Speech: We should not doubt for a moment that we will see a world free of violence for women and girls, for our children and theirs

Next year, we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action. The basic concept of a life lived in safety, free from violence, and for every woman and girl, is the foundation upon which that Declaration stands.

Today, let me sound an alarm, one you will have heard before, but which we must sound ever louder.

Based on new data released today by UN Women and UNODC, we know that one woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes by an intimate partner or a family member. Six will be killed as we are meeting here today.

Precisely where they should be most safe, they are least safe, with some 60 per cent of intentional killings of women and girls taking place in the home.

Across their lifetime, 1 in 3 women, around three-quarters of a billion, are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or by a non-partner during their lives. It is unacceptable that this figure is largely unchanged over the past decade.

Globally, child, early, and forced marriage has decreased from 25 per cent in 1997 to 19 per cent in 2022, but still, at current trajectory, will continue to exist almost until the end of this century.

Violence is often most unrestrained where conflict rages. In 2023, as the number of civilians killed in conflict rose by 72 per cent in just one year, the proportion of women killed doubled.

I recently met with women in the Asia-Pacific region who spoke of the silencing of women in Afghanistan, of violence exacerbated by crisis and climate disasters, and of the violence faced by women human rights defenders in Myanmar.

This reality is not unique to Asia and the Pacific. It is the reality for women and girls caught in conflicts and violence across the world. In Haiti, where women face gang violence, including pervasive sexual violence. In Sudan, where reports of mass rape have become the norm. In Ukraine, where women are increasingly first responders, yet receive minimal funding. And the list continues. 

It is also the reality for women and girls in the Middle East, in Lebanon, in the occupied Palestinian territories—in Gaza where women and girls are being bombarded, killed, and living on the brink of famine, where women are still being held hostage in Gaza. For them, the war and the killing must end, the hostages must be released, and aid must reach those who need it. Peace must prevail now.

And for all of those caught in conflict, there is no alternative but the end of war, the end of violence. And for peace, for justice, and for hope to prevail.

We see new pervasive forms of violence emerging though technology and new media. Our data points to the scale of the problem, with studies showing that the prevalence of violence against women in digital contexts ranges from 16 to 58 per cent, with younger women especially affected—most report their first such experience between 14 and 16 years of age. Women in politics also experience disproportionately high levels of online violence and abuse, particularly around election cycles.

Violence is the essential thread running through the pushback against gender equality that we increasingly see from the international to the community levels. It is the great enabler of the growing, organized, financed, and virulent efforts against women’s rights. The consequences of which are exacted on women’s safety and on their bodies.

While I am here to sound an alarm today, I do not intend only to bemoan our collective circumstances. Much has been done, and, most importantly, much more can be done.

Based on initial reporting under the Beijing+30 process, we know that in the last five years, 79 per cent of reporting Member States have introduced, updated, or expanded national action plans on ending violence against women and girls. Ninety percent have introduced or strengthened legislation. Eighty-eight per cent have introduced or strengthened services for survivors of violence.

I appreciate and applaud every action this represents. This is making a difference.

It tells us that violence against women and girls is preventable. Yet, the reality is that it still remains pervasive and devastating. No country has yet eliminated the scourge of violence against women and girls. Ending it requires bold and transformative action.

We need greater investment, greater innovation, and greater political will to close the very real gaps that remain in women’s empowerment and leadership, in legislation, in services, and in systems that ensure justice, and accountability, and an end to impunity.

We need to include men and boys in all our efforts.

As the UN we relentlessly seek to do our part. 

The Spotlight Initiative is on course to prevent violence for more than 21 million women and girls by 2025, to save the lives of at least 1,800 women across 26 countries every year. That is saving two women a day.

The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women currently supports the work of civil society organizations in 74 countries and territories across five regions, with grants totalling USD 87.5 million.

These are just part of what the United Nations does across its entities, to eliminate violence against women and to build their agency and resilience. While we seek to do ever more, we take pride in what we have done and do together with you, our partners.

Despite the efforts of all of us here, we still fail to live up to the ambitions of Beijing, of CEDAW, and of the human rights standards that should guarantee safety for every woman and girl.

We must in no way denigrate very real progress, but we must also be honest with ourselves that it is too slow, and it is threatened by emerging challenges from the political to the technological. Today is when we again make this case, as we must do tirelessly.

Change is coming. Because our will for change is strong. Because we are united. Because we are determined. And because solutions are there to be taken. And because women are determined and resilient.

The reality of violence against women and girls diminishes us all. But the movement to end it inspires us all. We should not doubt for a moment that we will see a world free of violence for women and girls, for our children and theirs. And we will not stop until we have delivered the change women and girls demand, expect, and deserve.

I thank you.