New toolkit launched for women survivors of violence in conflict and post-conflict settings

On 8 November 2022, the OSCE Gender Issues Programme, in partnership with the Women Against Violence Europe network (WAVE), launched a new toolkit aimed at supporting women’s specialist services and civil society organizations involved in supporting women survivors of violence in conflict and post-conflict settings.

To mark the launch over 50 participants representing civil society activists, representatives of governments, and international organizations from the South Caucasus, South Eastern and Eastern Europe gathered at the conference in Tbilisi.

OSCE Senior Adviser on Gender Issues, Lara Scarpitta, reiterated OSCE’s commitment to support the work of women’s civil society organizations by building capacities to address gender-based violence in conflict and post-conflict settings. “Civil society, particularly women’s organizations that work with local communities, is at the forefront of the response to gender-based violence. With this toolkit, we aim to provide a practical tool for enhancing the work with women’s specialist services and civil society organizations in conflict and post-conflict settings.”

Stephanie Futter-Orel, WAVE Executive Manager stressed the importance of women’s specialist services as pillars of peace in times of crisis and beyond: “We are living in times of very complex political, social, economic and environmental challenges and many of these affect women disproportionately, in particular the global rise of violence against women and girls.’’

Women’s specialist services, such as the WAVE members, are essential in times of peace and crisis to tackle violence against women and girls effectively, as they provide holistic, victim-centred and trauma-informed support to women experiencing violence. Given their decades-long expertise, these services can make a unique contribution in tackling the complex difficulties women are facing today.

The toolkit was developed with the support of the OSCE’s multi-year WIN Project, which aims to build capacity and increase the participation of women in conflict prevention, mediation, and other processes relevant to comprehensive security.