Despite often being dismissed as foreign or cultural problems, harmful gender-based practices exist in every community across the United States, affecting countless individuals. Behind Closed Doors confronts this reality—emphasizing the urgent need for comprehensive action. Behind Closed Doors strives to enact meaningful change and support a future where all individuals can thrive in safety and dignity through collaborative efforts with policymakers, community leaders, healthcare professionals, and advocacy groups.

On December 5, program implementers, researchers, and policymakers came together for a virtual learning event, “Examining Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response Efforts,” which coincided with the 16 Days of Activism Against GBV Campaign. This blog draws on the discussion from the event and provides insights on the challenges from this work, evidence-based programming from across the globe, future opportunities for the field, and resources to support program implementers and advocates in advancing these efforts.

The second and final installment of the “IGWG Members Take the Mic” blog series, “Addressing Community Backlash to Male Engagement in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Gender-Based Violence Interventions,” is now available! This blog discusses community backlash, or adverse reactions in communities, to male engagement interventions that utilize gender transformative approaches to prevent gender-based violence (GBV) and promote sexual and reproductive health (SRH).

An accountable gender-based violence (GBV) humanitarian response system is characterized by how decisions are made and implemented. This report examines how responsible authorities can plan and implement accountable GBV prevention and response systems for affected people, how life-saving information should be provided to survivors and those at high risk of GBV during and after emergencies, and how GBV in emergencies programming can be designed with the participation of survivors.

The European Union for Gender Equality: Together Against Gender Stereotypes and Gender-Based Violence (EU4GE) program strengthens women’s and men’s equal rights and opportunities by shifting social perceptions, challenging gender stereotypes, and increasing men’s participation in unpaid domestic and care work. This report shares the stories of the inspiring changemakers involved in the EU4GE program who helped increase accessibility to and knowledge of gender-based violence resources, engage men in their children’s health and wellbeing, and more.

The impacts of the climate, nature, and pollution crises are demonstrating that environmental programming does intersect with gender-based violence. In this blog, UNDP shares three things they’ve learned from working on gender equality and environmental and social safeguarding in environmental programming.