Addressing Violence against Women and Achieving the Millennium Development Goals

Violence is a major obstacle to development. Violence against women in particular hinders progress in achieving development targets. Despite the growing recognition of violence against women as a public health and human rights concern, and of the obstacle it poses for development, this type of violence continues to have an unjustifiably low priority on the international development agenda and in planning, programming and budgeting.

This document highlights the connections between the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the prevention of violence against women by showing how: working towards the MDGs will reduce violence against women; and preventing violence against women will contribute to achieving the MDGs.