropriations), and the President’s budget for FY 2024 calls for $1 billion to implement VAWA programs.
• Providing HUD Funding for DV Projects and Establishing New VAWA Technical Assistance Grants: In March 2023, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced $2.76 billion in FY 2022 awards to help people experiencing homelessness. These awards included over $54 million in new grants to support domestic violence (DV) projects. This spring, there will be another round of $52 million available for DV projects in the FY 2023 Continuums of Care (CoC) Program Competition. Additionally, this summer, HUD will announce the recipient(s) of $5 million in new VAWA technical assistance funding through the agency’s Community Compass Technical Assistance and Capacity Building program. The VAWA Technical Assistance Providers will provide comprehensive training, technical assistance, and other support to HUD’s grantees, housing providers, and other stakeholders on VAWA implementation issues. 
• Announcing the Fostering Access, Rights and Equity (FARE) Grant Program: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Women’s Bureau announced the 2023 Fostering Access, Rights and Equity (FARE) Grant opportunity in April, which assists underserved and marginalized low-income women workers who have been impacted by gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work (including activities that occur in the course of, are linked with, or arise out of work), and helps them understand and access their employment rights, services, and benefits. These grants provide crucial outreach, education, and improved benefits access.
• Advancing Promising Practices to Prevent Harassment in the Federal Sector: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a new technical assistance document in April 2023 entitled Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment in the Federal Sector . The document builds upon existing EEOC guidance and is intended to serve as a resource to help federal agencies prevent and remedy harassment, including sexual harassment, and to assist agencies as they work to update or revise their anti-harassment policies and programs. Most of the practices identified, such as those related to conducting investigations and addressing online harassment, may also be helpful to practitioners outside of the federal government.
• Issuing a Presidential Memorandum Establishing Safe Leave for Federal Workers : President Biden issued a Presidential Memorandum in February 2023 directing the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to provide recommendations regarding federal employees’ access to paid leave for purposes related to seeking safety and recovering from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking—including to obtain medical treatment, seek assistance from service organizations, seek relocation, and take legal action.
• Establishing the Humanitarian, Adjustment, Removing Conditions and Travel Documents (HART) Service Center : The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the Department of Homeland Security opened the Humanitarian, Adjustment, Removing Conditions and Travel Documents (HART) Service Center in February 2023, which focuses on the adjudication of humanitarian-based immigration relief, including VAWA self-petitions and U-visas for victims of eligible crimes. HART will significantly increase the number of adjudicators for these cases in order to positively impact the timeliness and scale of USCIS’ humanitarian processing abilities.
• Expanding the OSHA U/T Visa Certification Program: The Department of Labor expanded its T and U visa certification program in March 2023, to include the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). For the first time, OSHA will be able to issue these visa certifications – during its workplace safety investigations – when the agency identifies qualifying criminal activities, including sexual assault and human trafficking. The authority will provide the agency with a critical tool for protecting immigrant and migrant worker communities regardless of their lack of immigration status or temporary employment authorization. While OSHA and the Wage and Hour Division have the authority to issue U and T visa certifications, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services determines whether an applicant qualifies for the visa.
• Addressing Sexual Assault in the Military Service Academies. The Secretary of Defense announced in March 2023 a series of significant actions to address sexual violence in the Military Service Academies (MSAs), including requiring On-Site Installation Evaluations at each of the Academies, adapting and applying recommendations from the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military to the MSA context, enhancing prevention efforts, and informing cadets and midshipmen of the significant changes to the military justice process scheduled to take effect in December 2023.
• Implementing VAWA Changes to Grants: Solicitations for FY 2023 OVW grant programs include numerous improvements to legal tools and expansions of grant programs addressing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, as a result of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 (VAWA 2022), which was enacted in March of 2022.
• Developing the White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse Initial Blueprint : The White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse released a summary of the  Initial Blueprint for Action in March 2023, which includes a broad range of new and expanded commitments from Federal agencies to address technology-facilitated gender-based violence across four main lines of effort: Prevention, Survivor Support, Accountability, and Research. The FY 2023 omnibus law allocates $7 million for DOJ to fund two new programs authorized in VAWA 2022, including the establishment of a National Resource Center on Cybercrimes Against Individuals, and grants to provide training and support to State, Tribal, and local law enforcement, prosecutors, and judicial personnel to assist victims of cybercrimes. Additionally, as part of the federal government’s efforts to increase accountability, DOJ’s OVW will launch an initiative, with the funding allocated in the FY 2023 bipartisan omnibus, focused on the prosecution and investigation of online abuse.
• Announcing a Call for Concept Papers for Restorative Practices Training and Technical Assistance : DOJ’s OVW recently released a new solicitation to offer training and technical support to implement restorative practices. Projects will protect survivor safety and autonomy, working to offer survivors options to seek justice and healing, in alignment with the requirements outlined in Section 109 of VAWA 2022 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022.
