The rates of violence against women have reached pandemic levels across the world. It is estimated that 1 in 3 ever-partnered women above the age of 15 have, at some point in their lives, experienced some form of physical or sexual interpersonal violence. In some parts of Africa, the prevalence rate is almost double that of the global average at 65.6%¹. The far-reaching physical, emotional and economic impact of this violence on the lives of African women cannot be overstated. However now, more than ever before, bringing violence against women to an end is a tangible possibility.
At this critical moment, there has been a shift to focus on evidence-based prevention of this violence against
women with programmes producing quantifiable results that reflect the magnitude of their impact in this area.
African feminists – and the political lens with which they approach the issues – have been essential to prevention work, pioneering efforts to bring violence fuelled by gender inequality and patriarchal power to an end. With international interest in this field growing, AWDF saw the need to convene African practitioners and donors to look at ways of galvanising the efforts of African feminists operating at every level to advance the work and even more firmly establish African feminism as the centre.