Although it is not strictly a human rights body, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has defined a link between security in Europe and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The OSCE has recognized that the transition periods in many Central and East European and former Soviet Union countries have "frequently had a negative impact for women. Participation of women in government and politics has declined in many countries, while social and economic pressures are considered by many NGOs to have brought increased domestic violence. The post-communist era has seen sexual violence directed at women during conflicts and the emergence of trafficking. Economic transition has often brought discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace."[1]

OSCE Member States are obligated under the Moscow Concluding Document of 1991 "to seek to eliminate all forms of violence against women, and all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women including by ensuring adequate legal prohibitions against such acts and other appropriate measures."[2]

In 1990, the OSCE created the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), initially to address election standards. Today, however, the mandate of the ODIHR encompasses human rights and democratization more comprehensively. The Gender Unit of the ODIHR addresses the rights of women in three areas: women's participation in politics, women's participation in elections, and violence against women. Additionally, the ODIHR addresses trafficking in women, through a separate unit that carries out anti-trafficking projects specifically.

The 2004 OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality ensures that gender will be integrated into all OSCE projects of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.[3] Thus, each of the ODHIR's units develops and adapts projects that address preventing and combating gender-based violence in some form. Such projects include legislative review and legal aid programs, human rights training and anti-trafficking projects.