Stop Violence Against Women

Violence against women is often ignored and rarely punished

Women and girls suffer disproportionately from violence - both in peace and in war, at the hands of the state, the community and the family.

A life free from violence is a basic human right

From the home to the conflict zone, violence against women must stop.

Amnesty International's campaign to Stop Violence Against Women:

Pushes for the implementation of existing laws that guarantee access to justice and services for women subjected to violence including rape and other forms of sexual violence
Calls for new laws to be enacted that will protect women's human rights
Demands an end to laws that discriminate against women
Urges the ending of violence against women perpetrated by a state and its agents
Works to empower women

Featured Issues

Women carry bundles of firewood at Kalma refugee camp for internally displaced people in Sudan

Implementation of existing laws on rape and sexual violence

Violence against women and girls is a human rights scandal; from the bedroom to the battlefield, from the schoolyard to the work place, women and girls are at risk from rape and other forms of sexual

800th weekly protest by former comfort women in front of the Japanese Embassy in South Korea

Violence against women perpetrated by a state and its agents

Despite the obligation of the states to act with due diligence to prevent violence against women - violence against women and girls in many societies is met with governmental silence or apathy or lack of interest.

Women demonstrate in Firdous Square under the banner of the Organisation for Women's Freedom in Iraq

Empowerment of women

Despite the associated risks and difficulties, activists around the world, men and women, campaign to confront discrimination and impunity and to protect and uphold the rights of women.