• Issuing Regulations Governing the Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction (STCJ) Reimbursement Program : OVW issued an interim final rule to implement a new program authorized under VAWA 2022 to reimburse Tribal governments for expenses incurred in exercising STCJ over non-Native individuals who commit certain covered crimes on Tribal lands. This rule implements the new Tribal Reimbursement Program by providing details on how it will be administered, including eligibility, frequency of reimbursement, costs that can be reimbursed, the annual maximum allowable reimbursement per Tribe, and conditions for waiver of the annual maximum.
• Developing the Integrated Primary Prevention Workforce (IPPW) : DoD developed a model for a dedicated and capable workforce focused on preventing sexual assault, harassment, suicide, domestic abuse, child abuse, and retaliation. In January 2022, the Department launched a phased approach to hiring a primary prevention workforce. The Department has begun hiring the Integrated Primary Prevention Workforce (IPPW) at installations across the world and released DoDI 6400.11 (“ DoD Integrated Primary Prevention Policy for Prevention Workforce and Leaders ”) in December 2022 to outline guidance.  While both prevention and response are necessary to decrease the impact of harm and violence in our military community, the Department sees prevention as the best way to ensure future harm and violence never occur.  Efforts are underway to staff the new IPPW, which will be staffed with 2,000 skilled professionals who promote the health of their military community and work with leaders to change policies and implement prevention activities.
• Announcing National Institute of Justice FY23 Research and Evaluation on Violence Against Women: DOJ’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) strives to support the development of objective and independent knowledge and validated tools to reduce violence against women, promote justice for victims of crime, and enhance criminal justice responses. NIJ’s new solicitation for FY 2023 will provide grant funding to conduct research and evaluation projects examining a broad range of topics, including the crimes of domestic and family violence, intimate partner violence, rape, sex trafficking, sexual assault, stalking, and teen dating violence, also known as adolescent relationship abuse, along with the associated criminal justice system response, procedures, and policies.

These recent actions build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s longstanding commitment to addressing GBV, including by:

• Reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act : President Biden signed into law the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 (VAWA 2022) in March 2022, critical legislation that expands access to safety and support for survivors and increases prevention efforts. The Administration is swiftly implementing the new and strengthened VAWA, including targeted actions to support Native survivors through the expansion of special criminal jurisdiction of Tribal courts, updating HUD’s guidance on expanded VAWA housing protections, improving access to sexual assault medical forensic examinations, and enhancing grant programs to support LGBTQI+ survivors, survivors of technology-facilitated abuse, and those in marginalized or underserved communities, including rural communities
• Enacting the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act : President Biden signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022, the most significant legislation to reduce gun violence in 30 years. The law will save lives by strengthening the background check system; narrowing the “boyfriend loophole” to keep guns out of the hands of convicted dating partners; investing $250 million for community-based violence intervention programs; providing $750 million for states to implement crisis interventions, such as extreme risk protection orders (also known as “red flag laws”); and expanding mental health services and safety initiatives in schools and communities.
• Improving Protections for Survivors of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the Workplace : In 2022, President Biden signed into law the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act ,which amended the Federal Arbitration Act for disputes involving sexual assault and sexual harassment in order to stop employers and businesses from forcing employees and customers out of the court system and into arbitration. The President also signed into law the   Speak Out Act , which enables survivors to speak out about workplace sexual assault and harassment by prohibiting the enforcement of pre-dispute nondisclosure and non-disparagement clauses regarding allegations of sexual harassment or assault
• Increasing Resources for Survivors of Crime, Including Gender-Based Violence .  President Biden signed into law the VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act of 2021 which passed Congress with bipartisan support and expanded the allocation of resources for the Crime Victims Fund. This has already resulted in an increase of hundreds of millions of dollars of non-taxpayer funding for essential and lifesaving services to crime victims around the country, including survivors of gender-based violence.
• Allocating $1 Billion in Supplemental Funding for DV/SA Services Through the American Rescue Plan: The Office on Family Violence Prevention and Services (OFVPS) has been administering the nearly $1 billion in supplemental funding for domestic violence and sexual assault services and support allocated through the American Rescue Plan (ARP).
• Addressing GBV in the Military : At the direction of President Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered a 90-Day Independent Review Commission (IRC) on Sexual Assault in the Military to take bold action to address sexual assault and harassment in the armed forces. Since the creation of the IRC, President Biden has signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act of 2022 and 2023, both of which included important reforms to the military justice system and adopted core recommendations of the IRC, as called for by President Biden. These historic, bipartisan reforms fundamentally shift how the military prosecutes and investigates sexual assault, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and other serious crimes, and will increase prevention initiatives and support for survivors. Additionally, in January 2022, President Biden signed an  Executive Order  to establish sexual harassment as a specific offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), and fully implement changes to the UCMJ to criminalize the wrongful broadcast or distribution of intimate images.
