As Kenya prepares for its next general election, due in less than 20 months’ time, 2026 will prove to be a critical year. With local and global restraints on political violence being hollowed out at the very time when trust in the credibility of the election system is at an all-time low, serious trouble beckons…
When it comes to protecting women and girls from gender-based violence, change happens when they are “at the heart of every decision,” according to Erin Kenny, Global Coordinator of the Spotlight Initiative a United Nations-European Union partnership aimed at tackling all forms of abuse against women and girls. At the heart of change: Spotlight Initiative…
– New estimates show that violence against women and girls remains one of the most pervasive human rights violations in the world – and that one of its fastest-growing frontiers is the digital space. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence includes online harassment, cyberstalking, image-based abuse, deepfake exploitation and coordinated digital attacks, and all of these are proliferating….
November 25 marks the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence — a civil society-led initiative calling for action to ensure that every woman and girl can live a life free from violence. The 2025 theme of “UNiTE to End Digital Violence against All Women and Girls” addresses one of the fastest-growing…
Violence against women remains one of the world’s most persistent and under-addressed human rights crises, with very little progress in two decades, according to a landmark report released today by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN partners. Nearly 1 in 3 women – estimated 840 million globally – have experienced partner or sexual violence…
Khanyisile Ngcobo, Nomsa Maseko,BBC Africa, Johannesburg and Danai Nesta Kupemba AFP via Getty Images Many activists want gender-based violence to be declared a national disaster South African women’s rights groups are calling for nationwide protests to demand that gender-based violence (GBV) be declared a national disaster in a country where attacks on women have become…
When Salma* was just 15, she was forced to get married, even though she wanted to stay in school and become a doctor someday. Instead, she found herself tied to a man who “changed from being kind to being a monster.” He would beat her “with his bare hands,” she said recently. The young mother…
Tali Anderssen, legal and compliance executive at RCS. RCS and TymeBank are sounding the alarm over a sharp rise in online harm, warning that digital violence against women and AI-driven scams are becoming major risks for public safety and economic stability. The warnings come during International Fraud Awareness Week (16-22 November) and ahead of the…
UN Women’s 16 Days of Activism campaign demands a world where technology is a force for equality – not harm. New York – The digital world promised connection and empowerment – but for millions of women and girls, it has become a world of abuse. Digital violence is spreading at alarming speed fueled by artificial intelligence, anonymity,…
Children in many countries are growing up surrounded by violence. It may happen at home, in their neighbourhoods, or both. Some children are directly harmed, while others witness violence between caregivers or in their communities. Either way, the impact can be profound. Evidence shows that the relationship between violence exposure and poor mental health can…
