Violence against women and girls is a fundamental violation of human rights. Violence endangers the lives of women and girls and restricts their participation in economic and social life. The Australian Government is committed to ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG) in Australia and overseas. Australian aid investments are supporting countries in the Indo-Pacific to address gender-based violence as a human rights and gender equality imperative while improving services and access to justice for survivors.

This Office of Development Effectiveness (ODE) commissioned this evaluation of Australia’s development assistance for EVAWG to assess the progress made since the 2008 ODE evaluation, Violence Against Women in Melanesia and East Timor: Building on Global and Regional Promising Approaches. The evaluation found that Australia has provided strong and sustained leadership on EVAWG and been a leading donor. Overall the approaches used have aligned with best practice and made a significant contribution to EVAWG in the Indo-Pacific. The evaluation found that while progress has been made Australian leadership and long-term investments including those with local women’s organisations remain critical.

The report includes recommendations to guide Australia’s policy engagement and aid investments on EVAWG over the next decade.