The 2024 Regional Index on VAWG

Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) is now recognized, in line with international human rights standards, as a violation of women’s human rights. National efforts have been made in recent years to adopt national legislation, strategies, and policies to more effectively address and prevent such violence.

In 2019, the Regional Observatory on VAWG was established as an independent mechanism to follow up on the implementation of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Ministerial Process and Declarations on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society, in the area of combatting all forms of Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG), and the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPSA).

The Regional Observatory on VAWG is hosted by EuroMed Feminist Initiative (EFI) in Amman. It strives to contribute to ending VAWG, to the inclusion of women’s rights in policy debates, and to the social acknowledgement of women as actors of sustaining peace and security. In this regard, the Observatory provides a regional perspective on the status of VAWG legislation, policies, and actions in the Southern Mediterranean States and follows up on the implementation of States’ commitments in the field of combating VAWG.

To this end, the Regional Observatory on VAWG developed a Regional Index on VAWG to support continuous follow-up, data collection on laws and policies, and analysis of results. The first editions of the Regional Index (2020 and 2021) covered seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

In 2023–2024, the scope of the Index was expanded to include Syria and Iraq, bringing the total number of countries covered to nine: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, and Tunisia.

In the 2021 Index, a scoring methodology was developed by an expert group composed of academics and specialists in women’s rights and VAWG from all Index countries. The expert group designed the scoring process, weighting system, and sub-indicators, using a composite indicators approach, which continues to underpin the current Index.

Objectives of the Index

The overall objective of the Regional Index on VAWG is to provide comprehensive documentation on laws, public policies, and services related to VAWG, enabling an assessment of the state of legislation and tools in place to address violence against women and girls in the region.

The Index provides policymakers with a meaningful synthesis of complex data to support informed decision-making and actions related to the implementation of governmental commitments and policy frameworks aimed at combating all forms of VAWG.

It also constitutes a data resource that allows researchers to gain a clear overview of the status of women in the countries concerned and to conduct comparative studies. Furthermore, the Index enables women’s rights activists to identify gaps and weaknesses and to carry out targeted and evidence-based advocacy. Finally, the Index offers the international community a comprehensive picture of progress and achievements made by each country in addressing violence against women and girls.