There has never been a greater need for us to focus on improving the living conditions for women and girls throughout the world. Violence against women and girls continues to be a global epidemic that kills, tortures, and maims – physically, psychologically, sexually and economically. It is one of the most pervasive of human rights violations. The purpose of the Conference and Training Institute is to engage advocates, researchers and professionals from domestic violence, health care and social service, justice and policy makers in critical dialogues that will enable them to use in-depth information to impact their work in terms of practice, research, and policy.