Women’s rights organizations and feminist movements
The presence of strong and autonomous feminist movements is the single most critical driver in ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG). Countries with the strongest movements are more likely to have comprehensive policies on EVAWG than those with weaker or non-existent movements.
In some contexts, sustained feminist organizing has contributed to long-term reductions in violence, underscoring the importance of investing in women's rights organizations and feminist movements to eliminate violence against women. Beyond influencing policy, feminist movements shape the broader systems required to prevent and respond to violence, from social norms to service delivery and accountability mechanisms.
Women’s organizations and networks play multiple, interconnected roles, including:
- Advocating to drive legal and policy reform at global, regional, national, and local levels.
- Campaigning and engaging in collective action to raise awareness of violence against women and girls.
- Delivering essential survivor-centred support services and accompanying survivors through justice systems.
- Developing innovative prevention models to challenge harmful social norms and gender inequalities.
- Holding governments and institutions accountable for their commitments.
- Generating evidence and data.
These roles are mutually reinforcing and contribute to sustained, structural change in how societies prevent and respond to violence against women and girls. Movements are also increasingly mobilizing across borders and digital spaces to address emerging forms of violence, including those facilitated by technology.
Despite their proven impact, women’s rights organizations and movements face persistent structural barriers that limit their effectiveness. Chronic underfunding, short-term and inflexible financing, and shrinking civic space constrain their ability to sustain work, retain expertise, and expand service delivery and advocacy. Evidence highlights how funding cuts are undermining the sustainability of women’s rights organizations globally, while backlash and rising violence in public and digital spaces create new risks for activists and organizations.
Strengthening feminist movements
Making these organizations strong requires sustained investment and enabling environments that allow them to operate, collaborate, and lead. This includes:
- Providing long-term, flexible, core funding, including through dedicated mechanisms such as the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and initiatives such as the ACT to End Violence against Women Programme.
- Supporting organizational capacity, leadership, and intergenerational movement-building.
- Resourcing grassroots and community-based organizations closest to affected populations.
- Enabling coalition-building and cross-movement alliances at national, regional, and global levels.
- Ensuring meaningful participation in national, regional, and global decision-making processes and policy spaces.
- Protecting women’s rights defenders, including in digital environments and in contexts of shrinking civic space.
