This webinar focuses on developing a shared understanding of violence against women and girls (VAWG) to guide the daily work of probation and community supervision officers. Participants will review promising global practices in law, policy, and enforcement for the oversight of VAWG offenders, with content tailored to both pre-trial and post-conviction supervision.

While dozens of jurisdictions globally have worked to improve their response to VAWG, effective community supervision remains a major gap. This systemic failure severely undermines survivor safety and offender accountability, particularly regarding cases of intimate partner violence (IPV) and domestic violence.

Supervised release—encompassing probation, pre-trial supervision, and parole—is a proven mechanism grounded in globally accepted human rights principles of safety, security, equality, due process, and access to justice. When implemented effectively, community supervision prioritizes survivor safety, provides state acknowledgment of the crimes committed, and ensures real consequences for abusers.

What We Hope to Learn

Through this seminar, participants will deepen their understanding of how effective community supervision can strengthen survivor safety and offender accountability in VAWG cases. We will discuss risk assessment and management, survivor-informed supervision, coordination among justice and community-based actors, and responses to violations or escalating risk.

The seminar will also provide an opportunity for participants to exchange experiences, identify common challenges and gaps in current practice, and consider which approaches can be adapted to their own legal, institutional, and cultural contexts.