One year ago, the femicide of Saltanat Nukenova shook Kazakhstan. The case received unprecedented national attention when her husband, a former minister, was accused. Aitbek Amangeldi, 37, an activist and human rights defender from Kazakhstan, shared with UN Women how the murder of his sister Saltanat changed his life. He founded the Saltanat Nukenova Memorial Foundation and a volunteers’ network to help survivors of gender-based violence, uniting activists, bloggers and influencers across Central Asia.

“My sister and I grew up surrounded by love and trust. I believed, perhaps naively, that all families were like mine,” reflected Aitbek Amangeldi. “But over the past year, I have come to realize the depth [of the problem]. Most cases of gender-based violence remain unreported because of stigma, gender roles, fear of retribution, and inadequate support systems. In our region, a concept called “Uyat” (Kazakh for “shame”) discourages women and girls from reporting violence, silencing survivors, normalizing abuse, and perpetuating cycles of violence that reinforce gender inequality.”

The murder of Saltanat Nukenova by her husband exposed the brutal reality of domestic violence and femicide in Kazakhstan and neighbouring countries. The trial was broadcast online by all media outlets – a first for the country – and followed by over 3.5 million people each day. The silence that allowed rampant abuse of women to continue, and be normalized, was shattered.

Aitbek Amangeldi’s journey from personal loss to activism

“Saltanat was a bright, kind person, the real soul of our family. Losing her was an irreparable shock, but it also became a call to action for me,” said Amangeldi, who not only pursued justice for his sister, but went on to create and lead a network of volunteers to support victims and survivors of domestic violence by providing emergency accommodation, facilitating legal assistance, helping them move to secure locations and find jobs, and much more. He is also trying to create and register a foundation to continue supporting survivors.

It started with one call for help, followed by many others, from women fearing for their lives. At the same time, there was an outpouring of support from the public for Saltanat’s family. Amangeldi saw the opportunity to unite people in need with those who were ready to help.

“I still remember the first case, when a woman was being stalked and receiving death threats from her ex-husband. I paid for her bodyguard for three days,” recalled Amangeldi. With the help of volunteers, he helped the woman pursue legal action that led to the abuser’s arrest.

Amangeldi’s first social media post asking for volunteers received responses from 500 people within the first few days. Today, the volunteer network has more than 3,000 active members, and they have worked on 1,200 cases of domestic violence and femicide already.

Turning the tide of domestic violence and femicide in Kazakhstan

Globally, every 10 minutes, a woman is killed by her intimate partner or family. According to official statistics, at least 80 women are killed every year in Kazakhstan by their partners. The police receive around 300 domestic violence reports daily.

Yet, domestic violence was decriminalized in 2017, reinforcing the normalization of domestic abuse.

Following Saltanat’s trial, thousands of people protested online and in peaceful demonstrations around the world, demanding justice and calling for Kazakhstan to criminalize domestic violence.

“The public response to our trial showed me how powerful public opinion is,” said Amangeldi. “Nearly all bloggers spoke out to support our family and denounced the violence, creating an unprecedented wave of societal response to gender-based violence in the country. This united movement is capable of influencing laws, policies, and official responses.”

On 15 April 2024, Kazakhstan’s president signed a law reinstating criminal penalties for domestic violence, which came into effect in June.

The power of media and activism in curbing violence against women

In Kazakhstan, 16.5 per cent of women aged 18-75 report experiencing physical and/or sexual violence perpetrated by intimate partners. However, since domestic violence is still underreported, the real scale of violence is likely to be much higher, says Amangeldi.

“This is why I support the UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia’s #HearHerStory campaign, aimed at breaking stereotypes, eliminating victim-blaming, and amplifying women’s voices. I call on influencers to share these stories, whether about a friend, a sister, or an acquaintance, to show the true scale and forms of violence.”

The #HearHerStory campaign is aiming to create a network of influencers committed to fighting violence against women and girls and promoting gender equality. With UN Women’s support, Amangeldi has organized meetings with influencers from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to share experiences.

