Nurses and midwives have long been at the forefront of advancing the evidence base, shaping policy initiatives and implementing interventions aimed at preventing and responding to violence against women. This long-standing leadership was powerfully reflected in the kinetic energy generated by the more than 180 delegates who convened for the 26th Nursing Network on Violence Against Women International (NNVAWI) conference in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada (October 6–8, 2025). We respectfully gathered on the traditional lands of the Haudenosaunee, Attiwonderonk (Neutral) and Anishinaabeg peoples, including the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. With support from the NNVAWI Board of Directors, the success of this conference was a result of the work and commitment of the Conference Planning Committee, including co-chairs from the Schools or Departments of Nursing at Western University (London, Ontario), Brock University (St. Catharines, Ontario), McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario) and York University (Toronto, Ontario). This introduction to the Supplement provides an opportunity to highlight the transformative ideas that transcended both presentations and discussions by and between conference delegates. Across the globe, violence against women and gender-based violence persists at staggering levels, intensified by conflict and displacement, expanding forms of technology-facilitated abuse, widening social and economic inequities and a growing backlash against gender equality. In this moment of profound global instability, the field faces urgent challenges: rising rates of violence in humanitarian settings, escalating digital forms of coercion and harassment, persistent stigma and victim-blaming and stark gaps in access to trauma- and violence-informed health and social services. These intersecting pressures demand responses that are innovative yet deeply grounded in the values that have shaped the field from its earliest days. It is within this context that the theme of the NNVAWI conference, “Responding to Gender-Based Violence in a Changing World: Prevention, Advocacy and Action,” took on particular resonance. The gathering brought together an extraordinary community of researchers, nurses, midwives, health professionals, community advocates and policymakers from 12 countries, united by a shared commitment to advancing evidence-informed approaches to prevention and strengthening identification and response efforts across diverse contexts. The leadership of nurses and midwives in this work through scholarship, clinical practice, advocacy and policy engagement has provided a steady foundation upon which the field continues to build. Since the 1980s and early 1990s, nurse researchers have been producing seminal, field-defining research on gender-based violence, with findings shaping health care, policy and public consciousness. The field was built on feminist, survivor-centred and social justice principles that illuminated experiences too often forced into silence, challenged gender inequality and demanded systemic action. Many conference attendees reflected on the profound progress achieved since the early years of this nursing scholarship, even as they emphasised that the core values guiding this work remain indispensable. Today's trainees, scholars and practitioners continue to draw on these foundational insights, particularly the recognition of gender-based violence, including violence against women, as a societal and public health issue rather than a private matter. Remaining connected to this lineage serves not as a constraint but as an anchor. In an era defined by complexity and rapid change, sustaining our grounding in justice, equity and survivor-centred and woman-led care ensures that the field can respond boldly to emerging challenges without losing sight of its purpose. A visible shift is the evolution of language and narrative framing within gender-based violence scholarship and practice. “Words matter” was a clear theme echoed across presentations and discussions. Language shapes how survivors interpret their experiences, influences whether and how they seek support and impacts how practitioners and systems respond. Increasingly, person-centred terminology such as “people who use violence” and “people who experience violence” is being used in place of labels that can stigmatise or reduce individuals to a single aspect of their identity. Many practitioners and researchers find that this shift fosters dignity, supports engagement in care or change and aligns with trauma- and violence-informed practice principles (Wathen and Varcoe 2023). At the same time, some caution that such language must not obscure the gendered nature of violence for many populations or minimise responsibility for harm. Acknowledging and engaging with this tension, rather than avoiding it, reflects a maturing scholarly discourse. As language evolves, nursing has a critical role to play in advancing communication that promotes both healing and accountability. With its relational foundation and holistic perspective, nursing can guide nuanced dialogue on language that centres safety, equity and justice. This conversation about language also intersects with broader questions of power and representation within the gender-based violence sector. Rodney et al. (2026) offered a compelling example through their study aimed at creating contextual knowledge to improve work environments for racialized women who are often the only or one of few employees in Canadian gender-based violence organisations. Their