United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

In January and February 2025, UNODC conducted training workshops on the use of non-custodial measures in Bangladesh, in partnership with the Judicial Administration Training Institute, delivering training to criminal justice professionals on gender-responsive alternatives to imprisonment in line with the Tokyo Rules and the Bangkok Rules. 

In May 2025, UNODC facilitated a national workshop in Johannesburg on conceptualizing a research methodology for undertaking femicide reviews in South Africa. The workshop brought together researchers from governmental institutions and non-governmental organizations, including the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Statistics South Africa, the Human Sciences Research Council, the Institute for Security Studies and the Pan-African Collective for Evidence. Building on a regional stakeholder consultation on femicide reviews convened by UNODC in 2024, the workshop explored how femicide reviews can be conducted in a global south context. UNODC facilitated the participation of international experts from the United States and the United Kingdom who shared their experiences with domestic homicide and femicide reviews.

In June 2025, UNODC delivered a presentation at a side event of the 59th session of the Human Rights Council on “Protection from Domestic Violence: Breaking Cycles, Building Peace”. The event explored domestic violence from different perspectives, with UNODC highlights its work on criminal justice responses and the preventive potential of the femicide review methodology.  

UNODC conducted a legislative analysis of 76 jurisdictions worldwide on firearms-related gender-based violence against women, the findings of which were presented at the plenary meeting of GREVIO in June 2025. The analysis examined how domestic legal frameworks address the intersection of firearms possession and gender-based violence, including domestic violence protection orders, firearms removal provisions and risk assessment mechanisms. The findings informed dialogue with GREVIO members on strengthening legislative responses to firearms-related GBV and will contribute to the forthcoming GREVIO General Recommendation on femicide.  

 At the request of UN Women, UNODC prepared a paper on “Access to justice for women and girls alleged or recognized as having infringed criminal law” for an expert group meeting help in September 2025, in preparation for the 70th session of the CSW. UNODC also participated as an observer. The meeting involved over 30 internationally renowned experts who prepared agreed conclusions on the priority theme. The paper outlines international standards and recommendations to guarantee the rights of women and girls in contact with the criminal justice system, including the right to life, health, non-discrimination and fair trial, as well as the right of women and girls deprived of their liberty. 

In June 2025, UNODC organized an event in Brussels on “Tech-enabled Threats and Solutions: The Two Sides of a Coin” for officials from the European Commission and EU Member States. The discussion included a focus on technology-facilitated gender-based violence and the ways in which technologies are exploited to cause harm, as well as technological and policy innovations to prevent and address such violence.

In March 2025, UNODC convened a workshop in Ecuador to support a pilot of the multi-stakeholder in-depth femicide review methodology with counterparts from the Ministry of Women and Human Rights, the prosecution service, the judiciary, the Ministry of the Interior and the National Police.  In South Africa, UNODC continued to support the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation within the Presidency in advancing the policy framework for institutionalizing femicide reviews, including through consultations with government and civil society stakeholders in February and May 2025.

As part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence yearly campaign, UNODC promoted several awareness-raising initiatives, including: 

• Algeria:  launch of a short movie with famous male influencers expressing support to women victims of violence
• Namibia:  launch of the National Namibian Gender Base Violence Database. Developed with the support of UNODC, the Database uses administrative data to track the outcomes of a reported case along the multisectoral continuum of care, to its criminal process outcomes. 

Other activities: 

• UNODC in collaboration with Mauritania organized a campaign in Mauritanian high schools to combat unconscious gender stereotypes and create vocations to the professions of defense, security, and justice among young Mauritanian girls.
• UNODC organized three awareness-raising sessions on Prisoner and Human Rights for Women and Juvenile Inmates with the Sindh Prison Department in Pakistan.
• Cambodia: UNODC raised awareness on support available for victims though a six-month public information campaign. 
• Mexico:  UNODC joined the conversation on how sport can be a vehicle towards gender equality in the podcast Cancha Naranja, tu espacio seguro. This podcast addresses the different strategies to eradicate violence and gender inequalities both on and off the playing field. 

Within the framework of the joint programme “HAYA: Eliminating violence against women in the West Bank and Gaza Strip”, UNODC conducted an awareness-raising campaign that promoted essential services available to victims and survivors of gender-based violence in the State of Palestine. The Office also organized six awareness-raising workshops for service providers dealing with survivors and victims of violence.  

UNODC conducted an assessment in Bosnia and Herzegovina to identify gaps in legal frameworks, victim support services, and access to justice for technology-facilitated gender-based violence.  

UNODC developed a Training Handbook for Criminal Justice Practitioners on Cyberviolence against Women and Girls for Southern Africa and conducted a webinar and trainings based on this and related UNODC tools. 

In Pakistan, UNODC integrated digital services for real-time case tracking and secure complaint registration at police facilitation desks. The Office also partnered with the Balochistan Police to establish a women and juvenile facilitation centre, which offers specialized victim support services, and 10 gender facilitation desks at smart police stations.  

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.