United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
Background
UN Women is at the forefront of global efforts to eliminate violence against women and girls (VAWG), leveraging its unique triple mandate of normative support, UN system coordination, and operational activities. Through strategic partnerships, evidence-based programming, and advocacy, UN Women works to prevent violence, support survivors, and promote gender equality worldwide. Violence against women and girls remains one of the most pervasive human rights violations globally, impeding progress toward gender equality and sustainable development. UN Women's Strategic Plan 2022–2025 outlines a comprehensive approach to address VAWG, emphasizing prevention, survivor-centered responses, and the transformation of harmful social norms. The organization collaborates with governments, civil society, and other stakeholders to implement policies and programs that protect women's rights and promote their empowerment.
On behalf of the United Nations system, the UN Women administers the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women (UN Trust Fund), which provides core, flexible and long-term funding along with technical and strategic support services for civil society and women’s rights organizations across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. As the secretariat of the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls VAWG, UN-Women will coordinate system-wide efforts to end all forms of VAWG, including in advocacy for sustainable financing.
Policy framework
UN Women's work to end VAWG is firmly anchored in international human rights instruments and political commitments. These include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
UN Women supports Member States to uphold these commitments by aligning national legislation, policies, and programs with international standards. The organization plays a central role in global norm-setting spaces such as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), where it supports the negotiation and implementation of agreed conclusions on gender equality and the elimination of VAWG. UN Women also contributes substantively to the Secretary-General’s reports on VAWG and related topics, helping ensure that these issues remain central to the international policy agenda.
Through its Strategic Plan (2022–2025), UN Women emphasizes the elimination of violence as one of its core impact areas, promoting integrated, survivor-centered, and multisectoral approaches that are responsive to intersecting forms of discrimination and grounded in feminist values.
There are a number of internationally agreed norms and standards that relate to ending violence against women, including:
- The 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women does not explicitly mention violence against women and girls, but General Recommendations 12, 19, and 35 clarify that the Convention, as per Article 2 on non-discrimination, extends to violence against women, and also makes detailed recommendations to States to address violence against women.
- The 1993 World Conference on Human Rights recognized violence against women as a human rights violation and called for the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on violence against women in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.
- The 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women was the first international instrument explicitly addressing violence against women, providing a framework for national and international action.
- The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development drew links between violence against women and reproductive health and rights.
- The 1995 Beijing Platform for Action identifies specific actions for governments to take to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls. Ending violence is one of 12 areas for priority action. In 2020, a major stock-taking UN Women report revealed that more than 80 per cent of countries (of 166 in total) reported that action to implement, and enforce, violence against women laws had been achieved in the previous five years, and 87 per cent of countries reported introducing, or strengthening, services for survivors of violence.
- In 2006 the Secretary-General’s In-Depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women was released, the first comprehensive report on the issue.
- The 2011 Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence became the second legally binding regional instrument on violence against women and girls.
- The UN General Assembly adopts biannual resolutions on the issue of violence against women. The resolutions, first adopted in 2012, include the intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women, trafficking in women and girls, and intensifying global efforts for the elimination of female genital mutilations. These resolutions are renegotiated biannually, and the most recent reports were submitted on these resolutions during the 75th session of the UN General Assembly.
- The UN Human Rights Council first adopted a resolution on accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women in 2012.
- In 2020, at the 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, leaders pledged to ramp up efforts to fully implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, including ending all forms of violence and harmful practices against women and girls.
Areas of Focus
Response
UN Women leads global efforts to strengthen survivor-centered responses to VAWG through its support to essential services and multisectoral coordination. It plays a critical convening and technical role in promoting the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence, developed in collaboration with WHO, UNFPA, UNDP, and UNODC. This package outlines a coordinated, quality approach to providing health, justice and policing, and social services for survivors. UN Women supports countries in adapting and implementing the package, building the capacity of service providers, and promoting accountability mechanisms.
