Based on the principles of respect and equality, and lessons learned from evidence-based results on what works in preventing violence from occurring and recurring, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Women, in collaboration with ten other UN, bilateral, and multilateral agencies, have developed “RESPECT Women: Preventing violence against women”. This publication provides a comprehensive framework to inform policy makers and implementers about designing, planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating interventions and programmes on preventing and responding to violence against women.

This implementation package comprises a suite of practical resources and tools to support the implementation of the RESPECT Women: Preventing Violence against Women Framework, which was developed by WHO, with UN Women, in 2019 and is endorsed by 12 other UN agencies and bilateral partners. The package also builds on the evidence-based entry points compiled in the predecessor, “A framework to underpin action to prevent violence against women”.

There is growing recognition globally and also in Lao PDR that VAW is a serious public health problem and a violation of women’s human rights. Yet in Lao PDR, VAW is culturally tolerated. According to the Lao Social Indicator Survey (LSIS) 2011-2012, 58% of women and 49% of men reported that VAW was justified if women did not adhere to traditional gender norms, roles and relations. However, this finding only sheds a small amount of light onto the true scale of the problem. Although...