“Change starts with the first step, and together, we can transform society,” says Amangeldi. “I urge influencers, active citizens, and anyone who cares—don’t remain indifferent. Support survivors, speak out, and fight for justice. Together, we can make sure that our children grow up in a society free from violence.”

After war broke out in Sudan in mid-April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), 18-year-old Amna Salih* sheltered in her home to avoid the dangers of the conflict.

One day, there was a knock at the door.

“I panicked, but shakingly opened the door, and there were some soldiers. They came inside and on realizing that I was alone, they started to rape me, one after another with a gun pointed at me”, she said through tears. "They stayed in my house for four days and did it every day.”

When the soldiers left at last, with the help of a neighbour, Salih was able to escape to a friend’s house in a safer part of the city.

“I was only able to explain what happened to another friend who lived outside Sudan. She sent me some money and advised me to quickly leave the city”, she said. Salih fled the city and travelled throughout Sudan until she arrived at an internally displaced persons’ (IDP) shelter.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has reported that at least 118 people had been subjected to sexual violence, including rape, gang rape, and attempted rape in Sudan as of mid-December 2023, including 19 children.

Many of those attacks were committed in homes and on the streets, that report said, adding that only four victims of sexual violence were willing and able to report to the authorities, owing to stigma, distrust of the justice system, the collapse of the institutions of justice, and fear of reprisals.

A few months after arriving in the IDP shelter, Salih was shocked to find out that she was pregnant.

“It has really been a struggle”, she said. “Being pregnant in an IDP shelter with no proper medical care or proper nutrition.”

The Sudanese Organization for Research and Development (SORD) in Kassala State and the Women Awareness Organization (AWOON) in Port Sudan have partnered with UN Women to care for internally displaced persons in Sudan, especially vulnerable women affected by sexual and gender-based violence.

A year into the war, one of SORD’s critical tasks has been caring for pregnant women and girls, many of whom were impregnated due to sexual abuse.

Nahid Ahmed, a specialist in psychotherapy at AWOON, said that the organization has worked with women survivors of gender-based violence and sexual assault.

“We have cases of sexual violence, which we follow closely, though many women don’t want to talk about their experiences”, Ahmed said.“They need intensive psychological support, which we offer, and medication where needed.”

The Red Sea Emergency Room and AWOON, in collaboration with UN Women, have established six Women Situation Rooms (WSRs) to help women access an array of humanitarian services, including helping pregnant women access traditional obstetric care in the absence of health professionals, and providing shelter, food, and water to displaced people.

“We have referred them to the obstetrics and gynaecology departments, and we follow them up closely”, Ahmed said, adding that AWOON worked to support the mental health of pregnant women who survived sexual assaults.

WSRs also provide organizations the opportunity to network, access and share information, and serve as distribution points for goods and services collected through community efforts. Committees at the WSRs coordinate the evacuation of civilians from frontline areas, repair electrical systems to restore power to medical centres, and search for missing persons and reunite them with their families.

The situation room framework can provide women and frontline responders with aid, but “a lot of support is needed in terms of technical and financial assistance for greater effectiveness”, said one UN Women humanitarian worker in Sudan.

According to OCHA, the number of people in need of gender-based violence services in Sudan has increased by more than 1 million, reaching 4.2 million people since the start of the war, and that number is expected to reach 6.9 million during 2024.

The SORD Organization runs one WSR in Kassala where, among other tasks, they document conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence. Through coordinated efforts with women-led organizations, they ensure that affected women have access to necessary services. It’s here where Salih and over 60 other survivors of gender-based violence attend therapy sessions with counsellors for psychological support.

During the last months of her pregnancy, Salih was taken in by a family in the host community who cared for her before the baby was born.

When she delivered her baby, Salih declined to put the child into foster care, citing her own difficult childhood as an adoptee and survivor of childhood sexual assault  

“I don’t want my child to go through the same”, she said, adding that she wanted to see her baby every day.  

