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Violence against women is one of the most prevalent crimes in most societies, and can be devastating in its consequences, both to primary victims and to secondary victims, such as child witnesses. In all countries, the pervasiveness of this violence has become an issue of global concern. Violence against women cuts across lines of income, class and culture, in both public and private life. It is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, and one of the ways in which women are forced into a subordinate position compared to men.

Since the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979), the proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (1993) and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), there exists a clear agenda at the international level for action to eliminate violence against women. The United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice developed and adopted the Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (approved by the General Assembly in resolution 52/86, 12 December 1997). The Strategies recognize the multifaceted nature of violence against women and adopt a multidisciplinary approach to combat this problem. It is a plan of action describing practical measures and strategies designed to ensure an appropriate “fair treatment” response on the part of the criminal justice system to all forms of violence against women. The strategies cover all components of criminal justice, including criminal law, criminal procedure, police, sentencing and corrections and crime prevention measures. There are also a number of strategies concerning victim support and assistance, health and social issues, training, and research and evaluation.

The International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy has developed a Resource Manual and Compendium of Promising Practices to assist in the implementation of the Model Strategies. The Resource Manual is designed to offer concise information on the overall experience acquired in various countries in successfully implementing the Model Strategies. Throughout the Manual, each provision is summarized in plain language, followed by a statement of the challenges entailed, a description of initiatives from around the world which address each provision, and impact of implementation efforts. Given that one of the broad objectives is the actual implementation of the Model Strategies in as many countries as possible, the implementation will be considered and attempted in a wide variety of cultural and legal contexts. Therefore, the manual has been developed in an illustrative manner, as initiatives that may prove effective in one context may well prove unfeasible in another.

The Compendium is designed as a companion instrument to the Resource Manual. It identifies and shares specific examples of how the Model Strategies are being implemented in different countries. The compendium is not intended to exhaustively survey the current practices, but to disseminate projects and initiatives that have been compiled from various countries. It has been designed in a way that will anticipate its potential growth over the years and facilitate the progressive addition of new information, as it becomes available.

These instruments have been developed with the financial assistance of the Government of Canada, through the Department of Justice, by the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy in cooperation with the Centre for International Crime Prevention (CICP), the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI), and the Latin American Institute for Crime Prevention and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD). These tools benefited from the experience of and international group of experts representing 16 countries, which met in Vancouver, Canada in December 1998.

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