UN Women also works to ensure that crisis response—including in humanitarian settings and during global emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic—integrates measures to prevent and respond to VAWG. It supports the development of national action plans, referral pathways, and inter-agency coordination mechanisms to ensure timely and effective service delivery to survivors.
Prevention
UN Women is a global leader in VAWG prevention, advocating for and operationalizing primary prevention strategies that transform harmful gender norms, challenge patriarchal power structures, and promote gender-equitable relationships. UN Women’s prevention programming is grounded in the RESPECT Women framework, developed with WHO and other partners. The framework outlines seven evidence-based strategies: Relationship skills strengthened; Empowerment of women; Services ensured; Poverty reduced; Environments made safe; Child and adolescent abuse prevented; and Transformed attitudes, beliefs and norms.
UN Women supports governments and civil society to design, implement, and evaluate prevention programs at scale. It fosters social mobilization campaigns, school- and community-based interventions, and engagement with men and boys to shift norms and attitudes. In particular, the organization works with feminist movements and youth-led initiatives to amplify transformative, intersectional approaches to prevention.
Research and Data
As the custodian of knowledge on gender equality and VAWG, UN Women invests significantly in strengthening the global evidence base to inform policy and programming. It hosts and manages the Global Database on Violence Against Women, the only global repository of measures taken by governments to address violence against women. The database enhances transparency and promotes peer learning by providing accessible information on laws, policies, services, and research.
UN Women provides technical and financial support to national statistical offices to collect and analyze prevalence data on VAWG through population-based surveys. It advocates for the regular collection of comparable, quality data disaggregated by sex, age, disability, and other factors, and builds capacity to use data in planning and budgeting. In collaboration with international partners, UN Women has developed guidance and standards to improve the measurement of VAWG, including through the Inter-Agency Group on Violence against Women Data and the UN Survey Module on VAW Prevalence.
Women’s Movements and Leadership
UN Women recognizes that feminist and women’s rights organizations are indispensable actors in efforts to end VAWG. Through the ACT for Feminist Movements programme, UN Women provides long-term, flexible funding and capacity-building support to women-led organizations and networks, particularly those working at the grassroots level.
ACT supports advocacy, coalition-building, knowledge generation, and service provision by feminist movements, enabling them to influence laws and policies, hold duty-bearers accountable, and mobilize communities. UN Women also facilitates platforms for movement-building, such as the Generation Equality Action Coalitions, ensuring that women’s voices are central in decision-making spaces at all levels.
Safe Public Spaces and Sexual Harassment
UN Women pioneered the Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Initiative—the first-ever global effort to develop comprehensive, multi-stakeholder approaches to preventing and responding to sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence in public spaces. The initiative is implemented in over 65 cities worldwide, working with local and national governments, transport and other service providers, women's rights organizations, and grassroots groups and the private sector to co-create solutions that reduce sexual violence in public spaces and increase women and girls’ safety and inclusion.
Interventions supported by UN Women include social norms programming (multiple levels), gender-responsive planning in urban and rural settings, , community policing, and the use of data to inform the development and monitoring of comprehensive programmes. The initiative promotes women’s political decision making, policy change, behavior transformation, and infrastructure improvements to ensure that women and girls can move freely and safely in public spaces without fear of violence or sexual harassment.
Harmful Practices: Child Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
UN Women addresses harmful practices such as child marriage and FGM as severe violations of human rights and forms of gender-based violence. The organization works at global, regional, and national levels to support the repeal or reform of discriminatory laws, advocate for strong enforcement mechanisms, and promote comprehensive services for survivors.
Through partnership with UNFPA, UNICEF, and civil society organizations, UN Women supports community-led approaches to change social norms, raise awareness, and empower girls and young women. The organization also contributes to the global evidence base on what works to end harmful practices, including supporting research, policy dialogue, and evaluation of interventions.
