The papers in this special issue focus on the topic of violence against women. This group of scholarly works explores theoretical issues, context and health care interventions pertaining to violence in women’s lives. In conjunction with this special issue, this editorial provides a synopsis of presentations and discussions about the topic of the intersections of gender-based violence, HIV and the girl child that took place in July 2008 as part of the 17th conference of International Council of Women’s Health Issues (ICOWHI) held in Gaborone, Botswana, focusing on the Girl Child. ICOWHI, in conjunction with the University of Botswana, Centre for the Study of HIV and AIDS (CSHA) sponsored a one day preconference on “Gender-based violence and HIV Risk among Adolescent Girls.” A diverse interdisciplinary group of scholars from around the world closely examined these interconnected epidemics in a rich day long discussion. The aim of the preconference as well as the articles in this special issue is to build scholarship and inform practice of cultural and contextual factors as they pertain to violence in the lives of women and girls in order to promote their health, safety and well-being globally.