Harnessing the transformative power of human rights law to eradicate violence against women

The Tackling Violence against Women website is a resource site detailing what States are required to do by international human rights law to prevent violence against women and girls.

International human rights law has named all forms of gender-based violence against women as crimes and requires that States should take effective and comprehensive action to prevent, investigate, and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes, and provide reparation to women and girls who are affected so that they can make a complete recovery. The Tackling Violence against Women website makes accessible regional and universal human rights standards and jurisprudence, so that you can understand and assess what transformative change is needed in the laws and practices where you are situated.

On this website you will find:

  • Case summaries that show the diversity and persistence of violence against women – in families, in communities, in workplaces and at school, in prisons, and during conflict – and its interconnectedness with factors such as age, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, status as a member of an indigenous or minority community, and physical and mental health. These dimensions of violence against women form a complex picture which must be recognised by States and international institutions if violence against all women and girls is to be eradicated.
  • Resources on the growing body of jurisprudence, recommendations and reports aimed at tackling violence against women and girls, for example reports and recommendations from the human rights courts (such as the European Court of Human Rights) treaty bodies (such as the CEDAW Committee and the Committee against Torture) and other institutions, including independent experts such as the Special Rapporteur on violence against women.
  • A timelineof pivotal moments from across the world in the work to end violence against women.
  • The In Visibility series contains contributions from feminists around the world whose work has brought women’s lived experiences into the public sphere, sharing with us the readings, role models and advocacy that inspired their journey.

Given the variety of institutions working to eradicate violence against women, this is necessarily a work in progress. It is aimed to be a tool for your information and use, for example, for education, for advocacy for change, for law reform, and for improving services.