RESPECT: Seven Strategies for Preventing Violence Against Women

Violence against women and girls is a major public health problem rooted in gender inequality and is also a serious violation of human rights that affects the lives and health of millions of women and girls.

Preventing violence requires concerted and sustained action between different sectors of government and civil society informed by the best available evidence on what works to prevent violence against all women and girls.

The RESPECT framework provides a technical package of seven evidence-based strategies and approaches with the best potential to end violence against women and girls, namely:

R –elationship skills strengthened
E –mpowerment of women
S –ervices ensured
P –overty reduced
E –nvironments made safe
C –hild and adolescent abuse prevented
T –ransformed attitudes, beliefs, and norms

The publication of the global theoretical framework and implementation guide is a great step to facilitate the updating of evidence-based policies and programs to prevent violence against women and girls in countries.

A challenge in facilitating, implementing, and adapting global guidance is the lack of examples from the Region, especially examples recorded in different languages, and the need to adapt global frameworks to the particularities of the regional and subregional context.

In response, the regional office for the Americas and the Caribbean of UN Women and the Pan American Health Organization have designed a process to update and adapt the RESPECT framework for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Activities and initiatives carried out:

Socialization and feedback workshop on results of the global RESPECT framework: +

In collaboration with UN Women, PAHO held a virtual workshop that aimed to achieve the identification, dissemination, and exchange of knowledge on regional examples and experiences related to RESPECT strategies.

It took place on October 31, 2022, and had the participation of more than 60 people, including those responsible for policies and programs in the Ministries of Health, Women/Gender, and other government sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean, representatives of civil society, PAHO staff, UN Women and other agencies.

This meeting has been key to developing, in collaboration with UN Women, the report on “Adaptation of the global RESPECT framework in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean” on effective interventions of the RESPECT framework in the different countries of the Region and promising practices that They still lack evaluation but show potential to be included in the future within the RESPECT framework.

Workshop for the implementation of the RESPECT framework in Chile: +

PAHO, in collaboration with the World Bank, UN Women and the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality, organized a national training in Chile to continue the work of adaptation and implementation of the global RESPECT framework in Latin American countries.

The workshop was held in the city of Santiago, Chile, on June 1 and 2 with a hybrid modality. Approximately 60 people participated in person and virtually more than 70 people belonging to the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior, Regional Development Undersecretariat, Public Ministry, and civil society organizations.

We carried out group exercises, sharing national experiences in interventions aligned with the 7 RESPECT strategies and promising practices that could potentially form part of the RESPECT framework in the future.

The workshop discussed challenges in the implementation of the framework and reflected on possible next steps and the commitments of each sector as part of a multisectoral approach to violence prevention.

This national workshop was key to finalizing the report on "Adaptation of the RESPECT framework to Latin America and the Caribbean", developed by PAHO in collaboration with UN Women with the support of Canada.

Workshop for the implementation of the RESPECT framework in Bolivia: +

PAHO, in collaboration with the World Bank, UN Women, and the Ministry of the Presidency of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, organized a national training in Bolivia to continue the work of adaptation and implementation of the global RESPECT framework in Latin American countries. The workshop was held in the city of La Paz, Bolivia on June 5 and 6 with a hybrid modality.

Approximately 40 people participated, including those responsible for violence prevention policies and programs from the Ministry of the Presidency of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, as well as the Ministries of Health, Justice and Human Rights, Education, Government, Economy, and Public Finance; of the vice ministries of Equal Opportunities, among others; representatives of the Bolivian Police, the Public Ministry, and Subnational Governments; from public universities, civil organizations and Agencies, Funds, and Programs of the United Nations System (SNU) in Bolivia.

This event was possible thanks to the support of Global Affairs Canada, within the framework of the implementation of the Improving the Health of Women and Adolescents in Vulnerable Situations project, executed by PAHO/WHO.

The workshop had the objective of strengthening multi-sectoral dialogue on what works to prevent violence against women and girls. The workshop explored the content of the RESPECT Framework and provided a space for learning and exchange between the different state, civil society and UN actors, who are involved in the prevention of violence against women and girls. It also offered an opportunity to discuss the forthcoming report on "Adaptation of the RESPECT framework to Latin America and the Caribbean", developed by PAHO in collaboration with UN Women with the support of Canada.

Next steps: +

Publication of the Report Adaptation of the global RESPECT framework in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean: strategies and experiences of preventing violence against women and girls (Available only in Spanish at the moment)
Explore opportunities to carry out the RESPECT framework Implementation Workshop in other Latin American countries.

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RESPECT women: Preventing violence against women

Violence against women is a major public health problem rooted in gender inequality and is a gross violation of women’s human rights affecting the lives and health of millions of women and girls. Aiming to end violence against women, RESPECT was developed, a global framework consisting of 7 evidence-based strategies for the prevention of violence against women. It is primarily aimed at policymakers and is based on the UN framework for action to prevent violence against women since 2015 and includes new updated evidence.

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RESPECT Women: Implementation package

This implementation package comprises a suite of practical resources and tools to support the implementation of the RESPECT Women: Preventing Violence against Women Framework, which was developed by WHO, with UN Women, in 2019 and is endorsed by 12 other UN agencies and bilateral partners.

The implementation package aims to support national- and sub-national-level policy and programming to prevent violence against women and girls. It is presented in a user-friendly design to cater to the busy schedules of policymakers, enabling easy access and reference to relevant materials.