Joint Analysis – Women Deliver 2026

Traducción al español más abajo. Traduction française ci-dessous. 

Joint Analysis from the ACT to End Violence Against Women and Girls Strategic Advocacy & Communications Working Group

At Women Deliver 2026 in Narrm (Melbourne), Australia from the 26 – 30 April more than 6000 feminists, gender equality advocates, policymakers, researchers, funders, and movement leaders from 180+ countries gathered to share strategies, build solidarity, and shape bold feminist futures.

Women Deliver pre-conferences, plenaries, concurrent sessions, side events, and informal strategy discussions repeatedly highlighted the urgency of ending violence against women and girls in all their diversities. It became clear that gender-based violence (GBV) is increasingly being recognised not only as a standalone issue, but as a cross-cutting political, economic, technological and democratic challenge shaping the future of societies – an issue that is embedded in boarder systems of power, inequality and systems of oppression.

Conversations on GBV spanned a wide range of interconnected issues – from online misogyny and gendered disinformation and misinformation, technologies, decolonial approaches to prevention and response, innovative and flexible financing models, climate and conflict, movement infrastructure, and the urgent need to protect civic and feminist spaces amid growing global backlash. Speakers throughout the week repeatedly emphasised the need for systemic, intersectional, and gender-transformative change that centres lived experience and care as critical foundations for ending violence.

This joint analysis brings together some of the key reflections, tensions and strategic directions emerging from the conversations in Narrm towards GBV across four main themes:

• Confronting Technology-Facilitated GBV and Digital Harms
• Decolonising GBV Prevention and Response, and Centering Majority World, First Nations, and Pacific Feminist Leadership
• GBV on the Frontlines of Conflict, Climate and Humanitarian Crises
• Resourcing and Sustaining Feminist Movements Advancing Violence Free Futures

It further draws out some of the main cross-cutting themes and recommendations from the Women Deliver Conference on how to scale up impact on ending violence against women and girls in all their diversities.

Technology-facilitated GBV (TFGBV) emerged as a critical and ever rapidly evolving area of concern. Speakers across events emphasised that TFGBV is not a new form of violence, but rather an amplification of existing harms, enabled by digital platforms that increase the scale, speed, and reach of abuse. Research was referenced from DataGénero Observatorio for example, showing that 76 percent of women self-censor online for fear of online abuse. 

Key challenges identified during discussions throughout the week included weak, inconsistent, or non-existent regulatory frameworks across different contexts, leaving women, girls, gender diverse and marginalised groups inadequately protected both online and offline. These harms are particularly acute for feminist activists, women, and human rights defenders, in all their diversities, as well as women leaders and politicians.  

Algorithms were further identified as a significant factor propelling harm, often reinforcing exposure to misogynistic and harmful content, particularly among younger users.  This is not simply an unintended consequence of digital platforms; it is a predictable outcome of business models that prioritise engagement, attention and profit. Content that provokes outrage, fear or division is often amplified because it drives user interaction, generating commercial value for technology companies even when it contributes to harm. 

At the same time, there was a strong call from many speakers to reclaim digital spaces through feminist technology. This includes designing platforms and tools that prioritise safety and accountability, as well as investing in creativity and experimentation to drive the innovation required to counter online violence and harm. Several events highlighted the funding mismatch with donors prioritising their funding responses to TFGBV, while many feminist movements are prioritising work on prevention and stopping the violence before it occurs. The continued underrepresentation of women in technology design and development was identified as a structural challenge, contributing to digital systems and solutions that insufficiently account for the realities, risks and safety needs of those experiencing TFGBV. 

A strong emphasis was placed on the leadership of Majority World, First Nations, and Pacific feminist movements in driving more effective, locally grounded, and just responses to GBV. Many emphasised that global systems are not designed to serve or protect marginalised populations.  Speakers and advocates challenged dominant, often colonial approaches to prevention and response, calling instead for strategies rooted in Indigenous knowledge, lived experience and community leadership. These perspectives are especially critical given that Pacific and First Nations women continue to experience some of the highest rates of GBV globally, while remaining systematically underrepresented in global decision-making and funding spaces. 

