Founded in 2009, Together For Girls is a Washington, DC, based organization that works to end violence against children, more specifically sexual violence against girls. The issue is increasing and there are many groups like Together For Girls working to end this violence. About one in three girls and one in seven boys have experienced sexual violence as children.
The group works in partnership with many national governments, civil society and the private sector to bring awareness to the issue. Together for Girls first will conduct national surveys to explore the magnitude of the issue, thereby being able to inform and notify government leaders and donors. The majority of the organizations time is spent working in Africa and East Asia.
According to the group, it uses its Violence Against Children Survey (VACS) as an entry point to talking about the issue utilizing its comprehensive data. That data then arms global leaders to motivate and implement solutions.
Launched as a Clinton Global Initiative commitment, the partnership includes five UN agencies, the US government and the private sector. Its lead UN partners are led by UNICEF and include UNAIDS, UN Women, WHO and UNFPA. This is a powerful array of partnerships as the intersections of child protection, gender rights, violence prevention and HIV/AIDS prevention meet and utilize a multi-sector response to bring awareness to the issues.