Reflection from the Pacific Prevention Summit

What Works: Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls

Prevention efforts to address violence against women and girls have increased in the Pacific. Pioneer women’s activists who first developed service provision for survivors of violence are being joined by newer partners from diverse fields, including the education, faith, and sports sectors, in efforts to prevent violence. The increasing number of new actors in the ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG) field brings new opportunities, and the need to ensure that all actors are working from a common framework and principles.

More recently, from 2018 to 2023, the Pacific Community (SPC), the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and the UN Women Fiji MCO co-led a bold and ambitious regional EVAWG programme, of which services and prevention are significant components. The Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership) brings together governments, civil society organizations, communities, and other partners to promote gender equality, prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG), and increase access to quality response services for survivors.

In April 2023, the co-delegates of the Pacific Partnership co-convened a regional Prevention Summit to create space for the Pacific Partnership regional partners and stakeholders to reflect and dialogue on primary prevention approaches and what is working.