The African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls: a vital development in combating gender-based violence

This article analyses the adoption in February 2025 of the African Union Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls. The piece argues that there is a crucial need for regional human rights systems to adopt treaty provisions on violence against women, particularly in light of the fact that there are currently no such provisions at the UN level. The AU Convention constitutes a vital step in combating gender-based violence, and it is of particular significance that this instrument is the first of the regional human rights treaties on violence against women to refer expressly to the context of cyberspace. A number of potential problems may however serve to hinder the effectiveness of the new Convention. Additionally, the article argues that the adoption of this instrument informs the debate surrounding the need for treaty provisions on violence against women at the UN level.