Survivor voices are key to tackling violence against women
Published: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Marking the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action at the CSW in New York next week, the National Women’s Council (NWC) and the Irish Consortium on Gender Based Violence will hold an event ‘GBV Survivors Leading the Way to Change’ on the 20th March to highlight the crucial role of survivor voices and experiences in designing effective services, systems and laws to respond to, seek reparations for, and tackle violence against women and girls.
Organised in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland, the event will take place on the 20th March, 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM local time (2 pm Irish time) at the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the UN, 885 2nd Avenue 21st Floor, New York. A livestream will be available.
Despite advancements since 1995, misogyny and violence against women and girls remain a scourge on society, with backsliding on gender equality evident in many States. In Ireland, over 52% of women will experience sexual violence during their lifetime. Globally, 1 in 3 women are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence by a non-partner. Far-right movements are increasingly threatening democracy and women’s rights both globally and within Ireland.
The event will feature perspectives from Member States, NGOs and survivor organisations, highlighting survivor-led and survivor-centred approaches in the fight against Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence.
Emphasizing the important role of survivor organisations in Ireland and fora like the National Observatory on Violence against women and girls, chaired by NWC, which brings together 35 organisations in Ireland, Ivanna Youtchak, Violence against women Coordinator, National Women’s Council, said
“The current justice system in Ireland is not working for survivors. We urgently need substantial change and we can learn from survivor groups but also from international good practice. We need to build structures that meaningfully engage with survivors, and which recognise them as leaders and experts through their own experience.
These structures must incorporate the survivor’s lived experience at every stage and support the victim on their journey to achieve justice and recovery. We need to believe women when they come forward and ensure they receive the right supports. We need to ensure everyone who comes in contact with a victim has received trauma informed training. And we need to provide free legal advice and support to victims. The Irish Government has already committed to meaningfully listen to survivors in the Third National Strategy on violence against women, but this now has to translate into concrete actions and improved outcomes for survivors and the whole of society.”
Research presented by the ICGBV will emphasise the shift from ‘survivor-centred’ to ‘survivor-led’ accountability, where survivors take the lead as decision-makers and agents of change. In a context where committed funding for GBV prevention and intervention is significantly shrinking and currently stands at only 1.3% of total committed humanitarian funding in 2024 (OCHA FTS) and less than 1% of Overseas Development Aid (OECD, 2016-22). Therefore sustainable, flexible funding for this life-saving intervention is needed more than ever.
We welcome the commitment made by Member States launching CSW69 to eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls and their acknowledgment of the substantial resources and financing needed to achieve progress.
Speaking in advance of CSW 2025, Róisín Gallagher, Coordinator, ICGBV, said
“To create meaningful, lasting change and address GBV, survivors must be at the forefront and recognised as experts through their lived experiences. In Ukraine, for the first time during an active conflict, survivors played a pivotal role in shaping policy and legal frameworks, leading to nearly 400 individuals affected by conflict-related sexual violence receiving reparations for harm and damage and legal protection for their rights. It is only through the perspective of survivors that the full extent of their suffering can be understood, and they are the ones who can truly set the path for sea change.”
The event will also feature a keynote address by Katrine Koppens, Executive Director, Mukwege Foundation. Additional speakers include
- Tinebeb Berhane, ActionAid Country Director, Ethiopia
- Iryna Dovgan, Leader of SEMA Ukraine, an NGO of women survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV)
- Alisa Kovalenko, SEMA Ukraine Board Member, and documentary film director
- Ruth Quinn, Senior Advocacy & Policy Officer on Reparation Financing, Global Survivors Fund
- Dr Isata Mahoi, Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Sierra Leone.
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About National Women’s Council
The National Women’s Council is the leading national representative organisation for women and women’s groups in Ireland, founded in 1973. We have almost 200 member groups and a large and growing community of individual supporters.
The ambition of the National Women’s Council is an Ireland where every woman enjoys true equality and no woman is left behind. This ambition shapes and informs our work, and, with our living values, how we work.
We are a movement-building organisation rooted in our membership, working on the whole island of Ireland. We are also part of the international movement to protect and advance women’s and girls’ rights. Our purpose is to lead action for the achievement of women’s and girls’ equality through mobilising, influencing, and building solidarity. Find out more on www.nwci.ie
About the Irish Consortium on Gender Based Violence
The ICGBV is an alliance of 13 human rights, humanitarian and development organisations, including the Irish Defence Forces. It was formed in 2005 in response to high levels of sexual violence in Darfur, Sudan. Member organisations are directly engaged in peacekeeping missions and programming in over forty countries (including Ireland), and active in networks and alliances globally. The global presence and reach of the ICGBV, including a vast network
of partnerships with grass roots and women’s rights organisations, enables it to leverage local voices, bring to bear extensive subject matter expertise and access high-level political fora in a collective effort to address GBV and advance gender equality.