UN Women estimates that every 11 minutes, a woman is killed. Every eight minutes, a girl is subjected to female genital mutilation or cutting. And every three seconds, a girl is married before the age of 18. Harm to women and girls is a terrifyingly common occurrence - with some acts of violence taking place as frequently as blinking one's eyes.
As we mark the 25th Anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, it is sobering how prevalent this violence remains today, and how much more we can be doing to address it. This day also commences the United Nations 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign.
In each of the last two years, the Biden Administration has invested $250 million of funding to address gender-based violence (GBV) worldwide - the highest-ever level of U.S. investment in this issue.
This year, as we see historic levels of conflict, climate-driven disasters, and humanitarian emergencies, we also see these crises disproportionately affecting women and girls. Across too many parts of our world - from Haiti to Sudan to Ukraine to Gaza - women and girls are facing escalating levels of violence as armed conflicts devastate civilian populations. Last year, the proportion of women killed in armed conflicts doubled compared to 2022 - from women comprising 20 percent of civilians killed in armed conflict to now comprising 40 percent. Horrifically, in some conflict contexts, over 70 percent of women and girls have experienced GBV.
To respond to surging global humanitarian needs, USAID has more than doubled the percentage of our humanitarian budget allocated to protecting children and responding to GBV. Alongside the Department of State, we have launched the Safe from the Start ReVisioned initiative to mobilize our global network of humanitarian actors to implement preventative measures in communities and make high-quality services available to survivors and victims of GBV at the outset of emergencies.
At the same time that growing crises increase the risk of violence toward women and girls, so too does technological progress - as violence against women is increasingly facilitated and exacerbated by technology, such as social media platforms.
So, to build on the momentum of the 2022 Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse, in July of this year, the U.S. government launched the Women Leading Effective and Accountable Democracy in the Digital Age ( Women LEAD ) initiative. This initiative, which thus far has reached more than $900 million in aligned commitments , addresses barriers to women's civic and political leadership in both physical and digital spaces alike.
