Ayşegül Küçükafacan is the founder of the Sil Baştan (Start from Scratch) Association for Combatting Violence Against Women and Child Abuse in Balikesir, a city in northwestern Turkey. Due to financial difficulties, she was about to close the association, however a small grant provided by UN Women under the Strong Civic Space for Gender Equality project funded by the European Union, changed the course of things for Küçükafacan. Now, her association continues to combat violence and abuse against women and girls and support those who are subjected to violence.

Klimentina Ilijevski is the Executive Director of the Association for Research, Communications and Development “Public,” an organisation that has been actively working in the field of social inclusion, social entrepreneurship, and social impact in North Macedonia for ten years.

Strengthening Women’s Access to Justice Project, implemented by UN Women and the Ministry of Justice of Turkey, aims to improve women’s access to justice and ensure more effective implementation of the laws on elimination of violence against women.

The objective is to increase the capacity and resources of medical forensic services and 6 relevant CSOs to deliver higher quality and more coordinated essential services and access to justice to WGWD - survivors of violence, especially those facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. This will be supported by increased access to information to women and girls’ survivors of violence and their families regarding access to quality essential services.

Elma Tershana is the Executive Director of Observatory for Children and Youth Rights, a civil society organization from Albania that has created better mechanisms to collect information on the situation of children's rights acrossthe country.

Woman Forum Elbasan, a local women’s organization, has been trying new ways of collaborating with the police and the courts to provide necessary services to women survivors of violence and their children.

Marija Risteska is the Executive Director of Centre for Research and Policy Making, a civil society organization from North Macedonia, partner of the UN Women regional programme on ending violence against women “Implementing Norms, Changing Minds,” funded by the European Union. Risteska spoke to UN Women about the changes brought by the new law on ending violence against women, adopted in January, and the new amendments to the Criminal Code, yet to be adopted.

Jana Kote* and her three children lived with an abusive husband and father for 12 years until they received support from a local organization, Human Rights in Democracy Centre, based in Tirana, the capital of Albania.

A women’s organization in Serbia supported by UN Women maintained crucial support services and alerted the government to take prompt action on domestic violence survivors’ needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A local women’s organization supported by UN Women and the EU provided survivors of domestic violence with essential needs and psychological and legal support during the pandemic in Albania.

Led by 'Women, Peace and Security’ Coalition, the campaign took place in different universities to raise awareness on security issues and the severe consequences of the circulation of illegal firearms

For Ina Grădinaru, a psychologist with a women’s centre in Moldova, her work with survivors of violence is much more than a job, it’s a social responsibility and her life mission. For the #HearMeToo campaign, she talks about her work, the persisting challenges and myths that must be broken to end the violence.

On 23 July, the Albanian Parliament approved the amendments to the domestic violence law, which entered into force on 1 September. The amendments strengthen protective and procedural measures for a more effective response to domestic violence and protection of survivors.

The United Nations System in Kyrgyzstan is concerned about the crime reported in the media when a victim of bride-kidnapping was murdered by her abductor. UN agencies in Kyrgyzstan are calling on Kyrgyzstani authorities to take all appropriate measures to stop such practices and fulfil its domestic legislation and international treaties that the country has joined.

Valentina Bodrug-Lungu is the vice-president of the Gender Equality Platform in the Republic of Moldova, which is a voluntary association of individuals and organizations that act as a unified voice for the promotion of gender equality in the country. She is also the president and founder of Gender-Centru, a non-governmental organization that carries out projects on gender education, combatting domestic violence and preventing and combating discrimination. She helped develop and promote gender...

Radmila Žigić is the Director of Foundation Lara from Bijeljina in northeast Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), which has been at the forefront of combating violence against women and girls, ensuring safe space for survivors, advocating for women’s rights and empowering women since its establishment in 1998. Lara was the first women’s organization in BiH that established a shelter for survivors of human trafficking in 2000, which provided support to close to 200 women in Bijeljina. While advocating for more effective legislation, educating law enforcement officers and preventing sexual exploitation of women and girls, especially among school-age youth, Lara has significantly contributed to the reduction of this form of violence against women in BiH.

The EU–UN Women regional programme, ‘Implementing Norms, Changing Minds,’ which aims to end violence against women in the Western Balkans and Turkey, is being implemented in Kosovo. Dhurata Hoxha Sadiku, Minister of Justice, talks about the relevance of this initiative and how the Government of Kosovo is planning to address the issue of gender-based violence.

A recent study has uncovered that women, like Edith, with mental disabilities who are being held in Serbia’s institutions often suffer multiple forms of violence.

A new programme supported by UN Women in Kazakhstan is demonstrating a multi-disciplinary approach to addressing violence against women. More cases of sexual abuse and domestic violence are being reported, specialized centres have been set up in each district to provide comprehensive services for survivors.

UN Women and the European Commission have officially launched a three-year initiative on ending violence against women and girls in Serbia in a bid to strengthen women and girl victims of violence and to achieve full implementation of legislative frameworks in line with international standards.