Evidence shows that VAWG is preventable. The core drivers of VAWG are socially determined, which means they can and do change. Evidence-based prevention strategies have shown substantial reduction in levels of violence, even after only a few years of implementation. Well-designed prevention programmes can shift norms, systems and behaviours that drive violence at different levels of the ‘social ecology’ (within personal and peer relationships, groups and communities, organisations and institutions, or society as a whole). Read more about understanding the drivers of VAWG.

Some examples of promising prevention interventions can be found in the RESPECT Framework developed by the World Health Organisation and UN Women, as well as the UK’s What Works to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) research programme, which has shown that it is possible to reduce intimate partner violence by over 50%. See also some of the strategies included in this section.

Women’s movements and women's rights organisations (WROs) play a specific and vital role in prevention. Firstly, they catalyse, drive and sustain shifts in social norms. By working with local WROs on prevention efforts, these changes can be owned by local communities and can support sustainable, long-term  change. Secondly, WROs have developed a range of innovative prevention strategies and programmes, such as SASA! developed by Raising Voices in Uganda, which has reduced the prevalence of VAWG in some communities. Thirdly, they are well-positioned to inform and lead advocacy efforts to change laws, policies and institutions which can support VAWG prevention work.

To prevent VAWG, it’s important to have a deep understanding of the causes, dynamics and consequences of violence. Identifying and understanding the underlying causes and risk factors which promote violence can help design and inform prevention work. Similarly, understanding the protective factors which reduce the likelihood of violence occurring can help prevent VAWG. Prevention work needs to occur at all levels of the socio-ecological model - and across all the settings where people live, work, learn and socialise - in order to be effective. Good outcomes cannot be sustained when people move between settings or environments and receive contradictory messaging. Read more about understanding the drivers of VAWG

In contexts where VAWG is normalised, recognising it as a social problem is one of the first steps towards changing mindsets, norms, attitudes and behaviours. Creating an enabling environment for ending VAWG, strengthening institutional capacity on prevention, and building community-wide responses to VAWG, can have a preventive effect in the long run.  Change occurs when communities and leaders see it as their responsibility to intervene in cases of VAWG and declare abusive behaviour towards women unacceptable. According to the RESPECT Framework,  this can be supported by: 

• Building political commitment from leaders and policymakers to speak out and condemn VAWG
• Investing, building on the work of, resourcing and supporting women's rights organisations
• Putting in place and facilitating enforcement of laws and policies that address VAWG and that promote gender equality, including access to secondary education
• Allocating resources to programmes, research, and to strengthen institutions and their capacities to address VAWG, such as health, education, law enforcement, and social services

Prevention interventions that have been shown to work on a pilot or small-scale basis can be scaled up in different ways. These can be expanded by adding more participants, adapting and replicating in another geographic location, or expanding the same intervention over a wider geographic area. Approaches can also be extended by deepening impacts, and adding additional elements (e.g. combining a community social norms approach with a schools-based prevention approach), involving new organisations, or influencing political interests. Interventions that are being scaled up in a new setting need to be adapted to context with an understanding of the local culture, values and resources. They also need to maintain ‘intensity’ in terms of duration of the programme, intensity, frequency or ‘dosage’ of messaging and engagement, and ratios of trained staff to participants. Learn more about how to adapt a programme to context or scale up a programme.

Preventing VAWG requires addressing multiple risk factors rooted in unequal power dynamics. Organisations working on VAWG prevention therefore need to take deliberate actions to build solid prevention programming. Organisational readiness means strengthening systems and structures across the organisation and building staff technical skills and practices to design and deliver ethical and effective prevention programming. In doing so, organisations should reflect on their values alignment, funding, staffing and organisational culture.