Leaders must meet the moment on ending gender-based violence

Geeta Rao Gupta is the former United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues and a global leader in gender equality and women’s rights. Below, she shares more about why a group of global leaders signed on to an open letter for urgently ending gender-based violence. Last week, I was one of 6,000 gender equality activists and leaders at the Women Deliver Conference in Naarm (Melbourne), united under the banner of Change Calls Us Here. Part of the change we seek can be found in an open letter from All In, signed by global leaders across politics, civil society, philanthropy, culture, and sport – including Charlotte Bunch, Dr Denis Mukwege, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Graça Machel, Tarana Burke, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Ross Taylor, and others – calling for urgent, coordinated action to end gender-based violence. Gender-based violence is solvable; ending it requires a change in how we lead – and of what we must expect of our leaders. The need for change is obvious. Today, one in three women worldwide – more than 840 million – will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. This number has remained largely unchanged for over a decade. This number, in fact, likely remains an undercount of those who have experienced violence, as the crises of conflict, climate change and tech-fueled abuse entrench that violence even more deeply. This is not because we do not know what to do or what needs to change. We in Melbourne rallied around the call to change, and there is no shortage of examples of what needs to change. The institutions meant to protect us are too often failing, and worse, are in fact enabling harm. The leaders charged with protecting their citizens are instead protecting themselves from accountability from the release of the Epstein files. The tech companies that promised deeper connections and new tools for social movements instead fuel misogyny and new forms of violence. Gatherings like Women Deliver offer hope and new relationships that can serve as catalysts for those changes. But the responsibility for doing that work cannot rest solely on women’s rights activists. What has been most encouraging at Women Deliver is the cross-sector collaboration – from sports to technology, creative arts to Indigenous knowledge systems – demonstrating that solutions must be as interconnected as the problem itself. As one Pacific woman reminded us: we must act not only for today, but for the seven generations of women and girls who will follow. It will take all of us to play a role. We must also flip the script on accountability. It is not survivors who should carry shame and responsibility – it is perpetrators. Systems must reinforce this truth. My own understanding of violence against women did not begin in research or policy. It began with lived experience. Growing up in northern India, I learned early that public spaces were not always safe. Taking a bus, walking to a shop – ordinary acts carried risk. Not occasionally, but repeatedly. Unwelcome touching. Harassment. Assault. And yet, these experiences were often minimised under the term “eve teasing” – a phrase that softens harm, disguises violation as flirtation, and keeps it outside the boundaries of accountability. The law does not prosecute “eve teasing.” It prosecutes assault. If being violated by strangers strips away dignity in an instant, imagine the deeper betrayal when that violence comes from someone you trust – someone in your home. And it is happening every day, in every corner of the world. But gender-based violence is not inevitable. It is preventable. It is solvable. Through convenings like Women Deliver and initiatives like All In, leaders across sectors and countries are coming together with a bold mission: to end gender-based violence. It is ambitious—but grounded in evidence. If the women around me were solely responsible for those changes, we know what we would do. Decades of research show that when strong laws and responsive systems are paired with sustained investment in prevention programs that shift norms, rebalance power, and expand opportunities for women, violence can be reduced significantly within just a few years. The knowledge exists. What is missing is action. There is no single solution – but we know what works. When schools teach respect and equality, they shape future generations.When women have economic independence, they are less vulnerable to abuse.When men and boys are engaged in redefining masculinity, violence declines.When workplaces uphold accountability and dignity, they become part of the solution. These are not abstract ideas. They are proven strategies. As employers, we must treat harassment not just as a compliance risk, but a reputational and operational one. As communities, we must insist on accountability for our leaders when they fail to uphold the dignity of all of their citizens. As families, we must raise both our sons and our daughters to understand the big business of manipulating them against each other. And as individuals, we must reckon with the fact that there is no neutral position – not on Epstein Island, not on Motherless, not in the systems that have entrenched violence as a tool of power. Ending gender-based violence is not someone else’s responsibility. It is all of ours. And it will take all of us—the 6000 in Naarm and 9 billion more—being truly all in—to make it happen. Read the open letter here. The post Leaders must meet the moment on ending gender-based violence appeared first on Women's Agenda.