Ugandan woman speaks out. © CARE / Jenny MatthewsVoices Against Violence is CARE International’s campaign to end violence against women in conflict.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by war. Rape is used as a weapon to terrorise women and destabilise whole communities. When war ends, tragically violence against women doesn’t – domestic violence increases as the frustrations of a society are taken out on the bodies of women.

Quick facts on violence against women*

• At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.
• In South Kivu, a province in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo, local health centres report that an average of 40 women are raped every day.
• Tens of thousands of women were raped during the Balkan war of the 1990s. Many have never spoken out.

CARE campaigns to end violence against women in war. We work with women’s rights activists in local communities in countries such as Uganda, Nepal and Afghanistan to lobby for new laws.

We campaign to ensure that the UK government puts women’s rights at the heart of the foreign policy priorities. And at international level, we use the weight of the CARE global family to lobby the European Union and United Nations.

There are many ways that you can help – your voice is your most powerful tool.

Please note: Our last action closed on 31st March 2011.

Join the CARE Action Network today. We’ll send you regular updates from the campaign, and how you can take action.

*UNFPA stats, 2010