Women and girls around the world experience discrimination and ill-treatment in both their personal and public lives at an alarming rate. Sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) can take many forms including but not limited to intimate partner violence, forced marriage, and sex trafficking, and women face challenges in the workplace and education as well as in exercising their reproductive rights. The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women is an international bill protecting the rights of women worldwide, and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights forbids sex-based discrimination in the EU. However, some countries have legal frameworks that actively aid sex-based discrimination or allow SGBV to occur with impunity. Even in countries with legal protections, many challenges remain in the implementation of these laws and in facilitating true empowerment.

HRWF advocates for the rights of all women and girls to live free from persecution and violence, and promotes the equality of men and women within all spheres of society.