Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response

Preventing and responding to all forms of gender-based violence is a cornerstone of the U.S. government’s commitment to promoting democracy, advancing human rights, and furthering gender equity and equality. Gender-based violence is a human rights abuse, a form of discrimination, and a manifestation of unequal power based on gender.  It occurs in every country and at every level of society, with direct and indirect costs to individuals; families; communities; economies; global public health; development; and human, national, and regional security.

One in three women worldwide have been subjected to intimate partner violence and/or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.  Although persons of all gender identities may experience gender-based violence, women, girls, and gender non-conforming persons face disproportionate risks of gender-based violence across every context due to their unequal status in society.  Examples of gender-based violence include: intimate partner violence; all forms of sexual violence, such as conflict-related sexual violence; child, early, and forced marriage; female genital mutilation/cutting; and technology-facilitated gender-based violence.

The U.S. government is taking decisive actions to prevent and respond to gender-based violence through programming, policy, and diplomatic efforts. In December 2022, the United States released an action-oriented update to the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally .  This policy drives a comprehensive, unified, interagency response to gender-based violence abroad and is an update to the first iteration of this strategy launched in 2012. The Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI) is proud to serve as the lead coordinating office for the State Department’s gender-based violence prevention and response efforts.

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During conflict, gender-based violence – including rape and sexual assault, domestic and intimate partner violence, and human trafficking – increase due to the breakdown of the social fabric of communities, services, and social norms. 

As the policy lead on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) for the State Department, S/GWI coordinates development and implementation of policies and programs that address the comprehensive needs of survivors; promotes survivor-centered justice and accountability; and engages with bilateral and multilateral partners to strengthen the prevention and response to CRSV.  

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The digital world offers opportunities to amplify the voices of women and girls, especially when they have equal access. However, social media and other emerging technologies have also created avenues for new forms and manifestations of gender-based violence, including online harassment and abuse, non-consensual distribution of real and deep fake intimate images, cyberstalking, and doxing. These forms of GBV threaten the safety and ability of individuals to exercise their rights both online and offline and weaken democracies as women and girls leave public spaces. 

S/GWI represents the U.S. in the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse, which brings together countries, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector to better prioritize, understand, prevent, and address the growing scourge of TFGBV.  Additionally, S/GWI works to promote gender equality considerations within policy and programming efforts on technology, with a goal of ensuring that technological advancement and a free Internet upholds the safety, security, and full enjoyment for all of its users, including women and girls. 

Some 640 million girls and women living today were married as children, and at least 230 million girls and women have been subjected to FGM/C.  FGM/C and CEFM constitute human rights abuses and are forms of gender-based violence. Wherever they occur, gender-based violence robs girls of their childhood, denies them the chance to determine their own future, and threatens the well-being of entire societies. 

S/GWI works across programs and policy and in partnership with our embassies around the world and girls themselves to identify and address CEFM, FGM/C and other forms of gender-based violence. The Department of State proudly supports the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation, working to tackle FGM/C in 17 countries, and the Global Programme to End Child Marriage, which works in 12 countries to prevent CEFM and support adolescent girls.