community-based qualitative study documented the stories of 23 racialized and white gender-based violence workers with the objectives to resist the colonial project of erasure and centre the voices of local women as catalysts for systemic change. Two themes across the narratives, a culture of silence and shifting the needle forward, revealed that the gender-based violence sector remains primarily an affirmative workspace rather than a transformative one. The authors argue that creating greater safety for racialized women workers requires moving beyond performative equity, diversity and inclusion toward language and actions that centre and prioritise anti-oppressive and anti-racist action. Taken together, these insights underscore that evolving narratives are not merely semantic; they are deeply political. Language can open or close pathways to justice, belonging and safety. For nurses and midwives, this means engaging critically with terminology while advocating for organisational cultures that challenge systemic inequities. Words matter, but so does the work of ensuring that language shifts are accompanied by meaningful action to dismantle oppression and advance equity. The field of gender-based violence is broadening not only in who is “studied”, but in how violence is conceptualised, measured and addressed across the lifespan. When NNVAWI was established, its early and primary focus was on responding to violence against women and particularly their experiences of intimate partner violence. That foundation remains vital, yet the field has evolved with researchers increasingly recognising that while the use of violence is deeply gendered and disproportionately harms women, its ripple effects extend far beyond. Violence against women often coexists with violence against children and intersects with harms experienced by sexual and gender minority populations, racialized communities and other equity-deserving groups. These patterns reflect structural inequities and social determinants that shape vulnerability across diverse populations. This recognition explains why many abstracts in this supplement address populations beyond women alone. Scholars are exploring how gender-based violence manifests in adolescent dating relationships, in the lives of queer women, in Indigenous communities and among men, both as individuals who either experience or use violence. Expanding the lens does not dilute the focus on women; rather it strengthens our capacity to understand and respond to violence as a complex, relational and systemic phenomenon. By embracing this broader view, the NNVAWI community affirms that preventing and addressing violence requires approaches that are intersectional, inclusive and responsive to the realities of all those affected. Similarly, while a focus on intimate partner violence remains central to the field, scholars and practitioners are increasingly examining forms of violence that have long been under-recognised or insufficiently theorised. Economic abuse (Scott 2026), reproductive coercion (Grace and Miller 2026) and technology-facilitated abuse (Almanssori 2026; Doria et al. 2026; Grant et al. 2026) reflect evolving tactics used to exert power and control. Greater attention is also being paid to adolescent and dating violence (Debnam et al. 2026; Emezue et al. 2026; Mickievicz et al. 2026) and intergenerational trauma (Wilson et al. 2026). Furthermore, understanding effective strategies to promote and sustain the well-being of researchers (Fiolet, Cullen, et al. 2026; Fiolet, Perlen, et al. 2026; Orr 2026) and providers (Garinger et al. 2026) involved in the field aims to not only support quality care for people affected by gender-based violence but also enhance workforce sustainability and challenge the structural conditions that lead to people feeling, as Varcoe (2026) in her plenary lecture stated, “used up” by systems that create structural distress. Importantly, conversations highlighted that gender-based violence cannot be understood without acknowledging culture, colonisation, identity and community. Global and Indigenous perspectives offer critical insights into both violence and healing. They remind us that prevention and response must be culturally grounded, community-led and attentive to histories of harm as well as pathways to collective resilience (Fiolet, Cullen, et al. 2026; Fiolet, Perlen, et al. 2026; Modanloo et al. 2026). Another notable evolution in the field is the expanding focus on the role of men, not only as those who disproportionately use violence, but also as survivors, allies and essential partners in prevention. For instance, Scott-Storey et al. (2026) thought-provoking symposium explored What About the Men? Consideration of Men's Experiences of Cumulative Lifetime Violence. Delegates emphasised that demonising men as a group can reinforce defensiveness and inhibit engagement, ultimately limiting the effectiveness of prevention and intervention efforts. Instead, there is increasing attention to approaches that foster healthy masculinities, challenge harmful gender norms and support men to contribute to cultures of equity and respect. This includes developing and evaluating interventions that engage men and boys across the continuum of prevention, from early relationship education and community-led initiatives to therapeutic programs that support those who have used harm to take accountability and build skills for change (e.g., de Villiers and Groenewald 2026). Importantly, these approaches must be designed and delivered in ways that do not dilute survivor-centred principles or shift the burden