Trafficking in Women and Girls
UN Women’s approach to combating trafficking in persons, particularly women and girls, focuses on prevention, protection, and rights-based responses. As a member of the Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT), UN Women ensures that anti-trafficking strategies are gender-responsive and survivor-centered.
UN Women works with governments to integrate anti-trafficking measures into national development and gender equality plans, supports the provision of legal aid and psychosocial services to survivors, and strengthens efforts to reduce the risks of trafficking in conflict, crisis, and migration contexts. It also advocates for addressing the structural inequalities—such as poverty, discrimination, and lack of access to education and employment—that increase women’s vulnerability to exploitation.
Technology Facilitated Violence Against Women and Girls (TF-VAWG)
Recognizing the rapid rise in online and technology-facilitated violence, UN Women has taken a leadership role in addressing this emerging form of VAWG. TF VAWG includes online harassment, non-consensual image sharing, doxing, cyberstalking, and digital sexual exploitation, disproportionately affecting women and girls—particularly journalists, activists, and public figures.
UN Women supports policy and legal reforms to recognize and criminalize TF VAWG, and works with governments, civil society, and technology companies to develop safe digital environments including the Global Digital Compact, an annex to Pact for the Future. It conducts research to better understand the scope and impact of TG VAWG, and raises awareness through global campaigns such as #SafeSpacesNow and #OrangeTheWorld.
Resources
RESPECT women: Preventing violence against women (2019)
Training Manual on Gender and Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting (2017)
Handbook for National Action Plans on Violence Against Women (2012)
Essential Services Package for women and girls subject to violence (2015)
Femicides in 2023: Global estimates of intimate partner/family member femicides.
Safe consultations with survivors of violence against women and girls (2022)
Handbook on gender responsive police services for women and girls subject to violence (2021)
*See also the resource links to numerous tools referred to in the narrative above and under specific measures.
UN Women initiated the implementation of the United Nations Protocol on the Provision of Assistance to Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse through its regional and country prevention of SEA focal points, while ensuring maximum coordination with UN Country Teams efforts in country locations.
In Brazil UN Women provided technical assistance to government institutions to set up VAWP monitoring and case referral mechanisms. With UN-Women’s technical support, the national call center for women in a situation of violence (Ligue 180) managed by the National Secretary of Policies for Women of the Ministry of Women (Secretaria Nacional de Políticas para as Mulheres - SNPM) added a dedicated channel to receive reports on VAWP and assist with a referral mechanism to the Public Electoral Ministry (Ministério Público Eleitoral – MPE). UN-Women ensured country wide dissemination of this new resource for women candidates, through the national campaign on VAWP.
In Central African Republic (CAR), UN-Women, UNDP and MINUSCA supported women's organizations through the African Women Leadership Network (AWLN) CAR Chapter, to set up situation rooms to promote a more inclusive and peaceful election. Through this mechanism, 210 monitors were trained and deployed in all 16 prefectures in the country to conduct violence prevention initiatives and collect data. In addition, UN Women, in partnership with UN Police and the Ministry of Internal Security, UN-Women established a “hotline 1325” which served as an early warning and early response mechanism used primarily by women candidates. This initiative was well received by key national stakeholders including CSOs, government partners and donors who highlighted its significant contribution to preventing and reporting VAWE.
Ending Child Marriage and Rescue and Second Chance Education for Girls in Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Tanzania: UN Women through engagement of traditional leaders, CSOs and government departments advocated for ending child marriage, FGM and other harmful practices. Thousands of potential efforts for child marriage were prevented and many marriages that took place were annulled in these countries. For example, in Malawi 41% of the 2871 girls engaged under child marriage interventions in Salima, Dedza and Karonga are now able to claim their right to make vital decisions about their sexual health and well-being, re-enroll into primary and secondary education and reignite prospects of living a life without increased risk of violence, abuse, child marriages, ill health or early death. This was achieved through interventions in school clubs, awareness campaigns, capacity building sessions on GBV/SRHR and business management/entrepreneurship skills. This follows an extensive HeForShe campaign implemented by the Malawi Country Office in collaborations with UNFPA, Ministry of Gender, District Councils, Traditional leaders and HeForShe champions. A total of 4249 early child marriages have been annulled and 2871 number of girls re-enrolled into primary and secondary schools between 2017-2019.
