From Words to Financing: Ending Gender-Based Violence Means Funding What Matters Most
Every year, the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence remind us that violence against women and girls is not only a human rights crisis it is a global health emergency. But awareness alone is not enough. Ending gender-based violence (GBV) requires political courage, feminist financing, and investment in the systems that protect women’s health, rights, and futures.
GBV is not only physical or emotional harm. It fuels HIV, TB, and malaria by stripping away autonomy and shutting women and girls out of care. When a woman cannot refuse sex, negotiate condom use, or seek help without fear of violence or stigma, health systems have failed her. This is why GBV must be recognized and funded as the pandemic it is.
Funding is feminist action.
We cannot end GBV with empty promises.
We cannot dismantle inequality without investing in gender-transformative solutions.
The Global Fund’s 8th Replenishment is a crucial test of our global commitment to equity. Gender-transformative financing means directing resources to fight the structural barriers inequality, stigma, discrimination, criminalization, and violence that prevent women and girls from accessing lifesaving services.
This is how we move from rhetoric to reality.
Women-led solutions work.
Across communities, women health workers, peer networks, and women’s rights advocates are already doing the work.
They understand the lived realities of GBV, and they provide the bridge between survivors and the systems meant to support them care that is safe, trauma-informed, dignified, and community-rooted.
When women lead, survivors are believed.
When women lead, communities heal.
When women lead, health systems transform.
8th Replenishment: Invest in what matters most.
The on going 8th Replenishment is not just a funding moment it is a commitment to justice, resilience, and equality. Every dollar invested in women’s health strengthens families, economies, and the foundations of a healthier, more equitable world.
If we want to end gender-based violence, we must fund her health, her rights, her future.
Because there is no excuse. Stay tuned to our social media and share our latest materials for advocacy.
#FundHerHealth #16DaysForEquity #8RforEquity #NoExcuse