Every year on 25 November, the world is painted orange to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. This date is also the start of the 16 Days of Activism campaign that unites and mobilises international civil society to advocate for the unconditional elimination of gender-based violence. The campaign, ending on 10 December, on Human Rights Day, thus highlighting that violence against women is the gravest violation of women’s human rights, was initially launched in 1991 and has since become a symbolic alarm for the hard work that still needs to be done.

This year’s theme, “Every 11 Minutes, a woman is killed. #NoExcuse. UNiTE to End Violence against Women”, is a reminder of the grim reality facing women around the world.^[1] The initiative UNiTE, spearheaded by the United Nations Secretary General, aims to support 16 Days of Activism and calls on governments, women’s and civil society organisations, young people, the private sector, media, and the wider UN system to “join forces to address the global pandemic of violence against women and girls”.^[2] It emphasises the urgency of increasing perpetrator accountability and investing resources that enable women’s rights movements to accelerate visible change.

The rapid societal transformations due to globalisation, technological advancements, and growing interconnectedness bring attention to their adverse impacts on women’s position. One in four adolescent girls is abused by their partner, signalling the increasing normalisation of violent and possessive behaviour by young men and boys. Younger women are especially affected by technology-facilitated violence, which is experienced by 16 to 58% of women globally.^[3] The diversification of online forms of violence shows the rapid escalation of threats to women’s safety online and offline. Moreover, women who face intersecting forms of discrimination are disproportionately more affected by the new emerging types of harassment and violence digitally, which puts further obstacles to their access to online spaces and restricts their full participation in society. As the world is engulfed by new and continuous armed conflicts, humanitarian crises, environmental disasters and forced population displacements, instances of sexual and physical violence against women rise. At the same time, the national data systems are insufficiently developed to assess the real impact of conflicts on women, as often war and crisis-related gender-based violence is considered an unfortunate byproduct of war.

It is important to stress that femicide is a universal issue and is currently on the rise – the highest number in the past 20 years was reported in 2022.^[4] This is the lethal result of everyday sexism, sexual harassment, and emotional and physical abuse. Combating and preventing gender-based violence is one of the pivotal areas of work for the Council of Europe. 2024 celebrated 10 years since the entry into force of the Istanbul Convention, and although the monitoring mechanisms have reported promising developments in national policies, education initiatives and support services in member States, the pervasive nature of gender-based violence, deeply rooted in the patriarchal structures of society, requires more proactive and contemporary measures.^[5] The mainstreaming of the digital dimension of violence against women should be strengthened in all prevention and response work, as well as policy measures, sanctioning and regulating of digital violence. Young women are disproportionately affected by tech-facilitated discrimination and violence, which transfers its consequences to real life with psychological, emotional, social and financial repercussions for victims.

The Advisory Council on Youth strongly supports the new Gender Equality Strategy 2024‑2029 of the Council of Europe, which prioritises preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence as one of its objectives. We urge member States to commit to implementing the Strategy through the appropriate policy tools and support mechanisms in co-operation with the Gender Equality Commission. Currently, most of the response and survivors protection work is done by civil society. We need more proactive measures, such as investing in women’s organisations, effective legislation for the prosecution of perpetrators, well-equipped and inclusive services for survivors, and sufficient training for law enforcement officials.

Young women have the right to live free of violence and discrimination, both online and offline, and we need to dismantle societal structures and norms that violate their human rights. The Advisory Council on Youth will continue to support co-operation between member States’s institutions, civil society organisations and the Council of Europe’s youth sector in investing in prevention for a society free of gender-based violence and in promoting initiatives and legislation empowering women’s economic, political and social independence.

The statements of the Advisory Council are published for the purpose of informing the public about the activities of the statutory bodies of the Council of Europe youth sector. The statements reflect the opinions and positions of the Advisory Council and its members. The views expressed therein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Council of Europe.