*Salih's name has been changed to protect her safety.

“Women run to us crying, saying [perpetrators] are coming to get them. But in Neo Island, where we live, there is no police presence; there is no hospital,” says Sophie Rolyn, who lives in the eastern Solomon Islands.

Rolyn works as a team leader at the local Family Support Center, a crisis centre for women and girls facing gender-based violence.

Some days, she sets off from Neo Island at 6 a.m., bringing women on an hour-long boat journey to the island of Santa Cruz, where they can access police and a hospital, and counselling services at the crisis centre.

Globally, one in three women experience violence in their lifetime. In Soloman Islands, a national study in 2009 revealed a higher prevalence of violence against women, with nearly two in three women aged 15 to 49 reporting physical or sexual violence—or both—by an intimate partner. Most women suffered in silence, with few seeking help from public services; and when they did, it was typically after the abuse had become caused serious injuries.

To curb this epidemic of violence, seven government and nongovernmental service providers—including the police, hospitals, and crisis centres—joined forces to establish SAFENET.

Expanding services to meet women's needs

“When service providers fail to respond appropriately [to gender-based violence], I report it to the SAFENET Committee,” said Rolyn.

UN Women has supported the SAFENET network under the Solomon Islands’ Ministry of Women, Youth, Children, and Family Affairs. In 2019, SAFENET expanded to the country’s outer provinces, including Temotu—which includes Neo Island. In the two years that followed, the number of gender-based violence cases received by SAFENET’s health providers tripled.

“When there are more trained healthcare providers, there is a higher reporting of violence, because women are more likely to seek services when they know quality services are available,” said Nashly Votozo, a gender-based violence officer at the Ministry of Health and Medical Services.

Votozo trains nurses across the country on how to respond to sexual and gender-based violence.

“While all healthcare providers know how to treat patients, the approach is quite different when it comes to gender-based violence,” she said. “You need techniques to identify gender-based violence from other cases, build trust with survivors to disclose, interpret their body language, conduct medical examination and write accurate reports. It has to be ethical and survivor-centred.”

Acting quickly to help women in need

Mary (a pseudonym) is one survivor who sought help from SAFENET after her husband’s abuse during her pregnancy resulted in the loss of their baby.

“I realized that if I continued to stay with him, he would eventually kill me too,” Mary said. “I remained silent for many years, but stories of women who had received services from SAFENET encouraged me to finally seek help.”

Upon her arrival at a local SAFENET facility, a police officer promptly issued a protection order and escorted Mary to a local hospital for treatment. She also received counselling at a crisis centre and, with the assistance of a lawyer, initiated legal proceedings against her husband.

“I don't know what I would have done without this support. I am thankful to the government for assisting women and girls who may be going through what I experienced,” she said. “We deserve to survive. We deserve to be safe. And now, I finally feel safe. When I walk out, I will share my story with my friends, so they too feel inspired to seek help.”

Stopping violence before it starts

“UN Women's strength lies in connecting prevention and response work,” said Doris Puiahi, UN Women’s Ending Violence Against Women Girls Coordinator who oversees the Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership) programme in Solomon Islands. This programme is primarily funded by the Government of Australia, the European Union, and is jointly coordinated by UN Women and the Pacific Community (SPC), in collaboration with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF)

In addition to gender-based violence counseling and support services, SAFENET’s provincial committees also support outreach efforts through churches, schools, and other institutions to reject discriminatory attitudes and prevent violence against women. .

"I've seen big changes in our community," says Rolyn. "Previously, men made all decisions at home, in public meetings, and in churches. Women sat at the back and listened to what men decided. But now, people recognize women as good decision-makers, and the status of women is rising.”

“We now have three women chiefs on our island,” she said. “When women are abused or sexually harassed, they come and see us. Women and girls are gaining confidence to speak up.”

