UN warns funding cuts threaten progress on ending violence against women

Despite decades of global commitments, progress toward eliminating violence against women is at risk of being reversed due to funding cuts, the United Nations has warned in a new report.

Published on Monday, the report found that more than one-third of surveyed organizations - 34 percent- have suspended or shut down programs to end violence against women and girls. Over 40 percent have scaled back or closed life-saving services such as shelters, legal aid, psychosocial counseling, and healthcare support due to funding shortfalls.

Additionally, 78 percent of respondents reported reduced access to essential services for survivors, while 59 percent observed an increase in impunity and the normalization of violence.

Titled "At Risk and Underfunded", the report revealed that almost one in four organizations had to suspend or completely halt interventions designed to prevent violence before it occurs.

"Women's rights organizations are the backbone of progress on violence against women, yet they are being pushed to the brink," Kalliopi Mingeirou, chief of the ending violence against women and girls section, UN Women said.

"We cannot allow funding cuts to erase decades of hard-won gains. We call on governments and donors to ringfence, expand, and make funding more flexible. Without sustained investment, violence against women and girls will only rise."

The report noted that most severely impacted activities include empowerment programs, training and capacity-building initiatives, advocacy efforts, and psychosocial and survivors support services.

Violence against women and girls remains one of the most pervasive human rights violations globally, affecting at least one in three women during their lifetime.

According to UN data, an estimated 736 million women have experienced physical or sexual violence, most often at the hands of an intimate partner.

Additionally, an estimated 15 million adolescent girls aged 15-19 worldwide have experienced forced sex, while women make up 91 percent of all victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation.