The United States believes that preventing and responding to gender-based violence around the world is a matter of
human rights, justice, equity, and equality. In 2012, the U.S. Congress first requested a “multi-year strategy to
prevent and respond to violence against women and girls,” which led to the development of the first U.S. Strategy
to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally. This strategy, and the subsequent update in 2016,
elevated the human rights of women and girls globally as a U.S. national security, diplomatic, and foreign assistance
priority. Ten years later, our commitment to this issue remains steadfast and our knowledge of best and promising
practices has grown. Nonetheless, gender-based violence remains all too common around the world, including in
the United States.
The global context in which we find ourselves today is different from a decade ago. New challenges, including the
COVID-19 pandemic, have exacerbated the “shadow pandemic” of gender-based violence around the world. At the
same time, the growing role of technology in daily life has led women, girl, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) human rights defenders to face targeted violence. Climate-related migration and
displacement has led to exacerbated risks of gender-based violence, and conflict-related sexual violence remains
persistently high. As women, girls, and LGBTQI+ individuals around the world face new risks, we need to reassess our
policy and diplomatic and programmatic strategies to address these challenges. At the same time, many challenges
identified in the 2012 version of this strategy continue to require attention. The prevalence of gender-based violence
remains high, justice and healing for survivors and accountability for perpetrators are often lacking, and the
grassroots organizations working to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in their communities too often
lack sufficient funding to do so.
With this third iteration of the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally, we seek
to: advance equity and inclusivity and address the factors that increase the risks of gender-based violence and
undermine access to services and safety, particularly for the most marginalized groups; support comprehensive
approaches for addressing gender-based violence priorities across a range of thematic areas; and strengthen the
commitment and work of the U.S. government to scale what works, enhance our partnerships, and improve our
capacity to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.Read More