Reflections on prevention policies for gender based violence against women and girls: Debates in Brazil and Australia

Foreword by UN Women Brazil country office: Violence against women and girls is a grave violation of human rights. It causes immediate and long-term multiple physical, social, economic, sexual and mental consequences for women and girls. It has a devastating effect on women’s well-being and prevents women and girls from fully participating in society. It has negative consequences for women, their families, the community and the country at large. It has tremendous costs, from greater health care and legal expenses and losses in productivity, impacting national budgets and overall development.Despite the important advances achieved in the last 30 years in terms of legislation, public policies and the production of information and knowledge on this topic, the existing data shows that violence against women and girls continues to assume characteristics of a global pandemic. In Brazil it has not been different. Since the democratization process in the 1980s, the country has built measures to eliminate violence against women and girls, strongly marked by the establishment of specialized services to survivors of violence. The country also has advanced legal provisions, such as the Maria da Penha Law. However, both here and worldwide, such efforts have not been sufficient to change adverse social norms, attitudes and behaviors that perpetuate gender, race and other inequalities and cause compound discrimination, which represent the root causes of violence against women and girls. In addition to ensuring equal access to justice for those who have suffered violence, holding perpetrators of violence accountable and providing access to quality services, it is necessary to adopt a systemic and comprehensive approach to prevent violence before it occurs and intervene early in contexts of recurrent violence.Recognizing a value and importance of experiences and good practices on preventing multiple forms of violence against women and girls, UN Women Brazil Country Office partnered with the Brazil-Australia project to promote dialogue and to knowledge sharing between researchers, professionals and academics from both countries, that can contribute to public policy making. This publication is one of the results of this partnership, through which we seek to further amplify the knowledge sharing of the reflections and lessons learned so far. Women’s and girls’ right to live free from violence is upheld by international agreements such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) the 1993 UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.The elimination of violence against women and girls requires consolidation of multi-pronged partnerships, more investment, more knowledge, more impetus and more collaborative work. UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, is a trusted partner to governments, civil society, media and academia in guaranteeing women and girls the right to live free from violence.Our special thanks to the authors who dedicated their time to share this journey with usand our recognition to the Australia Embassy in Brazil, the Public Prosecutor Office of theFederal District and Territories, and all institutions involved in the project. We wish everyone a great reading!Anastasia Divinskaya Representative of UN Women Brazil Country Offic