Seeing the Unseen: Western Pacific Violence Against Women Estimates

"Seeing the Unseen: Western Pacific Violence Against Women Estimates and Survivor Leadership for Transformative Change in Health"

Duration: 90 minutes

Location: Room 210.

Maximum room capacity participants: 60 - 120
Host: World Health Organization (WHO) – SRH/HRP & WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO)
Partners: WEAVERS (Australia), DFAT (Western Pacific – Health), UNFPA, UN Women, Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, Solomon Islands Women’s Rights Action Movement

1. Opening & Welcome (5 min)

Pascale Allotey, Director Human Reproduction Programme, Director, UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP).

• Welcome and context setting.
• Why violence against women in the region requires urgent amplification.
• Importance of multi‑sectoral partnerships, and centering voices of survivors in the health sector.

2. Global State of Violence Against Women – New Prevalence Estimates (WHO on behalf of the UN Inter-Agency Working Group) (10 min)

Speaker: Lynnmarie Sardinha, Technical Officer on Violence against Women Data, Estimation and Measurement, WHO (online)

• Presentation of global, regional, and national estimates for intimate partner and non‑partner sexual violence (2000–2023).

• Highlighting the Western Pacific’s position among regions with persistently high rates of violence and opportunities for prevention.

3. RESPECT Women 2 Framework – Updated evidence for Prevention (10 min)

Speaker: Jurgita Sereikaite, UN Women representative (TBC)

· How is the RESPECT Women framework implemented in the Asia-Pacific region.

4. Talking circles: How do we translate prevalence to evidence-based policy? (40 min)

Moderator: Melanie Hyde, WHO Technical Officer (Gender, Equity and Human Rights)

Talking circle: 1

Questions: How do the prevalence estimates and the updated evidence base for prevention (RESPECT Women Framework) impact policy development?

• Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, WHO WPRO Representative (5 min) (TBC)
• DFAT Global Health and Education Division Representative / Gender Equality (5 min) (TBC)
• Ms. Bidisha Pillai, Director & Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Pacific Island Countries (TBC)

Talking Circle 2:

How are lived experience experts, civil society and feminist organisations driving change in prevention and response?

Questions to panelists:

• Kelsey Hegarty, Professor Family Violence Prevention, Dame Kate Campbell Fellow, The Royal Women’s Hospital and The University of Melbourne (5 min)
• WEAVERS, Lived experience expert (5 min) (TBC)
• WEAVERS, Coordinator, Qualitative Research Project (5 min) (TBC)
• Nalini Singh, Fiji Women’s Rights Movement representative (5 min) (TBC)
• Pionie Boso, Solomon Islands Women’s Rights Action Movement (5 min) (TBC)

5. Interactive Dialogue with the panel (20 min)

• Delegates engage via live polling and open floor Q&A.

6. Closing & Commitments (5 min)

Speaker: Ms. Bidisha Pillai, Director & Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Pacific Island Countries (TBC)

• Summary of evidence, commitments, and next steps
• Call for data‑driven investment, survivor leadership, and stronger monitoring

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Host or Publisher World Health Organization