Beyond Backlash: Advancing Movements to End Violence Against Women

Organizations working to end violence against women and girls (EVAW/G) are facing an alarming, coordinated backlash that threatens hard-won gains in safety and equality. For feminist activists, organizations and movements, the backlash is shaping their operations and limiting their support, and risks undermining or reversing progress. While resistance to gender justice is not new, the current backlash is unfolding in a uniquely strategic, highly coordinated and deeply entrenched manner.  

The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) analyzed the backlash unfolding in 2024, drawing on insights from reports, evaluations and surveys from over 100 of its grantee partners in more than 50 countries. The resulting paper shows how organizations working to EVAW/G are impacted by three interconnected forms of backlash: systemic backlash, “deny, distort and distract” tactics, and repression and violence. It concludes with calls to action for donors, researchers, the UN system and other practitioners in the EVAW/G ecosystem. 

Key findings 

• The backlash is actively shaping the landscape of work to EVAW/G. 
• Over 70% of UN Trust Fund grantee partners faced backlash in 2024, which impacted services for women and girls, access to justice, and feminist movement building. 
• Today’s backlash is more legally embedded, technologically sophisticated and globally connected than ever before. 
• Civil society organizations are showing remarkable resilience and adaptability to sustain their work and are employing various strategies to counter the different forms of backlash. 

Read and download "Beyond Backlash: Advancing Movements to End Violence against Women" (English).