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The SVRI Forum is the world’s largest abstract driven conference on violence against women and violence against children and other forms of violence driven by gender inequality in low- and middle-income countries.

Connect | Share | Learn

Why participate?

Connect: Network with global experts from multiple fields. Create new and strengthen existing partnerships with colleagues all working to build evidence that will inform work aimed at ending violence against women and violence against children.

Learn: Build and expand your knowledge by participating in learning events and skills-building workshops and attending presentations to hear about new approaches being used to create a world where women and children live free from violence. Find out about the latest research and what is working and not working in the prevention of and response to violence against women and violence against children, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Share: Showcase your innovative, ground-breaking work through conference presentations, exhibition stands, participating in interactive panel sessions on programmes and research, discussions with colleagues from around the globe, and through participant-driven events.

Structure of the Forum

The Forum includes one day of knowledge and skills-strengthening workshops followed by three days of abstract-driven, inspiring and thought-provoking sessions and high-level panels and ending on Friday with participant driven events. Multiple networking and participant-driven events, self-care activities and spaces and exhibition opportunities are woven throughout the Forum week.

Who participates?

Delegates attending the SVRI Forum include leading researchers, activists, practitioners, policy-makers, United Nations agencies and government representatives, journalists, donors, and private sector agencies. Over 1000 delegates attended SVRI Forum 2022.

More on Forum innovations and opportunities below:

SVRI Forum Bursaries: Ensuring diversity and inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are key priorities of the SVRI Forum. To ensure the Forum is a diverse space, a limited number of bursaries from donors are awarded for researchers (including young and emerging researchers), practitioners, survivors and activists working on violence against children and violence against women from low- and middle-income countries, who might not otherwise be able to attend. Where relevant, the SVRI encourages northern researchers to ensure their southern-based partners attend and present at the SVRI Forum. Applications for bursaries are circulated via the SVRI Update (click here to subscribe) and the SVRI Forum event webpages. To contribute to the SVRI Bursary Fund, contact us at forums@svri.org

The Young Professionals Programme was introduced in 2011 as a way of mentoring early career researchers and practitioners who submit abstracts for presentation at the SVRI Forum.

The SVRI Forum’s Young Professionals Programme provides young professionals from low- and middle-income countries with an opportunity to attend the SVRI Forum and at the same time strengthen their presentation skills through mentorship from a more seasoned researcher.

This Programme was introduced at the SVRI Forum 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa, where four young professionals were mentored by experienced researchers to confidently and successfully deliver their presentations. In 2017, the SVRI supported six young professionals to attend the SVRI Forum in Brazil, expanding the programme to include Spanish and Portuguese speaking mentors and mentees. In 2019 the Forum supported four young professionals to attend the SVRI Forum in Cape Town. Nine young professionals from 7 countries were mentored for SVRI Forum 2022 in Mexico.

What exactly does mentoring entail in the Young Professionals Programme?

The goal of the programme is to support, nurture and guide young professionals who have had an abstract accepted for presentation. Mentors are experienced researchers and research practitioners who support young professionals through a two-month process of developing and refining their presentation and provide guidance on public speaking where necessary. Mentoring happens online.

The SVRI Forum Young Professionals Programme is funding dependent. A call for applications will be circulated via the SVRI Update during the Forum year should funding be available. To contribute to this Programme through the SVRI Bursary Fund, contact us at forums@svri.org

Through the SVRI Forum Awards we recognise and celebrate work presented by young researchers and practitioners, particularly those working in low- and middle-income countries.

Awards are given to young researchers and practitioners in recognition of their contributions to the field. A selection panel reviews and scores eligible presentations and these scores inform the awards.

SVRI Hall of Fame

Learn more about SVRI Forum award winners by clicking on the links below.

SVRI Forum Awards 2022
SVRI Forum Awards 2019
SVRI Forum Awards 2017
SVRI Forum Awards 2015
SVRI Forum Awards 2013
SVRI Forum Awards 2011
SVRI Forum Awards 2009

Self-care, collective care and well-being activities and events

The SVRI team acknowledges the emotional impact that discussions around challenging topics such as violence can evoke. We also understand that many of us are survivors of violence, which further underscores the importance of providing supportive, trauma informed support and care at the Forum.

As part of our wellbeing strategy, trauma counselling and the SVRI Forum’s Brave Room are standing features of every Forum and considered essential by attendees. The SVRI Forum’s Brave Room provides a safe space for delegates to take time away from the busyness of the Forum to decompress and rest. The wellbeing services provided at Forum 2022 were gold standard – expanding on what we have ever provided before. Services included activities such as yoga, meditation, dialogue circles, chair massages, arts and crafts, dance and a “Wall of Hope”. In addition to counselling and the Brave Room, SVRI Forum 2024 welcomes additional wellbeing activities.

We are seeking funding to continue to deliver a wholistic package of well-being and care at Forum 2024. Please email forums@svri.org if you would like to contribute to this essential part of the event.

Practice-based knowledge is “the cumulative knowledge and learning acquired by practitioners through designing and implementing programmes in different contexts, including insights gained from observations, conversations, direct experience, and monitoring.” [1]

The role and importance of practice-based knowledge (PBK) is increasingly being recognised and incorporated into evidence-informed approaches where it provides an additional layer of context, analysis, and intersectionality.  It is also increasingly being formalised in projects and used as a key source in knowledge sharing. Yet, there is still much to be done to capture, analyse, and share PBK. Identifying and exploring its limitations and strength as well as appreciating how it can complement other sources of knowledge and research are key to integrating this vast source of knowledge.

The SVRI Forum in partnership with the UNTF are working to strengthen the abstract form and review process to make sure the knowledge and experience of practitioners is firmly integrated in SVRI Forum presentations, discussions and debates.

[1] https://prevention-collaborative.org/guide-programming/practice-based-knowledge

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