In Mozambique, Rapariga Biz is a joint program, implemented in Nampula and Zambezia provinces by UNFPA, UN Women, UNICEF and UNESCO. It aims to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of 1,085,447 girls and young women in Mozambique who live in the provinces of Nampula or Zambezia. These provinces are amongst the ones in the country with highest poverty levels in Mozambique, where women and young girls are burdened with a high level of discrimination and are at high risk of child marriage, early pregnancy, maternal mortality, obstetric fistula, violence and HIV. After training, the girls individually or organized in groups benefited from support (startup kits, tips on their business, etc.) to start their business. Silvia Daniel (22)[2], Albertina Martinho (20), Argentina Arnaldo (21), Telma Mauricio (18) and Neusa Joaquim (18) are some of the beneficiaries which who besides different trainings, that benefitted, they were also selected for poultry farming.
In Uganda, The establishment of Nakapiripiriti Satellite Legal Aid Clinic in Karamoja by ULS, supported by UN Women brought happiness to number of widows in accessing legal aid and protection services.
The value of intersectionality in understanding violence against women and girls
This policy brief explores the concept of intersectionality as a tool to analyze and understand the intersection of gender with other inequalities/oppressions (e.g., sexuality, gender identity, ethnicity, indigeneity, immigration status, disability) in the context of violence against women and girls (VAWG). The report examines the impact of intersecting oppressions on the ability of survivors of VAWG to access services and obtain justice, as well as the importance of ‘by and for’ organizations in addressing the needs of marginalized women who face violence.
Mapping of Sexual Violence Services in the Western Balkans and Turkey
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence - also known as the Istanbul Convention - calls for adequate and accessible specialized support services for victims of sexual violence. However, in the Western Balkans and Turkey, despite the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, these standards have yet to be met. Services for victims of sexual violence are often missing, and where they do exist, they tend to be poorly implemented due to a lack of government funding and support. This mapping report identifies the existing services in the region, examines their implementation, and highlights the gaps in service provision. This publication was produced under the framework of the EU-UN Women regional programme on ending violence against women in the Western Balkans and Turkey, "Implementing Norms, Changing Minds," funded by the European Union.
Regional Service Directory for Women Migrant Workers Subject to Violence in the ASEAN region
The service directory enables referrals of women, especially women migrant workers who are survivors of violence, by sharing information on available violence against women (VAW) specialized service providers across the region. The list includes the leading organizations providing support to survivors of violence against women migrant workers in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. Services featured in the directory include the health, police/justice, social, labour sectors and hotlines and shelters, and they are a core set of critical essential services responding to the needs of women migrant workers subject to violence in the ASEAN region.
Training Package for Prosecutors working on cases of VAW
Building on the Trial of Rape study and UN Women's broader work to strengthen Essential Services for survivors of VAW in the Asia Pacific region, UN Women together with Global Rights for Women developed a training manual for persecutors working on cases of VAWG. The purpose of this Training Package is to build the capacity of prosecutors on providing quality and holistic responses to survivors of violence, and to better understand survivor’s perspectives and address their needs. The goal is that gender-transformative, trauma informed and survivor-centered approaches are utilized in prosecution and that gender biases are addressed, to ensure that the legal system supports survivors of violence against women in a respectful and empowering way.
Handbook on Gender-Responsive Police Services
In April 2021, the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific organized a webinar with countries across the region to introduce this handbook.
