The Global Partnership to End Violence Against Women was launched on International Women’s Day in March 2010 at a global summit in Washington, D.C. focused on creating public-private partnerships to end violence against women.

Delegations of experts from 15 countries participated — representing business, government, law enforcement, the NGO community, media/entertainment, and academia — and developed and shared innovative solutions to the growing global challenge of violence against women, leveraging new partnerships and creating a global action plan to end the violence.

Avon CEO Andrea Jung, actress Reese Witherspoon, senior government officials, and members of the Vital Voices Global Partnership network were also part of an historic March 10 event at the U.S. State Department. The three-day conference focused on the three most pervasive crimes committed against women — domestic violence, sexual assault (including rape as a weapon of war), and human trafficking — through panel discussions facilitated by leading journalists and smaller working group sessions where delegates shared best practices from their respective countries. 

Turning ideas into action

Vital Voices and Avon are developing global advocacy campaigns to be rolled out first in India and Argentina.

A performance of the extraordinary documentary play SEVEN, based on the lives of seven courageous women who are part of the Vital Voices Global Partnership network, will launch the campaigns and serve as a forum for discussion on the key issues that are highlighted in the play, such as domestic violence and violence against women. The transformative power of theater and the compelling stories portrayed in SEVEN will be harnessed to inspire renewed energy and momentum in the war on violence against women. 

An advocacy toolkit was distributed to every participant who attended the summit in Washington, D.C. The toolkit offers information and easy to follow instructions on how to develop an advocacy campaign in his or her home country.