10 Ways You Can Help Prevent Domestic Violence Locally

We helped secure violence prevention as a global priority – starting with the World Report on Violence and Health. Global estimates indicate that one billion children – over half of all children aged 2-17 years – have experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence in the past 12 months alone. These studies support the vision of a violence-free society in which all people and communities are safe, healthy, and thriving. However, little investment has been made in preventing child sexual abuse. Resources for child sexual abuse have mostly focused on treatment for victims and criminal justice-oriented approaches for people who commit child sexual abuse. Many children wait to report or never report child sexual abuse.

Preventing and responding to violence is core to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the Americas. The fourth level looks at the broad societal factors that help create a climate in which violence is encouraged or inhibited. A person’s closest social circle-peers, partners and family members-influences their behavior and contribute to their experience. The second level examines close relationships that may increase the risk of experiencing violence as a victim or perpetrator. Some of these factors are age, education, income, substance use, or history of abuse.

• “To truly end violence against women and girls we need to dismantle the foundations of gender inequality and discrimination.
• A systematic review of reviews (as opposed to a systematic review) was selected methodologically in this case due to this method’s strength in synthesising broader trends in the literature in a field where evidence has rapidly proliferated (as in this case with VAWG prevention over this time period).
• The World Health Organization (WHO) defines domestic violence (DV) as harm inflicted by a current or former intimate partner living in the same household or having lived in the same household as the victim.
• If you are experiencing family violence, there are services that can provide support and advice.

Strategies not silos

The pilot will help ensure that local areas have the evidence base they need to commission such services locally in a sustainable way. The Government has this year extended the funding for clinics which support victims and survivors of FGM. NHS 111 provides telephone and online help to support people to access the right health support and information. The Government will also develop a best practice framework for the progression of rape and sexual offences cases at the courts stage, including in relation to special measures.

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence

Inconsistencies in how schools see their role and understand what constitutes harmful sexual behaviour were identified. This confirmed how certain activity has become commonplace for some young people, such as receiving unsolicited nude images, sexist name-calling, and sexual assault. In order for educational interventions to be effective, it is essential for those teaching about these issues to have appropriate training and guidance. There’s work to be done on education to prevent it before even looking at the perpetrator picture. The complex nature of these crimes means that the measures which need to be put in place to prevent them vary. Analysis of Metropolitan Police Service data by the London School of Economics found that abuse by current partners and family members is found to have increased by 8.1% and 17.1% respectively while ex-partner abuse on the other hand, declined by 11.4%footnote 68.

Public Health Approaches‎

A 2025 report by Equality Now about the backlash against women’s and girls’ rights notes that loss of gender-inclusive language threatens to weaken international standards and erode accountability for GBV, reflecting a shift toward narratives that sideline GBV commitments rather than treat them as imperative. Also, civil society experienced repression and constraints on their access and expression (including censorship), and critiqued instrumentalization of gender equality “for economic gain.” By contrast, formal negotiations at CSW69, HLPF, and FfD4 were consistently constrained by consensus rules, https://www.fau.edu/sw-cj/news/reimagining-gangs-and-gang-members/ pushback against gender equality language, and lengthy timelines that struggled to keep pace with rapidly evolving forms of violence. To reach consensus some areas—such as bodily rights, inclusion policies, and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)—received limited attention in the final negotiated texts, reflecting ongoing political tensions within multilateral processes. For instance, the European Union (EU) quietly shifted resources away from issues such as GBV prevention on humanitarian and development priority lists. In many spaces, energy was absorbed by crisis response and institutional uncertainty rather than a singular focus on momentum toward prevention.