Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is buried in the social change discourse even though data has repeatedly shown that it limits collective global progress. It affects 700-750 million women and girls worldwide today, takes an unimaginably enormous number of lives every year, and costs the global GDP US$1.7 trillion annually. Despite that, VAWG prevention is severely underfunded and overlooked in global development and political agenda, like other issues that disproportionately affect women and girls. Why this paradox? In our experience, it is because key decision-makers and leaders believe that it is a niche and intractable, household-level problem. However, the evidence today does not support these beliefs.

Imperative to Invest is a first-of-its-kind study at putting forth a new narrative on how preventing VAWG can have a large transformative effect on individuals, nations, and nearly all SDGs. The study estimates the multitudes and magnitudes of the impacts of the Spotlight Initiative – the largest global effort investing EUR 500 Mn on the issue today. This work could be a case study in SBCC as it takes a differentiated approach – i.e., an 'opportunity' framing – to develop a funding and impacts narrative before global decision-making institutions such as the multilateral funders.

Ultimately, the goal is to propagate the 'opportunity' and insights worldwide to drive multiply greater funding and attention to the issue of violence against women and girls.