• Proposing Amendments to Title IX Regulations : The Department of Education proposed amendments to its Title IX regulation s to advance Title IX’s goal of ensuring that no person experiences sex discrimination in education, that all students receive appropriate support as needed to access equal educational opportunities, and that school procedures for investigating and resolving complaints of sex discrimination, including sex-based harassment and sexual violence, are fair to all involved.
• Launching a Task Force on Sexual Violence in Education : The Department of Education, in collaboration with DOJ and HHS, launched the VAWA-mandated Task Force on Sexual Violence in Education in September 2022, submitted a report to Congress , and has initiated a process to develop recommendations on many aspects of sexual violence prevention and response.
• Improving Law Enforcement Response to Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence by Identifying and Preventing Gender Bias: The Department of Justice released updated guidance in 2022 on Improving Law Enforcement Response to Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence by Identifying and Preventing Gender Bias . This guidance is designed to help law enforcement agencies recognize, mitigate, and prevent gender bias and other bias from compromising the response to, and investigation of, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other forms of gender-based violence. The guidance provides a set of eight basic principles that – if integrated into LEAs’ policies, trainings and practices – help ensure that gender bias, either intentionally or unintentionally, does not undermine efforts to keep survivors safe and hold offenders accountable.
• Addressing GBV in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities : In November 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order that tasked federal agencies with addressing the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples, which most often impacts women, girls, LGBTQI+ people in the community, and Two-Spirit Native Americans. The Biden-Harris Administration has also worked to implement the Not Invisible Act of 2019, which established the Not Invisible Act Commission, a cross jurisdictional advisory committee led by the Secretary of the Interior and Attorney General and composed of law enforcement, Tribal leaders, federal partners, service providers, family members of missing and murdered individuals, and most importantly — survivors. Additionally, in 2021, the United States relaunched the North American Trilateral Working Group on Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls (Trilateral Working Group), in collaboration with the governments of Canada and Mexico, and with the participation of Indigenous women leaders from all three countries.  The White House issued a report following the Fourth Convening of the Trilateral Working Group , which highlights many key regional and federal agency activities intended to prevent and address all forms of GBV, including trafficking in persons and Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP), with a focus on the disproportionate impact on Indigenous women and girls, as well as other LGBTQI+ persons.
• Establishing Culturally Specific Sexual Assault Capacity Building Centers and a Native Hawaiian Resource Center : HHS, through the Family Violence Prevention and Services Program, awarded grant funding in 2022 to support three new cooperative agreements for Culturally Specific Sexual Assault Capacity Building Centers (CSSACs) to provide capacity building resources, training, and technical assistance for culturally specific sexual assault programs serving survivors from culturally specific populations, underserved communities, and historically marginalized communities. The new CSSACs are funded to provide training and technical assistance to states, territories, Tribes, coalitions, and culturally specific organizations to help meet the needs of sexual assault survivors. In September 2022, OFVPS also awarded a $1 million cooperative agreement to establish for the first time a Native Hawaiian Resource Center on Domestic Violence for the Native Hawaiian Communities. Pouhana O Na Wahine is specifically designed to provide capacity building resources, training, and technical assistance for culturally specific family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence programs serving survivors from the Native Hawaiian populations.
• Addressing Online Harassment and Abuse: The Biden-Harris Administration has led efforts to prevent and address online harassment and abuse in the U.S. and globally. To tackle this scourge, President Biden established the White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse in 2022, with a mandate to identify concrete actions in a Blueprint for Action to prevent and address online harassment and abuse, provide support for survivors, increase accountability, and expand research. In 2022, the Administration also launched the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse , which was announced at the first Summit for Democracy and formally launched at the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations. Since its start in March 2022, the Global Partnership has grown to 12 countries, and has brought together international organizations, civil society, and the private sector to better prioritize, understand, prevent, and address the growing scourge of technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
• Issuing a Presidential Memorandum on Promoting Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence : In November 2022, President Biden signed a Presidential Memorandum to strengthen the U.S. government’s efforts to combat rape as a weapon of war. This Presidential Memorandum directs the State Department, Treasury Department, and other federal agencies to leverage sanctions authorities, assistance restrictions, and other tools to promote accountability for perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). With this executive action, U.S. departments and agencies are, for the first time, being directed to ensure equal consideration of acts of CRSV when identifying appropriate targets and preparing designations under applicable sanctions authorities.
• Expanding the Safe from the Start Initiative : Safe from the Start ReVisioned , an expansion of the flagship initiative that began in 2013, aims to ensure that GBV prevention, mitigation, and response is prioritized, integrated, and coordinated across humanitarian responses globally, and to shift funding, influence, and decision-making power to women and girls within humanitarian response systems. Safe from the Start ReVisioned aligns with the priorities outlined in the Presidential Memorandum on Promoting Accountability for Sexual Violence in Conflict , which calls for programming and assistance that prioritizes the immediate needs of survivors.

Read the U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/National-Plan-to-End-GBV.pdf

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