Globally, violence against women (VAW) (often used synonymously with the term “gender-based violence” – GBV) continues to be a main threat to the safety and wellbeing of women, girls and those who do not conform to normative expressions of gender and sexuality. GBV occurs in all societies and at various stages of a woman’s life cycle (Terry, 2007). The effects of GBV on women and girls with disabilities, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens, underscore how gender intersects with other relations of power – including sexuality, age and ability – in the perpetration and experience of violence. GBV experienced by women and girls, in particular, across various categories, must be understood as involving a range of physical, sexual and psychological harms, as well as a number of controlling and coercive practices in a context that is sustained, produced and reproduced within unequal gender relations and systems.