of responsibility away from those who have caused harm. Rather, they seek to widen the circle of responsibility for prevention, inviting men into roles that contribute positively to safety and social change. Nursing must lead efforts to engage men and boys in ways that uphold survivor safety and foster meaningful change. With its grounding in relational care, therapeutic communication and trauma- and violence-informed practice, the profession brings expertise that can support men's engagement while upholding survivor safety and autonomy. By fostering constructive dialogue, modelling equitable relationships and advancing evidence-informed interventions, nurses can play a pivotal role in accelerating meaningful involvement of men in gender-based violence prevention and healing work. The scientific rigour of gender-based violence research continues to strengthen. Delegates presented robust qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods studies that shed light on the mechanisms, health impacts and social consequences of violence. Importantly, a growing number of interventions are being developed, piloted, refined and evaluated across diverse settings (Catherine et al. 2026). Draughon Moret et al. (2026) addressed advances in supporting post-sexual assault care in their symposium, Bridging Gaps in HIV Prevention: Iterative Development of an HIV PEP Decision Aid. This reflects a shift from asking whether interventions exist to examining how, for whom and under what conditions they are effective. Furthermore, nursing scholarship has been instrumental in advancing trauma- and violence-informed approaches within health care. Nurses have led the development of evidence-based tools for the identification of intimate partner violence across different populations (Linde et al. 2026), perinatal mental health promotion (Bradley et al. 2026), risk assessments and safety planning (Metheny et al. 2026; Patch et al. 2026) and health system response including health promotion interventions for women who have experienced intimate partner violence (Ford-Gilboe et al. 2026). The field is poised to expand from individual-level approaches toward system- and policy-level transformation (Burd et al. 2026; McLean 2026). A defining strength of contemporary gender-based scholarship is the rise of translational and transdisciplinary work. Research teams increasingly include nurses, social workers, public health practitioners, legal experts, educators, economists, technologists and crucially people with lived experience. Such collaborations enhance relevance, foster innovation and accelerate knowledge mobilisation. Co-design and community-engaged methodologies are transforming not only what knowledge is generated, but how it is generated (e.g., Barbarich-Unasa and Wilson 2026). Rather than treating dissemination as an end-stage activity, researchers are collaborating with communities, service providers and policymakers from the outset. This model, translation by design, not by afterthought, embodies the ethos of nursing research and reflects a paradigm shift with the potential to reshape systems of care. Globally, nurses are often the first point of contact for individuals experiencing violence, positioning the profession at the frontline of identification, support and intervention. Nursing scholarship has catalysed trauma- and violence-informed care, shaped clinical protocols, curriculum innovations (Burton et al. 2026; Elliott et al. 2026; McKeown et al. 2026) and influenced policy. Within and beyond health systems, nurses are advancing cross-sector partnerships, community-driven initiatives and global capacity-building efforts that extend the reach of gender-based violence prevention and response. Gender-based violence is a global public health crisis, and nurses are uniquely positioned to lead in practice, education, research and policy. Supporting the next generation of nurse scholars and early-career practitioners is critical to sustaining momentum, especially as threats to gender equity, reproductive rights and social justice intensify. The field must resist complacency, guard against regression and remain unwavering in its commitment to safety, justice and equity. There is reason for hope. Violence prevention is now firmly on the agenda. Interventions are gaining traction, language is evolving and lived experience is shifting from token inclusion to meaningful leadership. Momentum is building, grounded in clarity, solidarity and shared purpose. To advance this work, we must invest in prevention, embed trauma- and violence-informed approaches across systems, sustain survivor-centred, equity-focused practice, foster interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration and engage men and boys as partners, while keeping the disproportionate impact on women and gender-diverse people at the forefront. The future of this field depends on our willingness to evolve while remaining anchored in the principles that gave it life. Nurses, researchers, educators, policymakers and advocates have both the opportunity and responsibility to shape the next chapter. We must move forward with conviction, guided by evidence, compassion and a shared commitment to ending gender-based violence in all its forms. The authors have nothing to report. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. To enquire about individual study data, the primary author of individual abstracts should be contacted. To access the contact details of leading authors, the corresponding author for this article can be contacted: email protected.
Patch et al. (Sun,) studied this question.