In Albania:
- 204 counselling sessions were organized by psychologists and 112 women and girls have been supported through counselling sessions in 6 municipalities of the Region of Elbasan (Gramsh, Peqin, Prrenjas, Belsh, Cerrik, Librazhd). (UN Women)
- 43 legal counselling sessions were organized in the Region of Elbasan (Gramsh, Peqin, Prrenjas, Belsh, Cerrik, Librazhd), with a total of 7 women represented in court, 7 women were issued IPOs and 8 women supported to report to the police. -315 women and girls and 57 men and boys benefited from Empowerment through Self-Defense training from trainers certified previously from ToTs organized by Aikido Albania.
- 71 women and 173 children in the municipalities of Tirana, Elbasan and Vlora are already provided with services based on their needs and as per the tailored plan of reintegration including psychological counselling, legal assistance, medical assistance, basic needs such support with food and hygienic packages, counselling and support for employment, financial support for housing rent, support for economic empowerment.
As a continuation of UN Women Bosnia and Herzegovina’s work on building and standardizing the multisectoral approach to service provision, 13 local protocols on cooperation between service providers (police, justice, social protection, health care, CSOs) have been revised/developed in line with the Istanbul Convention. A total of 11 multisectoral teams have been strengthened/established and 3 cantonal coordination bodies for combating domestic violence. UN Women supported the Safe network (network of shelters) to raise capacities of local service providers in 7 regions for safety risk assessment and survivor-centred informing of rights and duties.
In Canton Tuzla, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, with support from UN Women, police officers have improved their behaviour when it comes to response to cases of domestic violence. In comparison with the rate of proposed protection measures from 2018/2019 - 20%, thanks to the UN Women-supported behaviour impact intervention the rate of proposed measures has increased to 60% in the first three months of 2021. Using the so-called COMBI (Communications for Behavioural Impact) methodology, introduced by UN Women, a targeted campaign coordinated with the Ministry of Interior, included 1600 police officers from 13 municipalities in Tuzla Canton. It was aimed at increasing the rate of proposed protection measures in cases of domestic violence (restraining order, eviction of perpetrator from home, mandatory psychosocial treatment etc.). The campaign was designed to overcome the identified individual, institutional, and procedural behavioural barriers when it comes to responding to DV.
In North Macedonia, UN Women supported CSO Health Education and Research Association (HERA) to strengthen the capacities on the provision of counselling and psycho-social support of 18 providers (CSOs and Centres for Social Work) of general and specialist services to victims of VAW and DV in compliance with CEDAW and the Istanbul Convention. In addition, three local multi-sectorial groups for survivors of violence were established in Strumica, Stip and Veles to ensure regular collaboration and quality of services provided to the survivors of violence.
A series of recommendations on ensuring a uniform application of the international and national standards in the field of gender-based violence have been developed because of the mobilization for coordinated action of 91 (29 women and 62 men) police officers, prosecutors, judges, lawyers, and legal aid providers from Donetsk oblast. This round of workshops was organized by UN Women Ukraine jointly with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and National Police of Ukraine to strengthen the capacity of justice sector actors to implement effectively the gender-based violence legislation and apply a survivor-centred approach.
In Moldova, UN Women CO works with 24 partner communities from Cahul and Ungheni to support capacity building of multidisciplinary teams to respond effectively to cases of violence against women and children; develop and implement gender-responsive budgeting and establish specialist services for women survivors of gender-based violence (including for survivors of sexual violence) in Cahul and Ungheni.
36 professionals (22 females and 14 males) of local public authorities, health sector, forensic service, social protection, justice, and police sectors co-designed a prospective approach/model towards the development of a specialized service for the victims of sexual violence, in line with international standards and local realities from Cahul and Ungheni district.
