BANGKOK– Participants at the Sixth Asian and Pacific Population Conference had the opportunity to hear about the violence that women and girls in the region are experiencing and, importantly, the actions that can and are being taken to prevent the violence. 

Through a question and answer format moderated by former BBC foreign correspondent Rachel Harvey, a panel of experts and leading activists shared their knowledge, views and experiences on the violence that confronts women and girls in Asia and the Pacific and the measures taken to transform norms and practices so that the violence can stop.

The members of the panel included Bandana Rana, President of SAATHI, a leading  NGO in Nepal and an expert on gender-based violence, Emma Fulu from the UN joint regional programme, “Partners for Prevention”, which recently completed a regional multi-country study on  men’s use of violence against women and girls, and Benjamin Swanton, Project Manager for the NGO Paz y Desarrollo (Peace and Development), who is working to break the cycle of violence in Viet Nam through a school-based prevention programme.

All panellists stressed that violence against women and girls needs to stop – whether it occurs in the home, the workplace or on the street; whether it involves rape and sexual violence, domestic violence, economic deprivation or emotional abuse. They also shared with the participants positive actions on prevention that are being implemented in the region.