We’re making progress in preventing gender-based violence

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While we must recognise that there are signs of progress in preventing gender-based violence, it is critical to acknowledge that more needs to be done, and it needs to be done urgently. The United Nations (UN) recently conceded that “without dedicated investment in scaling up prevention programmes, implementing effective policies and providing support services to address violence”, the world will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goal target of eliminating violence against women and girls by 2030.

Although this is incredibly disappointing, the UN also released a report on the science for accelerating transformations, which explains that following the emergence phase, when innovation, piloting and the application of new knowledge take place, the next step to achieving successful transformations is accelerating and institutionalising change. This requires decisive action by governments, investing in infrastructure and capabilities, and overcoming resistance and barriers to reform. In other words, we have the foundations for transformation and know what works; now, we need to fast-track action and investment and embed the change we want to see in our institutions and ourselves.