To boost the capacities of local civil society, nine CSOs from Cahul and Ungheni were selected and currently undertake a six-month institutional capacity-building exercise in the framework of a Small Grants scheme. At least eight committed local CSOs will be involved as of November 2021 in intensive training, mentorship, and guidance for developing and implementing activities promoting zero tolerance to violence at the regional level.11 CSO’s active in preventing and combating violence against women benefited from exchange of experiences on survivor-oriented approach to provision of services through the support of network of survivors of violence, in close cooperation with a partner CSOs from Romania. The latter builds on the ground-breaking work supported by UN Women on women survivors – positive champions in Moldova and aims at establishing such network in the country.
Four women survivors of violence supported by UN Women CO as positive champions and change makers, continue to hold peer-to-peer sessions for women survivors/potential victims of violence, informing on women’s rights and available support services.
Joint statements issued by the UN-Women Kosovo led multi-stakeholder Security and Gender Group, calling upon central and local institutions to allocate funding to domestic violence shelters In the 2020 budget, resulted in the Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance recommending an increase of funding to Kosovo’s shelters, which will allow for more sustainable year-round funding of shelters. Three additional joint statements were issued in 2021 condemning femicide and sexual harassment against women and girls.
139 service providers including staff from seven Kosovo shelters for protection of domestic violence survivors and local coordination mechanisms against DV were trained on strategies on recognizing trauma and handling of cases and have also participated in a three days’ workshop in April, organized under the auspices of Shelter “Liria” in the framework of the EVAW Programme. The workshop aim was to discuss networking efforts as well as engage in a strategic planning workshop to identify needs, activities and future steps in order to enhance their effective delivery of services to victims of domestic violence as well as draft an action plan for shelter networking. The proposed strategy and action plan is a five year proposed plan that has been drafted in close consultations with the participants with validated results proposed after the workshop with all relevant actors engaged.
State actors and civil society organizations in Kazakhstan have enhanced capacity to deliver quality services in prevention and response to VAW through developed SOPs for provision of services for GBV survivors with integration of measures to address the special needs of persons with disabilities (PwD) subjected to violence. The special needs of PwD were integrated into the existing SOPs as well as in the clinical protocol on “Gender based Violence” approved by the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan with support from UNFPA as well as on an OSCE-developed Guide for police inspectors endorsed by the Ministry of internal Affairs also in 2020.
As mentioned above, in Tajikistan:
UN Women built new partnership experience with the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan, mobilizing technical skills and experience with communities of NGOs with a solid presence in 6 target districts and supplied 168,000 information materials on Impact of COVID19 on Women and Girls. How to sustain family Resilience During the Pandemic; Available VAWG Services and Localized SGBV Referral Pathway along with sanitary and hygiene items for staff SLI project and HIV projects; built women leadership skills to combat stigma and discrimination and improving women’s legal literacy. Awareness-raising activities on HIV related rights and laws for women living with HIV conducted through media community mobilization, education, and peer outreach.
3400 women and girls who faced violence and abuse, benefitted from localized national SGBV case management referral mechanism in six rural pilot districts (Isfara, B. Gafurov, Vose, Rudaki, Hissar and Yavan) and the capital Dushanbe.
The practical scheme with the brief extracts from the related laws, pathways of interaction between the engaged members of the case management mechanisms, contact information on the related state bodies, departments, services and CSOs, that were functioning on prevention of violence against women and girls (by mandate/ and/or having run their own shelter/ women’s center). The developed brochures, booklets and visual materials were made in a user-friendly language and style, with a lot of coloured infographics, and were disseminated broadly among communities by 120 volunteers. Noteworthy, the RCS emphasized project’s further sustainability will be supported by further capacity building of active volunteers in EVAWG realm through a digital tutorial and integration of GBV/VAWG response component in the USAID Tuberculosis project implemented by RCS.
State facilitated localization of VAW case management referral mechanism: NGO-run victim support centres, state health, law enforcement, human rights, social services, other key stakeholders in the 6 target districts and Dushanbe formed a new integrated support scheme, where COVID-19 response facilities became an integral part. UN Women experts made the design of the latter referral system, localized it in each pilot district, conducted on-job training to service providers.