UN Report Warns Aid Cuts Threaten Efforts to End Violence Against Women

NEW YORK – Sweeping cuts in international aid are crippling organizations that work to end violence against women and girls, according to a new United Nations report released Monday.

The UN Women report, At Risk and Underfunded, found that funding reductions have forced more than a third of women’s rights and civil society groups to suspend or shut down programs aimed at preventing gender-based violence. More than 40% have scaled back or closed life-saving services such as shelters, legal aid, and health care support due to immediate financial shortfalls.

“Women’s rights organizations are the backbone of progress on violence against women, yet they are being pushed to the brink,” said Kalliopi Mingeirou, chief of the UN Women section on ending violence against women and girls. “We cannot allow funding cuts to erase decades of hard-won gains. Without sustained investment, violence against women and girls will only rise.”

The global survey, which included 428 organizations, showed that 78% of respondents reported reduced access to essential services for survivors of violence. Nearly 60% said they have seen an increase in impunity and the normalization of abuse, while one in four organizations said they had to suspend or stop preventive interventions entirely.

Violence against women and girls remains one of the world’s most pervasive human rights violations. The UN estimates that 736 million women — nearly one in three — have experienced physical or sexual violence, most often from intimate partners.

The report also found that only 5% of surveyed groups expect to sustain their operations for more than two years under current funding levels. Eighty-five percent predicted major setbacks in laws and protections for women and girls, and more than half voiced concern over increasing risks for women human rights defenders.

The cuts come amid what UN Women described as a “growing backlash” against women’s rights in one in four countries. As a result, many organizations have shifted from advocacy and policy work to maintaining only the most basic survivor services.

At Risk and Underfunded was released as the world marks the 30th anniversary of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a landmark agreement committing governments to gender equality and the eradication of violence against women.

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