This paper was first drafted as a Consultation Paper that was presented at the WEMC forums in Istanbul and Ankara. It was then uploaded on the WEMC Web site at and circulated among members of the Research Programme Consortium. This finalised version has evolved into a Strategy Paper that incorporates the comments of diverse stakeholders who provided inputs. We would like to thank the WEMC members who contributed to the writing of this Paper.

The aim of this Strategy Paper is to contribute to the implementation of the UN General Assembly's Resolution A/RES/61/143 Intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women, and to the Secretary-General's Campaign to End Violence Against Women, by focusing on how to reject 'cultural' justifications for violence against women. This Paper discusses two ways of doing this:

(1) By strategizing around key opportunities that have emerged in the UN system

(2) By countering 'cultural' justifications for violence against women at micro, meso and macro levels