This mapping documents the initiatives of faith-based organizations in Asia-Pacific to respond to violence against women and girls. The report brings together the experiences of 58 organizations, collected through online survey and supplemented by in-depth interviews.

 

Violence against women constitutes “any act of gender based violence that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” It is a consequence of gender inequality and discrimination, and is shaped by the interaction of a wide range of social, cultural, economic and political factors. By intention or effect, violence against women serves to perpetuate male power and control, and is sustained by a culture of silence and denial of the seriousness of the physical and psychological consequences of abuse.