This study will explore in detail, many factors contribute to this state of affairs; a patriarchal culture where women are maintained in a state of subordination; an endemic problem of criminal violence; and large-scale impunity resulting from the failings of criminal justice systems. Through evidence-based research presented in its human development reports, and its regional and country programmatic interventions, UNDP has been at the forefront of efforts to tackle gender violence and undergird linkages between violence, gender and poverty.