Many speakers throughout the conference strongly rejected the framing of GBV as a ‘cultural issue’, arguing instead that violence must be understood within the context of colonial histories and ongoing systems of oppression. Participants highlighted how colonisation, displacement and structural inequality have disrupted traditional systems of community accountability, protection, and care, while entrenching intergenerational trauma and exclusion. In this context, speakers emphasised that effective responses to GBV must move beyond deficit-based narratives and instead support decolonial, community-led approaches grounded in self-determination, cultural strength, and Indigenous knowledge.

In a world facing multiple and intersecting crises – including escalating conflict and displacement, climate emergencies, democratic backsliding, widening economic inequality, shrinking civic space, and growing anti-rights movements – women, girls and gender-diverse people continue to experience heightened levels of violence, exclusion, and insecurity. At the same time, feminist movements and frontline organisations are having to respond to increasingly complex and interconnected challenges, often with decreasing resources and under mounting political pressure. 

Conference sessions, including the plenary Women Are Not Negotiable: Conflict, Power, and Accountability, highlighted the disproportionate and gendered impacts of conflict, displacement, occupation and other intersecting crises. Testimonies from advocates and activists working in contexts including Tigray (Ethiopia), Palestine, Rohingya communities in Myanmar, and First Nations communities in Australia underscored how GBV often intensifies during periods of conflict and crisis, including through the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war, repression and control. Speakers also emphasised the long-term and intergenerational consequences of these harms, and the importance of centring the leadership and expertise of affected communities in prevention, response and accountability efforts. 

Discussions throughout the conference highlighted how climate change is not gender neutral but is instead deepening existing inequalities and intensifying risks of violence for women, girls, and gender-diverse people – particularly in communities already affected by poverty, displacement, conflict, and systemic marginalisation. Participants emphasised that climate-related disasters, environmental degradation, and resource scarcity are increasingly disrupting livelihoods, social protections, and community structures, creating conditions in which GBV is escalating. Speakers reinforced the urgent need for climate justice and humanitarian responses that are feminist, locally led and explicitly integrated with GBV prevention and response efforts.

A recurring theme across many Conference sessions was the issue of funding and resourcing. Speakers challenged the framing of funding as ‘scarce’, instead highlighting that funding levels reflect political choices and priorities.  

There was widespread concern throughout the Conference about declining investment in gender equality, feminist organising and GBV prevention and response, at the very moment when anti-rights actors and coordinated backlash movements are becoming increasingly well-funded, organised and politically influential. Participants highlighted the growing imbalance between the scale of feminist movements’ work and the limited, short-term, and often inaccessible funding available to sustain it. Many speakers stressed that without significant and sustained investment in prevention, frontline services, movement infrastructure, and long-term systems change, any progress on ending GBV will remain fragile and vulnerable to rollback. Discussions underscored the urgent need to rethink funding models and resource allocation, including shifting power and resources directly to locally led and feminist organisations driving change in communities.

Speakers further highlighted persistent gaps in implementation, accountability, and political will in relation to government commitments on gender equality and GBV prevention. While many governments have adopted policies, action plans and international commitments, participants repeatedly pointed to the disconnect between these formal frameworks and the lived realities of women, girls, and gender-diverse people experiencing violence and exclusion in communities. Participants stressed that without stronger accountability mechanisms, meaningful participation of feminist movements, and sustained investment in implementation, commitments risk remaining symbolic rather than transformative.

