Support for Legislative Development

Legislative reform is a critical pillar of efforts to end violence against women and girls, establishing enforceable protections, clarifying institutional responsibilities, and creating pathways to accountability for perpetrators. Spotlight Initiative works with governments, parliaments, civil society, and traditional institutions to support the development and strengthening of laws that protect women and girls.

In 2025, in Liberia, the Initiative provided technical and consultative groundwork that advanced the Women and Girls Protection Act of 2025, Liberia's most comprehensive legislative proposal to date addressing harmful practices. Inclusive engagements with lawmakers, traditional leaders, civil society, and communities helped build shared understanding and momentum for review and deliberation, reinforced by a national petition of more than 1,000 women and girls advocating for the bill's passage. In Zambia, the Initiative commenced the revision of the Gender Equity and Equality Act through close collaboration with the Gender Division, the Zambia Law Development Commission, and women's rights organizations, ensuring domestic law remains aligned with evolving international human rights standards. In Sierra Leone, a nationwide consultative process engaging over 700 participants informed the review of the Matrimonial Causes Act, laying the groundwork for stronger protections against economic and psychological violence and women's rights to marital property.

Strong legal frameworks, developed through inclusive processes and aligned with international standards, create the institutional foundation on which survivor protection and perpetrator accountability depend. 

In 2025, UN Women continued to support the strengthening of legal frameworks addressing violence against women and girls, translating global standards into national legislation and reinforcing accountability.

In2025, UN Women’s support translated into 32 countries adopting, revising or repealing laws to strengthen the national legal framework on EVAWG. Cumulatively over UN Women’s 2022-2025 strategic note, 148 VAWG-related laws across 29 countries strengthened legal protections, benefiting an estimated 1.36 billion women and girls.

Progress included major normative advances at regional and global levels, notably the adoption of the African Union Convention on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls, as well as regional instruments such as the Inter-American Model Law on digital violence, contributing to increased legal harmonization and responsiveness to emerging forms of violence. A regional panorama of comprehensive laws on violence against women was conducted across Latin American and Caribbean countries, providing an evidence base to inform public policy design and decision‑making by policymakers.

UN Women also supported legislative reforms addressing evolving challenges, including technology-facilitated violence, conflict-related violence and harmful practices, while working to safeguard existing legal gains in a context of backlash. These efforts were supported by strengthened engagement with civil society, including through the EU-funded ACT programme, which enabled feminist priorities to shape legal and policy outcomes.

Country-level examples include strengthened legislation in Albania, improving protections against violence and enabling women’s political participation.

Overall, these legal reforms enhanced accountability, strengthened protections for survivors, and ensured greater alignment of national legislation with international human rights standards, while improving responsiveness to new and evolving forms of violence against women and girls.

UNFPA provided substantial support for legislative development in the following areas: 

• UNFPA supported the process of developing the Inter-American Model Law on digital violence against women of MESECVI.
• In Colombia, Perú, Bolivia UNFPA supported the development of the Child Marriage and Early Union Prohibition.
• In Colombia, UNFPA supported  the adoption of the law to eradicate Female Genital Mutilation.
• UNFPA Djibouti has taken landmark steps toward eliminating FGM through the adoption of a constitutional amendment to Article 16, explicitly prohibiting FGM under the ban on torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. This historic legal reform is reinforced by a national fatwa issued by religious leaders explicitly calling for the abandonment of FGM, marking a critical shift in both the legal and normative environment.
• UNFPA Somalia supported a major milestone in December 2025, when the President of the South West State enacted a law prohibiting FGM. The law criminalizes the practice and reflects a strong political commitment to protecting the rights of women and girls and advancing gender equality.
• UNFPA promoted rights-based law and policy frameworks that are survivor-centred and prioritise platform accountability.In partnership with Derechos Digitales, UNFPA released Guiding principles for law and policy reform to address Technology-facilitated Gender-based Violence: Towards a system of accountability at the end of 2025. These principles are based on a comparative analysis of eight global jurisdictions, predominantly from the Global South. UNFPA and UN Women, facilitated by Equality Now, are consolidating two similar documents set to be released in 2026, as well as exploring CSW opportunities.

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.