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Ask harder questions, imagine different futures: Reflections on gender-based violence work
This document reflects the key discussion points of a three-part Thematic Dialogue on Gender-based Violence convened by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), COFEM, Just Futures Collaborative and Realizing Sexual and the Reproductive Justice Alliance (RESURJ), between February and April 2026.
Background
22 feminists from diverse backgrounds, including academics, activists, service providers, community organizers, journalists, and lawyers, gathered across borders and disciplines to ask: What is the future of gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and activism? While decades of feminist advocacy have pushed for state recognition of GBV as a grave human rights violation, existing responses remain rooted in punitive and carceral systems that often neglect survivor-centered care and fail to address emerging forms of violence such as technology-facilitated GBV. Recognizing the limitations and harm of these approaches, the group convened to share experiences, confront challenges, and collectively imagine alternative, community-driven strategies to create violence-free societies.
Our conversations highlighted that GBV is inseparable from wider global crises, with new and complex forms emerging amid environmental degradation, conflict, and economic inequality. These challenges are intensified by weakening international cooperation, shrinking support from major donors for gender equality work, and increasing attacks on the inclusion of “gender” in laws and policies at all levels. At the same time, oppressive and anti-democratic forces are using criminalization and the language of protection to expand punitive systems and undermine real solutions to GBV, often co-opting feminist strategies for their own agendas.
Download the summary document here!