Global Demand to End Violence against Women Hits Record High — Again
Date:
As the 16 Days Campaign Launches, the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and Girls Warns of Declining Official Development Assistance (ODA) as Civil Society Demand Reaches USD 2.1 Billion in its latest Global Call for Proposals
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
25 November 2025— Today, as the UNiTE to End Violence against Women launches in support of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence - with this year’s focus on ending digital violence against women and girls (VAWG) [1] - new data from the UN Trust Fund to end Violence against Women and Girls (UN Trust Fund) offers a stark warning.
UN Women reported that rapid technological change continues to create new risks and new platforms for violence against women and girls. Yet, official development assistance (ODA) for preventing VAWGand resourcing women’s right organizations is declining – at the very moment when demand from civil society is surging.
The UN Trust Fund’s 2025 Global Call for Proposals marked another record-breaking year: demand rose by 36% compared to 2023, with USD 2.1 billion requested across nearly 4,000 applications. Despite this urgent need, less than 1% of ODA is directed to women’s rights organizations and movements working on this issue.
These are not just numbers — they represent thousands of feminist leaders, organizations and communities ready to act, but unable to access the resources they need.
This acceleration reveals both the scale of unmet needs and the growing reliance on the UN Trust Fund as one of the few global mechanisms dedicated to ending violence against women and girls.
Digital Violence Spreads as Funding Lags
A quarter of a billion dollars. That is the total amount requested from 386 applications addressing digital violence against women and girls in response to the UN Trust Fund’s 2025 Global Call. This marks an 81% rise in requested funding compared to 2023. Nearly half of these applications come from women’s rights organizations. Their leadership reflects a simple truth: those closest to the problem are creating the most powerful solutions — but they need resources to match the scale of the crisis.
This year’s data also reveals who applicants see as most urgently needing support in the face of digital violence:
- Survivors of violence: 74%
- Women and girls in low-income communities: 59%
- Women and girls with disabilities: 44%
- Women human rights defenders: 34%
While these are the populations most frequently prioritized in applications, global evidence shows that women in public life — including journalists, parliamentarians and activists — are also disproportionately targeted by online abuse.
Taken together, the data reflects a widening crisis that mirrors and amplifies offline violence. Digital violence sits on the same continuum as physical, emotional, and economic abuse — rooted in control, discrimination, and impunity — and it disproportionately harms those who are already marginalized or whose public voice challenges power.
This underscores a core principle of the UN Trust Fund’s work: leaving no one behind. The women and girls most excluded from decision-making, visibility, and protection offline are the same groups facing heightened risks online — and they are the ones civil society is urgently trying to reach.
A Persistent Funding Gap
A persistent funding gap continues to undermine progress. Each year, strong, community-led proposals far outweigh the resources available, leaving frontline organizations without the means to sustain or scale their work. This gap is not due to a lack of solutions — it reflects chronic underinvestment in women’s rights organizations and feminist movements.
“Women’s rights organizations are telling us the same thing everywhere: they are facing backlash, stretched to do more with less, and still holding their communities together,” said Sarah Hendriks, Director of the Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division at UN Women. “The USD 2.1 billion in demand reflects real and urgent needs to address violence against women and girls in the context of backlash, shrinking civic space and funding cuts. UN Women is calling for sustained, predictable funding so women's rights organizations can continue delivering lifesaving support, including in the face of rising digital violence.”
“For decades, the UN Trust Fund has served as the only global UN funding mechanism created by Member States specifically to resource the essential, lifesaving work of civil society to end violence against women and girls.” said Abigail Erikson, Chief of the UN Trust Fund, “Yet what we are seeing now is civil society and women’s rights organizations going from underfunded to unfunded, despite knowing how to deliver change. The scale of our global demand data shows both the urgency and the opportunity to prevent violence against women and girls — if we invest in it."
ABOUT THE UN TRUST FUND
The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and Girls is the only General Assembly-mandated global multilateral grant-making mechanism dedicated to ending all forms of #VAWG. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the UN Trust Fund is actively seeking partners to support a dedicated funding window for organizations addressing this growing challenge. Read more at: https://untf.unwomen.org/
FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES
Contact:
Mehrak Mehrvar
Global Lead, Strategic Partnerships, Advocacy and Resource Mobilization
[ Click to reveal ] | mehrak.mehrvar(at)unwomen.org
[1] Multiple terms are used to describe how digital technologies have enabled new forms and patterns of violence against women and girls, which is increasingly being experienced across the online-offline continuum, including technology-facilitated gender-based violence/violence against women and girls, or digital violence. In this article, we are using Digital Violence against Women and Girls (DVAWG).