“Where are all the women?” I asked my team after assuming the duties of the World Bank
director for Central Asia in July 2021. In my introductory meetings with heads of state, governments, and major cities across the region, I and other World Bank officials were usually the only women in the room.
Money from Sint MaartenTrust Fund used to protect survivors, increase advocacy, and build
capacity.
Nearly one in three women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Alarmingly, the scourge of gender-based violence worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic started, as stay-at-home orders and government lockdowns forced women to stay home with their aggressors. Even after quarantine measures were loosened, heightened emotional and mental stress alongside financial insecurity and unemployment were identified as potential drivers of increased abuse. In the Caribbean region, advocates in Sint Maarten are working to support survivors and mitigate this violence within the country.
Gender-based violence (GBV), including sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEA-SH), 
is an unacceptable violation of human values. The impacts of these actions on survivors and victims are devastating and wide-ranging. They undermine their physical and mental health, security, dignity, quality of life and well-being.
The World Bank Group and the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) announced a new open call for awards recognizing promising innovations aimed at preventing and responding to gender-based violence. Applications for the Development Marketplace for Innovation in Addressing Gender-Based Violence must be received online by September 5, 2018.
Can’t attend the Spring Meetings in person? Attend the Spring Meetings LIVE Online! The first LIVE ONLINE event is on Innovations to Prevent Gender-Based Violence: Building Evidence for Effective Solutions, April 18th at 2:30pm ET / 18:30 GMT.
To support the prevention of violence against women and girls, the World Bank Group and Sexual Violence Research Initiative will award 10 teams from around the world with funds to support research and innovation to help address this global epidemic. Nearly 1 billion women and girls across all countries and cultures will experience intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Violence experienced by women and girls is an obstacle to development gains, as it impedes their full participation in society, limits access to education and economic participation, and hinders efforts to achieve gender equality. Award winners will share their motivations and successes in developing effective prevention and response interventions, which the World Bank can also incorporate into its development work.
likely to get an HIV test.The stat is appalling: 1 in 3 women worldwide have or will experience intimate partner 
violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.
Although it may take the form of domestic violence, gender-based violence is not merely a personal or family matter. Associated with certain societies’ social norms and many other risk factors, such violence leads to severe social and economic consequences that can contribute to ongoing poverty in developing and developed countries alike.
Netherlands for the World Bank 