In Afghanistan, physical and emotional abuse of Afghan women and girls has existed for centuries and is ingrained in the country’s culture of impunity. However, it wasn’t until the oppressive Taliban regime, when the world became aware of the plight of women and girls in the country. In 2002, after the overthrow of the Taliban and establishment of the new…

Britain will fund 18 ground breaking research programmes to help prevent violence against women and girls as part of the Department for International Development’s What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls Programme. The projects, selected in conjunction with the Medical Research Council South Africa, will implement and test cutting-edge interventions that aim to fundamentally advance approaches to stopping…

What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls, a global research and innovation programme to help prevent violence against women and girls was launched in South Africa today by UK International Development Minister, Baroness Northover. The What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls programme will build knowledge on which interventions work to strengthen women and girls ability…

The then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development, the Rt. Hon. Lynne Featherstone, launched What Works to a packed room at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict on June 11. Speakers had to be set up outside the main auditorium, to accommodate the level of interest from policymakers who were willing to stand in order…

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Eliminate. Stop. End. Fight against. What is the problem with this language and our current approach to ending violence against women? The issue is that this is a deficit, problem-focused model of action. It focuses on the negative and is reactionary. I believe that to create a world…

“Over the past 10-15 years, interventions focused on male engagement to end violence against women have proliferated around the world. Many donors these days are interested in programmes that are working with boys and men. But does it work? Is it the magic bullet to this global problem? Or is it a step backwards?” Access the full article.

Five papers cover the evidence base for interventions, discuss the vital role of the health sector in care and prevention, show the need for men and women to be involved in effective programmes, provide practical lessons from experience in countries, and present a call for action with five key recommendations and indicators to track progress. Access articles here.

The Huffington Post – It IS #TimeToAct But What Do We Do? “The key here is prevention, that is, addressing the underlying root causes to stop violence happening in the first place. This includes addressing dominant ideas of what it means to be a man, stopping the cycle of violence where experiences of child abuse lead to violence in adult…

“Currently, there are a lot of gaps in the evidence and data on what the common drivers of behaviour are leading to violence not least because of the sensitive nature of the research and data collection. We need to gather robust evidence that helps us develop effective interventions which deliver large scale results.” Access the full article.

“As highlighted by Rachel Jewkes in a compelling Art of Medicine piece, researching warzone violence is extremely challenging. And the difficulties of preventing and responding to it are compounded by little evidence on the effectiveness of interventions. Therefore, it is encouraging that the UK's Department of International Development will launch a multimillion pound “What works” research programme at the summit…