Being accountable to women and girls means ensuring that their needs, priorities and safety are at the centre of all programming and advocacy work. The best way to achieve this is to work and partner directly with women's organisations and movements, that are led by women and work for and with their women members.

For example, in response to the increased funding of VAWG programmes globally, and the engagement of various new actors, the Coalition of Feminists for Social Change (COFEM) worked to create the Feminist Pocketbook. This is an accessible resource aimed at helping organisations working in humanitarian and development settings to articulate and implement feminist-informed approaches to addressing VAWG and stay accountable to women.

It is especially important to support accountability to women and girls in all their diversity, including the most marginalised, and ensure that the principles of “do no harm” and “leave no one behind” are prioritised across all activities.

Women’s movements and WROs are often most directly affected by the issues they are addressing, including violence and gender inequality. They are likely to have a deep understanding of the drivers of VAWG in their communities, the risk factors faced by women, and the barriers that prevent them from accessing support services. This expertise means they are well-placed to support the design and implementation of EVAWG programmes to overcome these challenges. They are also in a strong position to advise about risks of backlash or local dynamics that a programme may need to navigate to be effective.

Women’s movements and WROs with established local networks are also in a strong position to influence sustainable change at the community level. They are well-placed to build and reinforce public campaigns and movements committed to gender equality and ending VAWG. The engagement and leadership of local movements and WROs adds legitimacy to EVAWG efforts. This is especially the case in communities that may perceive activities from organisations outside their communities as a threat to local customs and beliefs.

Women’s movements and WROs, with their deep context-specific expertise and close connections to communities, are often pioneers of innovative approaches to ending VAWG. For example, WROs have pioneered various models and mechanisms for advancing the rights of women and survivors of VAWG and ensuring there are appropriate, survivor-centred services to meet their needs. These include women’s police stations and family courts, which are now widely adopted by security sector actors globally.

WROs have also developed innovative, evidence-based VAWG prevention programmes such as the SASA! community mobilisation approach pioneered by Raising Voice in Uganda and the Stepping Stones approach developed by Salamander Trust. Both of these programme approaches continue to be adapted and implemented across different contexts globally.

Strong and autonomous women’s rights movements are key to driving policy change to advance women’s rights and end VAWG. For example, a study of 70 countries between 1975 and 2005 concluded that a strong, autonomous women’s movement is a significant predictor of government action on violence against women and girls (VAWG). This is because these movements often engage in sustained and impassioned advocacy with politicians and decision-makers. The tireless activism of women’s rights movements and collective action, especially around key moments such as general elections, can be effective at driving legislative and policy change to protect women and girls. The engagement and leadership of local WROs in advocacy efforts adds legitimacy to messages, since these come from within communities rather than being imposed by outside organisations.

In contexts with limited state provision of VAWG response services, WROs are often the first to fill gaps. They may also play a role as third-party observers and help hold service providers to account. Their engagement in service delivery can improve the quality and availability of services and thereby increase access for survivors. WROs are also often well-placed to reach communities that are otherwise excluded. For example, their networks may facilitate a wider geographical reach into rural areas, while their local knowledge may support them to engage informally with individuals who face greater social barriers to accessing support. Including WROs in the design and implementation of VAWG response services will help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of programmes by avoiding duplication and ensuring services are culturally appropriate and respond to the contextual needs of women and girls. See more on VAWG response

Despite their essential role in providing VAWG response services, holding service providers, decision-makers and programmes accountable to communities, and driving social norms and policy change, WROs are acutely underfunded. They receive only around 5% of aid money committed to ending VAWG.

Programmes and donors should partner with WROs and provide long-term, flexible, and core funding directly to these organizations. This funding should support WROs to pursue the aims and objectives they have identified as priorities within their communities. It should go beyond project funding, to include institutional funding that promotes sustainability for these organisations. See more on resourcing the women's movement to end VAWG