United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

In Panama, UNODC developed a gender-responsive litigation manual for public defenders and delivered training to judiciary members on handling gender-based violence cases. 

UNODC provided advisory support to the government of Mauritania on implementing gender-responsive policing practices.  

Under the Spotlight Initiative join programmes for Mexico and Kyrgyzstan, UNODC promoted protection, support and services for victims and survivors of gender-based violence.

In Viet Nam, UNODC continued technical support to Domestic Violence Rapid Response Teams, composed of police officers, Women’s Union leaders and volunteers, providing immediate support and options to survivors, facilitating prosecution of perpetrators and supporting a zero tolerance culture towards gender-based violence in the community.

Under the framework of the Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) project in Ukraine, UNODC is working to improve conflict-related sexual violence responses at the national and local level. UNODC is working to ensure that the Ukrainian legislative and regulatory framework is survivor friendly. This includes, for example, the set-up of a Survivor Advisory Board that will advise Ukraine on integrating survivor perspectives and survivors’ lived experiences into the national response to prevent and respond to CRSV. UNODC is also working with other stakeholders in Ukraine including the National and Migration Police and the Offices of the Prosecutor General to put in place institutional mechanisms to ensure rights-based and effective investigations and prosecutions of Trafficking in Persons with a focus on victims of sexual exploitation. 

UNODC, in partnership with the UN Team of Experts on Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict, leads the UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict network. Together, they are working to enhance collaboration in preventing and addressing sexual violence within the context of terrorism and violent extremism. In 2022, the network hosted two expert-led discussions and webinars to better understand the challenges and good practices in judicial response, and in improve support and services for survivors of CRSV committed in the context of terrorism and violent extremism.

In Ethiopia, UNODC supported the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs in drafting a national policy for preventing and responding to gender-based violence and organized a national consultation forum on the role of women in peacebuilding and conflict resolution.  

UNODC provided legislative guidance on Albania’s draft gender equality law, aligning recommendations with the United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice. These contributions aimed to strengthen the country’s legislative framework on gender equality. 

In Viet Nam, UNODC, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), provided advisory services in relation to a draft of a law on domestic violence prevention and control, which was subsequently passed.  

In Nigeria, UNODC supported the development of a gender-responsive five-year strategic plan, standard operating procedures, and a monitoring framework for police accountability and victim support. 

During the reporting period, UNODC provided training and capacity building on crime prevention and criminal justice responses to gender-based violence against women for criminal justice professionals in Colombia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, State of Palestine, Somalia and Viet Nam. 

For instance, in Kyrgyzstan, 200 police officers and 50 prosecutors received gender-responsive training to support victims of violence, and the Office assisted the Government in establishing a “one-window centre” in Bishkek where victims of gender-based violence against women can access essential multisectoral services.  

UNODC also strengthened justice sector responses to violence against women by enhancing judicial capacities through workshops. In the Dominican Republic, the Office conducted a technical needs assessment on access to justice for women in cases of gender-based violence and trained 103 criminal justice professionals through a capacity-building workshop for judges, prosecutors and police officers.  

In Egypt, UNODC organized nine training workshops for 178 judges on facilitating access to justice for women victims of violence and two workshops for 40 administrative prosecution judges focused on violence against women. 

UNODC supported countries in awareness-raising and advocacy for ending violence against women, including:

UNODC supported the 30th Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (May 2023), which recommended that Member States should strengthen multidisciplinary and coordinated crime prevention and criminal justice responses to gender-based violence and gender related killing of women and girls, including through in-depth reviews of cases, and exploration of the possibility of establishing domestic homicide and violent death review committees. UNODC published the study “Background paper on Femicide Review Committees” and further guidance on its femicide reviews website, to support Member States in these efforts. 

UNODC, in cooperation with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), provided updated global estimates of intimate partner/family member femicides through annual publications on femicides (in 2022, 2023 and 2024).  

In addition, in cooperation with UN-Women, UNODC published the Statistical framework for measuring the gender-related killing of women and girls (also referred to as “femicide/feminicide”), which identifies a typology of gender-related killings of women and girls and the list of variables that can be used to identify and count the various types of such killings. 

In Colombia, UNODC developed a guide for a conceptual approach to gender-based violence: legal framework, concepts, routes of attention and recommendations regarding citizen security in the COVID-19 pandemic in Santiago de Cali.

In Pakistan and Myanmar, UNODC coordinated national high-level roundtables to build consensus among different sectors for effective responses to GBV and the delivery of quality essential services for survivors.

In 2020, ICAT published a joint Analytical Review, which assessed, among others, persistent gaps in addressing the gender dimensions of trafficking in persons and identified the necessity to focus prevention efforts on eradicating gendered norms around sexual entitlement, coercion and control that normalize violence and constitutes a part of the continuum of violence against women and girls. ICAT also developed a first-ever Action Plan, which highlights several gender-related follow-up actions.

In the framework of the GLO.ACT project, UNODC undertook a gender and human rights analysis of Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants in Pakistan. UNODC also supported the Afghan National High Commission on Trafficking in Persons in the review and updating of their strategic national action plan to address the root causes and respond to the needs of women and girls.

UNODC supports implementing the HAYA Joint Programme, dedicated to eradicating violence against women in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat), and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). 

UNODC continues to support the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative. Under this initiative, UNODC developed a toolbox for Mexican universities to support institutional responses to violence against women within the academic community. 

UNODC launched the “#EmpowerHer: Advancing Women in/for Justice” initiative, in partnership with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UN Women and the Philippines.