The human, social, and economic cost of gender-based violence is incalculable, with millions of women and girls living in physical and emotional anguish, and terror. Violence against women in its different manifestations plagues every society through harmful consequences to women's physical and emotional health, loss of self-esteem, and as a leading cause of death of women through murder or suicide. Transcending boundaries of nationality, culture, religion and socio-economic status, and affecting the capacity of over half the world's population to freely and fully participate in the development process, violence against women takes an immeasurable toll that has yet to be fully and accurately accounted for. It is using several innovative strategies at the national, regional, and international levels, examples of which are provided below. By working in collaboration with other UN agencies, the Trust Fund has provided opportunities to create new synergies within the UN system for eradicating violence against women.
Women are one of the most adversely affected populations during times of conflict.
The programme brings together the government, the international community, and civil society groups working to consolidate the peace process. The manual has been carefully designed to promote human rights awareness and to address the issue of violence against women as a fundamental issue of women's human rights.