2003

Understanding the Global Movement to End Violence against Women

Women everywhere live with the danger of violence, whether experienced or feared. Awareness of potential violence can restrict women’s options and movements, the experience of rape can mar a woman’s life or bring her an unwanted pregnancy, child abuse or harassment can set the contours of her adult life, political or armed conflict may mean she is a preferred target for any type of violence.

Some forms of violence can be specific to particular contexts but the fact that women all over the world are targeted by men in broadly similar ways sets a common framework for women’s lives.

Despite contextual differences and political variations the last 25 years of the twentieth century saw the coming together of an effective and well-organised international movement to challenge violence against women.

This collective effort amounts to a broadly coherent movement to challenge, resist and end violence.

In this chapter I set out some of the knowledge we now have about violence against women, highlight key developments in the coming together of the international movement as well as profiling key players.  I consider some conceptual developments on the international stage and highlight central debates and challenges for the movement.

© 2003 Centre for the Study of Global Governance (CsGG)

The chapter was published in Global Civil Society 2003, Eds Kaldor M, Anheir H and Glasius M, OUP.

The PDF is here