Rising Together
Centering Young Voices to End Gender-Based Violence
Every October during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, YWCA USA leads Week Without Violence (WWV), a national campaign that mobilizes communities to raise awareness, inspire action and advance solutions to end gender-based violence.
In 2026, YWCA USA will shine a spotlight on a critical reality: young people are disproportionately impacted by intimate partner violence, sexual assault, grooming and exploitation, yet their voices are often missing from conversations about prevention, healing and systemic change. Through storytelling, education and dialogue, Week Without Violence will create space for young people, survivors, advocates and communities to come together to envision a future free from violence.
Why Young People?
Young people are disproportionately likely to experience unhealthy relationships, coercion, harassment and sexual violence. The effects can shape educational attainment, mental health, economic stability and lifelong well-being. At the same time, young people are leading powerful movements for accountability, transparency, healing and cultural change.
Week Without Violence 2026 will explore what young people need not only to survive violence, but to heal, rebuild and thrive.
Featured Partnership: WATCH YOU RISE.
This year's campaign will be anchored by the documentary WATCH YOU RISE. The film examines the lasting impact of sexual violence across generations while offering a powerful exploration of resilience, healing and collective responsibility.
At a national virtual town hall event on Oct. 20, participants will watch clips from the film, followed by a live conversation with the filmmakers and a roundtable discussion with young leaders.
The film asks urgent questions that resonate deeply with young people today:
What could safety, justice and healing actually look like for survivors outside of the carceral system?
What progress have we made in ending gender-based violence?
What systemic change is needed to end gender-based sexual violence?
About WATCH YOU RISE
Directed by Isabella Grace Cohn and Produced by Marina Hunt
As a young filmmaker comes of age, she unearths stories of sexual assault experienced by her mother, her peer group and eventually herself. Along the way, she meets survivors, perpetrators and experts. Together, they explore sex, power and consent, seeking to break cycles of harm and uncover radical possibilities for healing.
The film is produced by Elizabeth Woodward at the Oscar, Emmy, and Social Impact Media Award-nominated company WILLA, and executive produced by Dr. Annie Farmer (Survivor of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell) and actor/activist Indya Moore (Ryan Murphy’s POSE).