We, the Foreign Minister of Australia and Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, reaffirm our shared commitment to end all forms of gender-based violence. Protecting against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment – including in development, humanitarian and peacekeeping contexts – is a cornerstone of our foreign policy.
Gender-based violence remains a pervasive human rights abuse, experienced by one in three women globally. This widespread violence has profound social and economic costs, estimated at around USD1.5 trillion – two per cent of global GDP – each year.
As digital technologies reshape our societies, these harms are being replicated and amplified online. Men and boys are increasingly engaging with misogynistic content that normalises and promotes gender-based violence.
Technology‑facilitated gender‑based violence is a national security threat. It is increasingly linked to the exploitation of online spaces to spread harmful norms, coordinate abuse, and undermine democratic institutions and women’s social, political and economic participation and gender equality gains. These actions present risks to social cohesion and national security.
In response, Australia and the United Kingdom are intensifying our efforts to ensure that all women and girls are safe from gender-based violence, and to ensure that perpetrators – online and offline – are held to account. In May, the United Kingdom and Australia came together to launch a new International Coalition to End Violence against Women and Girls, in partnership with six other countries to drive sustained attention and action at national, regional and international levels.
Two years on from signing the Australia-UK Memorandum of Understanding to Collaborate on Ending Gender-based Violence, together, we reaffirm our commitment to its full implementation, including through
- Prevention and addressing the root causes of violence, including through evidence-based action to challenge harmful norms, behaviours and systems that enable violence against women and girls in all contexts.
- Holding perpetrators to account and supporting victim-survivors, including strengthening justice responses, improving access to services, and ensuring survivor-centred approaches across both offline and online settings.
- Coordinated international advocacy to drive a more concerted collective response, including through joint leadership in multilateral fora and initiatives such as the International Coalition to End Violence against Women, the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse, and the upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls Summit, to mobilise greater ambition, alignment and accountability.
Together, we will also strengthen our collaboration on online safety, working to drive renewed international momentum to address the online and technology-facilitated abuse of women and children. This includes addressing some of the most prevalent and fast-growing harms such as non-consensual intimate image abuse, which is increasingly facilitated by generative AI. We will work with partners to align standards, promote safety-by-design and scale proven solutions. Practical actions include piloting and securing endorsements for the Preliminary Model National Framework for Non-Consensual Intimate Images (NCII), working together through the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse, and launching a new round of the Tech Safety Showcase in partnership with UNFPA.
These efforts align with and advance the objectives of the 2024 Australia-UK Memorandum of Understanding on Online Safety and Security and reinforce our shared commitment to a safer digital environment for all.
Australia and the United Kingdom remain deeply committed to working together – across both foreign and domestic policy – to ensure all women and girls can live free from gender-based violence.
