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The Stop Violence Against Women website (STOPVAW) is a forum for information, advocacy and change. The Advocates for Human Rights developed this website as a tool for the promotion of women's human rights in countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the former Soviet Union (FSU). STOPVAW was developed with support from and in consultation with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Open Society Institute's Network Women's Program. This site addresses violence against women as one of the most pervasive human rights abuses worldwide. STOPVAW provides women's rights advocates with information and advocacy tools focused on ending the most endemic forms of violence against women in the region:
STOPVAW has text in English only and links to Russian materials wherever possible. In the future, the text on this site will be translated into Russian.
The following types of resources are available on this site for each of the above forms of violence:
Explore the Issue allows users to increase their understanding of domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment and trafficking in women through an exploration of definitions, the prevalence of the problem, factors that contribute to the specific type of violence and its effects on victims. This section also outlines law enforcement and other strategies to protect and support victims and to hold perpetrators accountable.
Research and Reports provides advocates with links to selected reference materials and summaries of these materials. It includes reports from international institutions, such as the United Nations and the Council of Europe, academic writing, policy papers and guidelines developed by practitioners.
Law and Policy provides information about laws, both international and domestic, that are relevant to violence against women. This section discusses legal reform strategies and provides information about model laws.
Training Materials provides information about trainings designed to improve government and community responses to violence against women. These materials are intended to serve as basic tools that can be adapted to country-specific circumstances. Actual training modules are included for each of the above forms of violence.
STOPVAW also offers general resources for advocates for the promotion of women's human rights:
Advocacy Tools includes guidelines for developing training programs, lobbying and legislative reform, documentation of human rights violations and community education.
International Law includes information on international and regional human rights laws and mechanisms to protect women's rights.
NGO Resources includes resources to promote the development of women's non-governmental organizations as instruments for social change, on such topics as establishing an NGO, human resources, fundraising and using the internet.
Country Pages provide resources concerning violence against women in several countries of the CEE/FSU region. The country pages describe developments in the effort to combat this violence and provide message boards through which advocates can receive assistance from mentors and experts around the world. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe that are included on StopVAW are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovakia and Turkey. The members of the former Soviet Union that are included on StopVAW are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Lithuania, Moldova, the Russian Federation, and the Ukraine. The spelling of Kosovo rather than Kosova in no way reflects a position of STOPVAW as to the political status of the region.
Access a Country Page by clicking here or by clicking on a country flag below.
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