This publication documents more than 95 good practices to help eliminate gender-based violence and highlights their impact in preventing violence against women, protecting victims and prosecuting offenders. Strategies for involving men and young people in anti-violence activities are also described.
Violence against women (VAW) is one of the most widespread and persistent human rights abuses in the world, stemming from deep-rooted notions of women’s unequal status. As a leading, yet preventable, cause of poor health and death in women, it is also a public health problem. Violence against women has no less of a devastating effect on society as a whole, impacting women’s productivity and resulting in overall economic losses. Combating violence against women, especially in post-conflict and transitional settings, has important implications for human security. Indeed, left unaddressed, violence against women impedes a country’s development causing severe disruptions of family, community and social structures and, ultimately, harming far more than the immediate victims.
Published by the Gender Section, OSCE Secretariat