In addition to the four main GBV themes highlighted in this analysis, there were important cross-cutting issue areas identified with clear recommendations for coordinated action. These included:

• Interconnected Systems of Harm: GBV is deeply connected to wider systems of inequality and oppression, including colonialism, militarisation, economic injustice, and structural discrimination.
• Breaking Down Silos: Participants stressed the need for integrated, cross-sector responses, highlighting those siloed approaches limit progress and that collaboration across sectors such as health, climate, democracy and humanitarian action is essential.
• Rethinking Engagement with Men and Boys: Speakers emphasised the importance of addressing harmful gender norms through inclusive approaches that engage all parts of society, while recognising that some efforts to engage men and boys can unintentionally reinforce backlash or harmful power dynamics.
• Centring Care and Collective Wellbeing: Discussions highlighted care as a critical feminist principle for building safer, more just, and sustainable societies, both within movements and across institutions and communities.
• Investing in Feminist Innovation and Imagination: Participants called for greater investment in experimentation, creativity, and feminist strategic foresight approaches to support more proactive, transformative, and future-focused responses to GBV.

The Melbourne Declaration for Gender Equality was launched at the Women Deliver 2026 Conference, calling for a collective action to rebalance the gender equality ecosystem. It emphasises the need for accountability, rights, and a future of gender equality, with over 900 endorsements as well as 11 countries supporting a Joint States Declaration – Canada, Colombia, Finland, France, Iceland, Mexico, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, UK and Uruguay. The Declaration addresses the systemic challenges faced by women and gender-diverse individuals, advocating for a shift in global commitments to gender equality and the importance of local leadership and feminist movements. It aims to create a shared reference point for accountability and action in the fight for gender equality.

While GBV is recognised within the Declaration, participants in a thematic consultation co-convened by the ACT Strategic Advocacy and Communications Working Group emphasised that it does not yet adequately reflect the scale, interconnected nature and systemic drivers of GBV. Several priorities for strengthening the Declaration emerged from the consultation, including:

• Calls for stronger language on GBV and for it not only to be included in the context of conflict and crises. 

• Reframing of language that speaks more strongly to the power, resistance, and direct actions of feminist movements in the face of push-back – one participant called for more ‘hope’. 

• Simplifying of language and ‘development’ terminologies to make it more accessible to anyone who reads it. 

• With the focus on financing, the suggestion for an accompanying ‘donor statement’ setting out donors’ commitments to resourcing feminist movements and women’s rights organisations was put forward.  

Individuals and organisations can endorse the Melbourne Declaration for Gender Equality online.

The Women Deliver 2026 Conference created an important space to connect across movements, sectors, and regions, bringing together thousands of feminists, leaders, donors, and advocates working to advance gender equality and end GBV. While the scale and complexity of the challenges discussed throughout the week were significant – including the rise of authoritarianism and anti-rights movements, the erosion of democratic norms and institutions, increasing militarisation and conflict, shrinking civic space, escalating climate impacts, persistent gender inequality, and growing economic insecurity – there was also a strong sense of possibility grounded in feminist leadership, collective action, and the resilience of movements working to advance gender justice.

Across the Conference, participants repeatedly demonstrated that feminist movements are not only responding to crises, but are actively shaping more just, inclusive, and sustainable futures through community-led organising, advocacy, care, creativity, and resistance. Discussions reinforced that ending GBV requires long-term, intersectional, and adequately resourced approaches that place the leadership of impacted communities at the centre.

Looking ahead, there is hope in the growing connections, solidarity and shared strategies emerging across regions and movements, as well as in the continued determination of feminist activists and organisations pushing for transformative change. At a time of deep global uncertainty, the Women Deliver Conference served as an important reminder that collective action, sustained investment, and bold feminist leadership remain essential to building a future free from violence.

This analysis has been developed by the ACT Strategic Advocacy and Communications Working Group. Representing 12 organisations, networks and coalitions across 4 regions, the ACT Working Group supports a growing global movement to advocate, mobilise, and take action to end violence against women and girls in all their diversity.

If you would like to find out more about the ACT Strategic Advocacy and Communications Working Group and the ACT to End Violence Against Women programme, please contact freya@preventgbv.org