Gender-Based Violence (GBV)
Gender-based violence (GBV) harms people because of their gender. It is rooted in unequal power, not personal conflict alone.
WCP
GBV
GBV and VAW: Related, Not Identical
People often use “gender-based violence” and “violence against women” interchangeably. The terms overlap heavily, but they are not the same thing.
Most gender-based violence is committed by men against women. This makes violence against women (VAW) the most visible and most studied form of GBV. But GBV is the broader category. It also includes violence against men, boys, and people with gender-nonconforming identities.
In short: VAW is one type of GBV, not a synonym for it.
The Scale of the Problem
The numbers are stark. An estimated 840 million women, almost one in three, have faced physical or sexual violence at least once in their lives. This figure comes from the most comprehensive global study to date, covering 168 countries.
Progress has been painfully slow. Intimate partner violence has declined by only 0.2% per year over the past two decades. At that rate, meaningful change remains generations away.
Funding tells an even harder story. Just 0.2% of global development aid went toward violence-prevention programmes in 2022. That share has fallen further since.
What Drives GBV
Three factors recur across the evidence. Harmful gender norms uphold male privilege and limit women’s autonomy. Institutional discrimination runs through health, justice, religious, and education systems alike. Social stigma silences survivors and lets patterns of violence continue unchecked.
How RYB Organizes This Topic
This page anchors a four-part tree. VAWG breaks down the specific forms violence against women and girls takes. CSE examines commercial sexual exploitation in depth. The Nordic Model explores one policy response in detail.
A separate, institutional perspective lives in RYB’s Organizations tree. Visit Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW) to see how UN Women and its partners fund and run this work on the ground.
RYB’s Place in This Picture
RYB treats GBV as central to its Women, Culture and Peace framework. Lasting peace requires safety for women, not just the absence of armed conflict.
Looking Forward
Watch the WHO’s 2025 prevalence update, the first major refresh of this data since 2018. It will shape funding and policy debates for years to come.
Sources
- Violence against women, WHO Fact Sheet — who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women
- Lifetime toll: 840 million women faced partner or sexual violence, WHO — who.int/news/item/19-11-2025-lifetime-toll–840-million-women-faced-partner-or-sexual-violence
- Facts and figures: Ending violence against women, UN Women — unwomen.org/en/articles/facts-and-figures/facts-and-figures-ending-violence-against-women
- Why does GBV programming focus on women and girls?, COFEM — cofemsocialchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/TS2-Why-does-GBV-programming-focus-on-women-and-girls.pdf