When Samah arrived at the Collateral Repair Project (CRP) in Jordan, having fled war-torn Darfur in Sudan, she was hoping to find a new life and safety for her two children. “CRP provides quality education,” she said, “and is essential for leaving [my] children in a safe environment as a community centre for us”, adding that this enabled her to gain skills in crochet, embroidery and henna to make ends meet. CPR is one of the current grantee partners of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) that provides crucial support to refugee women and girls who face increased risks of violence.

Supporting refugee women and girls in Jordan

According to UNHCR^[1] and UNWRA,^[2] Jordan hosts over 3 million refugees, the second highest number per capita in the world. Over 2.3 million originate from Palestine, over 600,000 from Syria, and more than 110,000 from Iraq, Yemen and Sudan. The country is also a key regional hub for humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in conflict-ravaged Gaza.

Recognizing the efforts made by Jordan as a host-country and the importance of women’s rights organizations in providing localized responses, the UN Trust Fund is investing over USD 4.1 million in initiatives in Jordan – its largest investment in a single country – to help counter increased risks of violence against women and girls.

Initiatives led by five grantee partners have reached over 35,000 people, with 1,650 cases of sexual and gender-based violence referred to state services in the past year alone. One of the partners, the Arab Women’s Organization (AWO), runs two women’s centres where survivors of violence, both refugee and Jordanian women, can access support services, including case management, legal advice, referrals and skills training.

The UN Trust Fund’s investment complements the ongoing efforts of UN Women Jordan Country Office to provide life-saving and critical social and economic empowerment activities to affected populations. Under its Oasis programme, UN Women Jordan has established 22 centres across the country in the past decade to provide Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanian women in host communities with livelihood support, leadership training and gender-based violence awareness raising and referral services.^[3]

The support UN Women gives to the Jordanian National Action Plan (JONAP) on women, peace and security includes helping Jordan’s government to strengthen the quality of services for survivors of violence and directly supporting increased availability and accessibility of services through civil society organizations. Under JONAP, over 45,000 women and girls benefited from increased access to services, with over 3,000 survivors receiving psychological support and legal assistance in recent years through civil society.

Delegation witnesses the power of collaboration

The importance of these collaborative efforts was highlighted in July 2024 during a week-long visit to Jordan facilitated by UN Women Jordan. Delegates included Abigail Erikson, Chief of the UN Trust Fund; and Ritika Dhall, Deputy Director of the Department for Human Development Section for Gender Equality at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), a long-standing UN Trust Fund partner.

The delegation visited UN Trust Fund grantee partners* and witnessed the crucial support they offer women survivors and those at risk of violence, including Syrian and Palestinian refugees. They also observed how these civil society-led initiatives help implement national policies on peace and security.

Delegates attended the launch of a new UN Trust Fund-supported initiative led by the National Association for Family Empowerment (NAFE), which is building on the success of its previous collaboration with UN Women under the Women, Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF). Using pioneering creative approaches such as interactive theatre, drawings and puppet shows, NAFE spreads transformative messages about issues that include women’s rights, gender-based violence and the importance of women’s participation in peacebuilding and the economic recovery process in Zarqa and Ma’an governorates.

NAFE is also receiving support to build its technical capacity in areas such as communications, advocacy and financial management.^[4] This has helped the women-led organization secure a UN Trust Fund grant to improve access to gender-sensitive prevention and protection services for at-risk communities in Jordan.

Rania Al-Hayyouk, Executive Director of NAFE, said:

“The WPHF [Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund] and UN Women support helped build the capacity of the organization and our team, and helped us focus on building our priorities, which encouraged us to apply to larger funding opportunities such as the UN Trust Fund.”

Roundtable

UN Women also convened a roundtable in Amman with the Jordanian National Commission for Women, the National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA) and the UN Trust Fund entitled: "A Safer Future for Women and Girls". This brought together diplomatic missions, the development community and civil society to discuss the role of civil society organizations in supporting national efforts to combat gender-based violence, including under JONAP. Sessions addressed the role of these initiatives in promoting peace and humanitarian efforts, and the critical role of the NCFA in protection and prevention.

