Globally, violence affects 1 in 3 women, costs the world USD 1.3 trillion in lost productivity, and impacts 1.34 billion lives (WHO, UN, ILO). These realities directly undermine workforce participation, productivity, safety, and leadership pipelines.
Why this is a Future of Work Issue?
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Despite over a decade of workplace policies, legal frameworks, and gender equality commitments, 1 in 3 women globally continues to experience physical or sexual violence. The prevalence has not meaningfully declined.
This reality tells us something important:
policy alone has not been enough to change behaviour, systems, or workplace cultures.
Domestic violence does not stay confined to private spaces.
It spills into workplaces, affecting concentration, attendance, safety, trust, and performance impacting women, men, children, and families.
WHY THIS IS A FUTURE OF WORK ISSUE
The future of work is being reshaped by:
- Remote and hybrid models
- AI-driven productivity tools
- Digital surveillance and data systems
- Increased participation of women and young people in the workforce
In this context, domestic violence spillover becomes a systemic workplace risk.
If future workplaces are not designed with human safety, dignity, and non-violence at their core, they risk:
- Undermining gender equality at work
- Penalising survivors through productivity metrics
- Enabling coercion through poorly designed technologies
- Normalising silence rather than prevention
Gender equality at work cannot exist where violence is ignored.
THE BUSINESS IMPERATIVE
Domestic violence is not only a social crisis — it is a material business risk.
In the 27 EU countries alone, businesses lose an estimated €209 billion annually due to productivity loss, absenteeism, healthcare costs, and safety risks linked to domestic violence.
This makes domestic violence:
- A human capital issue
- A workplace safety issue
- A future-of-work governance issue
Ignoring it weakens organisations.
Designing against it strengthens them.
WHY YOUTH INSIGHTS MATTER
Over 1.2 billion young people will enter the workforce in the next decade.
They will:
- Work in AI-mediated environments
- Shape organisational culture
- Design and deploy future technologies
- Lead teams and institutions
Yet their perspectives are rarely captured in ways that inform policy, design, or governance.
WHY GLOBAL SHAPERS
Global Shapers are uniquely positioned to lead this work because they:
- Sit at the intersection of youth, leadership, and systems change
- Convene trusted conversations across regions and sectors
- Influence workplaces, startups, public institutions, and policy spaces
- Can translate lived realities into future-oriented insight
It is about designing cultures of non-violence before harm becomes institutionalised.
RESOURCES & MATERIALS
These resources are designed for Global Shapers to access, adapt, and use in their own workplaces, institutions, universities, and communities.
They include research papers, presentations, and facilitation tools that help you host informed conversations on domestic violence, non-violence, gender equality, and the future of work.
The aim is not one-off awareness, but to continue the conversation across teams, sectors, and regions and to translate those conversations into youth insights that can inform safer workplace policies and future-of-work design.
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The Resources you will need. Get Access!
