European Network on Gender Violence 2025
The European Network on Gender and Violence (ENGV) 2025 Conference took place in Vienna from 17 to 19 September 2025. The event was organized by the NGO Committee on the Status of Women Vienna and the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development Vienna, in cooperation with the ENGV. Support was also provided by numerous sponsors and institutional partners including the City of Vienna, the University of Vienna, AK, WILPF, GRIN, Verein SToP - Stadtteile ohne Partnergewalt, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the Martha Logar Fund, Vienna Human Rights Districts and GANGL. 130 people participated from 24 countries, including about 50 speakers.
The conference opened with a day for early career researchers, who presented both completed and ongoing studies. The discussions highlighted the value of exchange: scholars benefited from expert feedback in the field, while established professionals gained fresh perspectives from the findings of scholars, coming together towards a common cause. In the afternoon, participants joined a guided tour to “Ni-Una-Menos-Platz” and “FRAU schafft Raum”, projects in Vienna that address victims of gender-based violence and offer spaces for artistic expression. The first day came to an end with a socializing event at Plachuttas Grunspan, by invitation of the Mayor of the City of Vienna, providing an informal setting for dialogue and networking.
The second day began with a plenary session focused on the national context of violence against women in Austria, addressing both recent developments and emerging challenges such as technology-facilitated gender-based violence. Later on, a panel discussion focused on the implementation of international standards on gender violence prevention, particularly the Istanbul Convention, and examined ongoing hurdles in combating domestic violence. In the afternoon, three parallel sessions explored a wide range of thematic, local and international challenges. Lastly, posters were presented, offering a rich exchange of research across disciplines including psychology, sociology, linguistics, law, political science, media studies and many more. The diversity of perspectives underscored both the complexity of the issue and the need for interdisciplinary cooperation. Comparative analyses also revealed that countries with very different social contexts often face surprisingly similar challenges, broadening the understanding of this crucial phenomenon.
The final day opened with further parallel sessions at the University of Vienna before moving to the Vienna International Centre for the final international session. There, presenters from UNODC and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights introduced the work of UNODC on gender-based violence and insights from the EU’s recent survey on violence against women, respectively. The final panel explored the intersection between gender-based violence, armed conflict and disarmament, with contributions the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom – Austria, Kennis: Knowledge on Safety and Good Governance, and the Global Firearms Programme of UNODC. The discussion highlighted the need to explore gender-sensitive perspectives into disarmament processes and the crucial role that arms play in the gender-based violence discourse.
The Alliance was happy to participate in the 2025 ENGV Conference, thanks to the dedicated efforts of Anna Alvazzi del Frate and Tobias Krachler. Special appreciation goes to Ingeborg Geyer (ENGV 2025 Conference Coordinator) and Renate Klein (ENGV Coordinator), and to the two interns of the Alliance, Elisabetta Semeraro and Roberta Petrocelli, who played a crucial role as conference assistants.
Over these three days of intense debate, teamwork and collaboration, participants upheld a shared commitment: only through cooperation and sustained partnership can gender-based violence be addressed in all its forms and dimensions.
06 Oct, 2025