Ritika Dhall, said:

"We see the vital importance of collaboration across government, civil society, and multilateral organizations in addressing gender-based violence. Norway is proud to partner with UN Women and the UN Trust Fund to support national investments and especially women’s rights organizations. Through more and better coordination and efforts, we can make substantial strides in reducing violence against women and girls and safeguarding their rights."

Nicolas Burniat, UN Women Jordan Country Representative, remarked:

"In a context where national and international financial resources for work on gender equality are limited, it is essential to ensure that we all work together, hand in hand and in a coordinated manner – government, civil society and international partners. This has been the spirit under which JONAP has been implemented and we are delighted to be working closely with the UN Trust Fund… to ensure that we maintain this approach as we scale up support for national efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence."

Empowering partners

The collaboration between UN Women and the UN Trust Fund is empowering women-led organizations to effectively lead initiatives that not only improve access to specialist gender-based violence services but also contribute to national efforts to provide sustainable support to women and girls most at risk of violence.

Abigail Erikson notes:

“Three decades since the UN Trust Fund was established, we still wholeheartedly believe that women’s rights and civil society organizations play a crucial role in delivering bold, innovative and life-changing initiatives to prevent and end violence against women and girls. It is key that they are part of the discussions and solutions with key government partners in effective implementation of the National Action Plan to safeguard women’s rights in Jordan and beyond.”

* AWO, CPR, Jordanian Women’s Union (JWU) and NAFE. AWO and NAFE were grantee partners of the WPHF; JWU and NAFE were partners of UN Women Jordan.

In recent years, reports of sexual crimes in Haiti show a persistent upward trend in these violent acts against women and girls. Sometimes used as weapons of control, these attacks leave lasting physical and emotional scars not only on the survivors but also on Haitian communities.  In June 2024, 13 cases of sexual violence against minors were reported by the Brigade for Minor Protection in the main town of South Department; while the Ministry of Gender registered 8 cases of sexual violence in June towards minors; 21 cases were reported by the Institute of Wellbeing between April to June in the same department.

As part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen gender-responsive initiatives across Haiti, within the framework of the Spotlight Initiative, funded by the European Union, UN Women provided equipment and materials to ten departments in the Haitian National Police's Gender Cells.

The provision of this equipment and material is a critical step towards enhancing the Haitian National Police's operational capacity to respond timely to gender-based violence survivors' needs, offering proximity services while at the same track the perpetrators when needed.

The computers and tablets, motorcycles, and conference room equipment, among many other equipment handed over, will enable the Gender Cells to perform their roles more effectively and efficiently.

The handover ceremony took place in Port Au Prince on July 25th, in the presence of the Minister of Gender Affairs, Marie Francoise Suzanne, and USAID representatives, strategic partners in the fight against gender-based violence in Haiti.

During the ceremony, the Minister of Gender Affairs paid tribute to the memory of the three-year-old girl who was raped, then murdered, in Lascaobas, in the Center (10) department.

She made a solemn commitment that this crime would not go unpunished. She reiterated the Transitional Presidential Council and the government, led by Prime Minister Garry Conille's determination to promote an equal society where every woman and every girl can aspire to live in peace, respect, and dignity.  

The Chief of Staff of the Haitian National Police, Inspector General Smith Peyo, was highly appreciative of the donation while expressing the police institution's commitment to combat violence against women and girls at the community level, stating that the issue is one of the institution's main priorities. He recognized the police unit in charge of women's affairs and gender issues weaknesses, in coordinating units to fight against sexual crimes and the brigade for the protection of minors in effectively responding to emergencies.

UN Women's representative in Haiti, Goretti Nduwayo, stated, "We are confident that the equipment and material provided to the Haitian National Police  will contribute significantly to advancing gender equality and empowering women and girls throughout Haiti."

Nduwayo highlighted that the donation was provided within the framework of the Spotlight Initiative, which contributed nearly 2 billion Gourdes from the European Union and almost 140 million Gourdes in contributions from the United Nations, that have been implemented since 2017 with satisfactory results. This programme has allowed UN Women and other UN Agencies to intervene in the capacity building of the Haitian National Police.

