16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (25 November – 10 December 2025)

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence builds on ongoing efforts to confront the dangerous intersection of gender-based violence (GBV) and gun violence. This year’s theme is “From Words to Action: 25 Years of Women, Peace and Security”.  It calls for urgent and sustained action to end the deadly combination of firearms and GBV—whether in homes, on the streets, or in conflict zones—and to ensure that the commitments made under the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda are implemented. GBV includes all acts of violence targeting individuals based on their gender, encompassing violence against people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics.

Amplifying the outcomes of the Fourth Review Conference on the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (RevCon4), this year’s campaign urges states, international organizations, and civil society to move from words to action. It highlights the persistent and devastating impact of gender-based violence linked to the misuse and illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW), emphasizing that RevCon4’s commitments provide a crucial foundation for progress. The campaign demands stronger accountability through comprehensive data collection and transparent reporting on how SALW contributes to GBV, ensuring that gendered impacts are both documented and addressed.

Marking 25 years of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPS), the campaign emphasizes the full, equal, meaningful, and effective participation of women in policy and decision-making on arms control, peace, and security. It calls on states to integrate gender-responsive small arms control into national WPS and UNPoA action plans. By engaging youth, women peacebuilders, and grassroots activists, the campaign underscores that ending gun violence is essential to ending gender-based violence—and that genuine protection and peace depend not only on commitments but on sustained, measurable action toward disarmament and gender equality.

We urge states to:

• Develop and strengthen gender-responsive arms control frameworks that recognize and address the impacts of poorly regulated small arms and light weapons (SALW), and their illicit proliferation and misuse on women, men, girls, boys, and gender-diverse persons
• Take specific, strategic measures to ensure the full, meaningful, equal, and effective participation of traditionally excluded or marginalized groups—including women, youth, survivors of armed violence, and gender-diverse people—in policymaking, implementation, and monitoring of arms control and disarmament initiatives at national, regional, and international levels.
• Establish clear national and regional targets for SALW and ammunition control, in alignment with the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (UNPoA), and the gender-responsive commitments reaffirmed at RevCon4.
• Integrate arms control and disarmament goals with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—particularly SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions)—and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda(WPS). A coordinated approach across relevant frameworks will strengthen peace, human security, and gender equality.
• Prepare for the Global Framework on Conventional Ammunition (GFA) 2027 by incorporating gender-sensitive indicators and risk assessments into national ammunition management systems, ensuring that community safety and violence prevention remain central to implementation.
• Adopt and enforce robust regulations on civilian firearm ownership and use, ensuring that legal frameworks effectively prevent gun violence, protect at-risk populations, and include measures such as background checks, licensing, safe storage, and removal of firearms in cases of domestic violence or threats of harm.