The international community stands at a critical juncture in the generational struggle to eliminate violence against women and girls. While the last five years have seen an unprecedented wave of legislative reform across the globe, the lived reality for millions of survivors remains defined by systemic neglect, chronic underfunding, and a pervasive culture of impunity. This duality of progress and stagnation took center stage at the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), where UN Women and its global partners issued a clarion call for a shift from symbolic policy to substantive, well-resourced action.
Since 2019, the legislative landscape has shifted significantly. According to recent data, 90 percent of UN Member States have taken concrete steps to strengthen laws aimed at curbing violence against women and girls. Furthermore, 79 percent of these nations have either updated or expanded their national action plans, signaling a broad political acknowledgement that gender-based violence is a global emergency. However, as leadership at UN Women pointed out during the summit, a law on a piece of paper is not the same as safety in a woman’s home or justice in a courtroom. The "implementation gap" remains the most formidable obstacle to true equality and safety.
The 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women focused its priority theme on "Access to Justice," a concept that advocates argue must be radically redefined. For too long, justice has been viewed through the narrow lens of a courtroom verdict. In reality, justice for a survivor begins the moment an incident occurs. It encompasses the sensitivity of the first responding police officer, the availability of trauma-informed healthcare, the accessibility of legal aid, and the robustness of social protection systems.
Currently, these systems are described as "fragmented and biased." Survivors who navigate the aftermath of violence often find themselves trapped in a secondary trauma cycle, facing skeptical law enforcement, arduous legal hurdles, and health services that are ill-equipped to handle the nuances of domestic or sexual abuse. The statistics are a sobering testament to this failure: less than 10 percent of survivors ever report the violence they experience. This is not due to a lack of evidence, but rather a profound lack of trust. When reporting feels futile or, worse, unsafe, the system effectively shields the perpetrator, fueling a cycle of impunity that undermines the very foundations of the rule of law.
One of the most alarming trends highlighted at the session is the financial strangulation of the organizations most capable of driving change. Feminist movements and grassroots women’s rights organizations are the backbone of the global response to violence. They are the first responders, the advocates, and the legal experts who support survivors when state systems fail. Yet, UN Women’s analysis reveals a distressing reality: over one-third of these organizations have been forced to suspend programs due to a lack of funding. Nearly all report severe reductions in the ability of women and girls to access essential, life-saving services.
The irony of the current situation is that while governments are passing more laws, the financial support for the civil society organizations (CSOs) that help implement those laws is evaporating. Without sustained investment, the "national action plans" so touted by Member States remain hollow promises. True progress requires "budgeted" plans—meaningful financial commitments that train police officers, fund women’s shelters, and ensure that legal aid is a right, not a luxury.
Despite these challenges, there are proven models of success that offer a blueprint for the future. The Spotlight Initiative, a massive global partnership between the United Nations and the European Union, has demonstrated what is possible when the international community acts with a unified purpose. Between 2019 and 2024, this coordinated effort helped reform 548 laws related to gender equality and violence. More importantly, it translated these legal shifts into tangible outcomes, resulting in a doubling of conviction rates for gender-based crimes in 13 different countries. This proves that when resources are aligned with political will, the "culture of impunity" can be dismantled.
Similarly, the EU-funded ACT to End Violence Against Women Programme, working in tandem with the UN Trust Fund, has focused on building the "institutional resilience" of hundreds of civil society organizations. By strengthening feminist leadership and facilitating evidence-based advocacy, these initiatives have influenced legislative changes that are grounded in the actual needs of survivors rather than political optics.
The adoption of the "agreed conclusions" at CSW70, supported by a large majority of Member States, represents a renewed commitment to these goals. The document calls for greater justice, increased accountability, and better protection for all women and girls, regardless of their circumstances. However, the rhetoric of the summit must now be matched by the political courage of the "Group of Friends"—a powerful coalition of 96 Member States dedicated to keeping the elimination of violence against women at the top of the global agenda.
This Group of Friends holds the key to maintaining momentum in an increasingly crowded and volatile global political landscape. As conflicts, economic crises, and climate change dominate international discourse, the safety of women and girls is often sidelined as a "secondary" issue. The Group’s role is to ensure that this remains a primary priority, championing effective national approaches and demanding the resources necessary to sustain them.
As the international community looks toward the next five years, the message from UN Women is clear: the pace of change must accelerate to outrun the challenges ahead. The past five years have provided the legislative framework and the proof-of-concept for what works. The next five years must be about scale and sustainability.
"Justice goes beyond the courtroom to encompass accessible, coordinated, and adequately resourced systems, centered on survivors’ needs and dignity," officials noted during the closing stages of the session. This survivor-centric approach is the only way to ensure that the 90 percent of countries with stronger laws actually become 90 percent of countries where women are safe.
The responsibility to act fast is not merely a policy requirement; it is a moral imperative. It is a debt owed to the women and girls who have been silenced by systemic failure and to humanity as a whole. The tools to end violence exist—the laws have been drafted, the pilot programs have succeeded, and the advocacy networks are in place. What remains is the necessity of sustained political leadership and the financial investment to turn these tools into a global reality.
The 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women may have concluded, but the work of the next five years is just beginning. The goal is to surpass each success with the next, ensuring that the progress made since 2019 is not a high-water mark, but the beginning of a permanent tide of change. Through deepened partnerships, especially with the European Union and dedicated Member States, the vision of a world free from violence is within reach. It is a task that requires vigor, resilience, and an unwavering belief that justice is not just a dream, but a fundamental right that can—and must—be made real for every woman and girl on the planet.
