Sweeping aid cuts are dismantling the very organisations critical to ending violence against women and girls, according to a new UN Women report titled “At Risk and Underfunded.”
Based on a global survey of 428 women’s rights and civil society organisations, the report reveals that 34 per cent of these organisations have suspended or shut down programmes addressing violence against women and girls.
Over 40 per cent have scaled back or closed essential services such as shelters, legal aid, psychosocial, and healthcare support due to immediate funding gaps.
The findings show that 78 per cent reported reduced access to essential services for survivors, 59 per cent observed rising impunity and normalisation of violence, and nearly one in four halted violence prevention interventions entirely.
“Women’s rights organisations are the backbone of progress on violence against women, yet they are being pushed to the brink. We cannot allow funding cuts to erase decades of hard-won gains.
“We call on governments and donors to ringfence, expand, and make funding more flexible,” said Kalliopi Mingeirou, Chief of the Ending Violence Against Women and Girls section at UN Women.
Globally, an estimated 736 million women, almost one in three, have experienced physical or sexual violence, most often by an intimate partner.
Earlier this year, UN Women warned that most women-led organisations in crisis settings were facing severe funding cuts, with nearly half at risk of closure, a concern now echoed in At Risk and Underfunded.
The report further notes that only five per cent of organisations anticipate sustaining operations for two years or longer. Meanwhile, 85 per cent predict severe regression in laws and protections for women and girls, and 57 per cent raise alarm over growing risks for women human rights defenders.
Funding shortfalls coincide with a rising backlash against women’s rights in one in four countries. As organisations lose funding, many are forced to prioritise basic services over long-term advocacy that drives systemic change.
The report comes as the world marks 30 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a global roadmap to achieve gender equality and women’s rights that placed ending violence against women at its core.
At Risk and Underfunded: The Impact of Funding Cuts on Women’s Rights and Civil Society Organisations Working to End Violence Against Women and Girls was produced under the Advocacy, Coalition Building and Transformative Feminist Action (ACT) programme, funded by the European Union with support from the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.
The ACT programme represents a partnership between the European Commission and UN Women, aiming to elevate feminist movements’ priorities and amplify their voices in the global fight against gender-based violence.
UN Women continues to lead efforts worldwide to advance women’s rights, gender equality, and empowerment by transforming laws, institutions, social behaviours, and services to close the gender gap.
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