UN Women's representative in Haiti reiterated the commitment to support the Haitian National Police and vowed to continue working with other partners in the framework of the Spotlight initiative because, despite the convincing results, much remains to be done in Haiti.

UN Women will continue collaborating with the Haitian National Police, supporting their work on violence prevention, community violence reduction, and disaggregated data collection and management on gender-based violence.

Important progress has been made in eliminating FGM globally and in Liberia. Exactly, a year ago, on 6 February 2023, the National Council of Chiefs and Elders of Liberia (NACCEL), made a historic proclamation to ban the practice of FGM in Liberia. Since then, traditional ceremonies to effectively enforce the ban on FGM have been conducted in four out of 11 FGM practicing counties in Liberia, namely Montserrado, Grand Cape Mount, Nimba and Bong counties. 

Liberia also signalled its commitment to ending FGM during the global convening of world leaders and women’s rights activists at the Generation Equality Forum in Paris in 2021, where Liberia pledged to pursue efforts to end Gender Based Violence and became a signatory to the collective commitment on eradicating harmful practices, including FGM.

This year’s commemoration of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM will be held at the Vezela Vocational and Heritage Centre in Lofa County. Several activities are lined up to mark the anti-FGM Day including, traditional ceremonies to close bush schools and enforce the ban on FGM by NACCEL with technical support from the Liberia Crusaders For Peace and the official handover of the Vezela Heritage Centre to the Government of Liberia. Lofa is set to be the fifth county to conduct traditional ceremonies to ban FGM and close bush schools in the country.

The Vezela centre is one of the four vocational and heritage centres established by UN Women with funding from the European Union and the United Nations through the Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women, harmful practices and promote sexual and reproductive health and rights. Vocational and heritage centers provide dedicated learning space to teach former FGM traditional practitioners new skills to enable them to pursue alternative sources of income to replace FGM. Other heritage centres are located in Grand Cape Mount, Montserrado and Nimba counties. 

To date, over 800 former traditional practitioners of FGM are benefitting from alternative economic livelihood programs such as climate smart agriculture, business and vocational skills training with support from the European Union, United Nations and Government of Liberia Spotlight Initiative. 

As we observe the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, UN Women commends the traditional leaders and communities for their unwavering commitment to ending FGM in Liberia and embracing the concept of ‘initiation without mutilation’ which upholds positive cultural practices as part of the rites of passage of young girls, whilst eliminating FGM. 

“Although progress has been made in eliminating FGM, Liberia is one of only three counties in the region yet to outlaw FGM,” says Comfort Lamptey, UN Women Liberia Country Representative. 
“We call on all stakeholders to continue ensuring collective commitment to ending this harmful practice and ensuring the fundamental rights and dignity of women and girls are realised. We call on lawmakers to ensure that the FGM Bill that is currently before the legislature is passed into law.”

UN Women is supporting the Government of Liberia and NACCEL to commemorate FGM Day and to conduct bush school closure events with funding from the Government of Sweden. 

For more information please contact:

Gloriah Ganyani
UN Women Communication Specialist
E-mail - gloria.ganyani@unwomen.org
Tel: +231 776866201

John Monibah
UN Women Communications Officer
E-mail – john.monibah@unwomen.org
Tel : +231 776737521

Violence against women and girls is one of the most pervasive human rights violations in the world, affecting one in three women. Addressing and eradicating it requires more than just reacting to violence when it happens; it mandates proactive and innovative solutions.

A key to these solutions lies in investing in and empowering women’s rights organizations. They possess the knowledge, tools, and determination to reshape societies to be safer, more inclusive, and just.

Recognizing this potential, the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund), a global inter-agency grantmaking mechanism managed by UN Women on behalf of the UN system, distilled lessons from its archive  and worked with 70 civil society organizations worldwide and to identify ten pathways to prevent violence against women and girls:

Empowering women to break the silence on violence