Global leaders sign open letter urging immediate action to end gender-based violence as they gather in Melbourne ahead of Women Deliver.
We write as global leaders from across politics, civil society, philanthropy, culture and sport with a shared vision: gender-based violence is solvable, and ending it is an urgent matter of leadership.
At Women Deliver, where global leaders gather to shape the future of gender equality, we face a defining test: whether we will match decades of evidence and advocacy with the scale of action required to forge a future free of gender-based violence.
Today, one in three women worldwide, more than 840 million, will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. This number has remained largely unchanged for over a decade.
This is not because we do not know what to do.
There is now a robust and growing body of evidence on what works to prevent gender-based violence, from shifting harmful social norms to strengthening institutions and investing in community-led approaches. At the same time, new and emerging harms such as tech‑facilitated violence against women and girls require us to continually generate new evidence and solutions. With sustained leadership and investment, we know that violence can be prevented.
And yet, the global response continues to fall dramatically short. While there are some commitments to progress, the level of political commitment on GBV prevention remains inconsistent across the board. Accountability is weak. Efforts are fragmented. And survivors are too often left out of decision-making processes that impact their daily lives.
Too often it is said that gender-based violence is the problem of a few individuals. But this narrative allows systems to escape scrutiny. It masks the ways power protects itself. And it obscures a harder truth: when institutions fail to act, when gender inequality is accepted, and when harmful norms go unchallenged, violence is not an anomaly, it is a predictable outcome.
These failures are not the result of lack of knowledge; they stem from unwillingness from leadership to prioritize the solutions.
The context is also becoming more volatile. Gender-based violence is being intensified by converging global pressures such as conflict and humanitarian crises, economic instability, a growing global backlash on gender equality, and rapidly evolving technologies which are enabling new forms of harm. Without deliberate action, these forces will not only sustain violence, they will accelerate it.
Preventing gender-based violence is not only a moral imperative, but also foundational to addressing the crises of our time and achieving progress across social, economic, security and environmental goals. When half of the world's population is held hostage by the fear of violence, responses to global crises will always be handicapped.
It does, however, require taking another path – a step change from isolated interventions to coordinated, system-wide action; from a narrative of inevitability to one of solvability.
We call on leaders across sectors to move from commitment to sustained action and accountability, to match words with policies and funding.
Governments must embed evidence-based prevention across national systems, including education, health, justice, workplaces and digital policy, and commit sustained, long-term financing to take what works to scale.
Leaders across all sectors – philanthropy, private sector, culture, sport and beyond – must play their part in elevating the prevention of gender-based violence as an urgent priority, and invest in the movements and organisations that have led this work for decades.
Through All In: Global Leaders for Ending Gender-Based Violence, we are working to catalyse that leadership, mobilising political will, investment and accountability at the scale required to prevent violence before it occurs.
At Women Deliver, we have an opportunity to shift the trajectory, not with new promises alone, but with concrete action.
Leadership on this issue does not sit with a few. It sits with all of us. To end gender-based violence, we must go ALL IN.
There is no neutral position. We either contribute to systems that enable violence, or we help build those that prevent it.
The question is whether we will choose to do what it takes.
Authored by Co-Chairs, All In: Global Leaders for Ending Gender-Based Violence
Maria Fernanda Espinosa
Executive Director of GWL Voices; former Foreign Minister of Ecuador; and
Tarana Burke
Founder, ‘me too.’ Movement; Chief Vision Officer of ‘me too.’ International movement
On behalf of All In Leaders:
Geeta Rao Gupta
Global Leader in Gender Equality and Women's Rights; Former United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues
Graça Machel
Former First Lady of Mozambique and South Africa; Former Minister of Education and Culture of Mozambique; international advocate for women’s and children’s rights.
Harriet Harman
UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls
Mabel van Oranje
Global social entrepreneur and human rights advocate
Ross Taylor
Former Captain of the New Zealand International Cricket Team and advocate for engaging men in prevention
Sima Samar
Human rights activist and former Minister for Women’s Affairs of Afghanistan
Trang Nguyen
Founder and Director of WildAct Vietnam, focused on conservation and community safety
Victor Madrigal-Borloz
Former UN Independent Expert on Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI)
Vivir Quintana
Singer, composer and global advocate for women and girls