Luxury beauty brands discuss industry role in tackling gender-based violence

Luxury beauty companies have enhanced their initiatives addressing gender-based violence and intimate partner abuse, directing their cultural reach toward long-term impact. Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) Beauty and Kering are expanding education and research efforts to address gender-based violence as the festive season exacerbates victims’ conditions. 

These major luxury groups highlighting violence awareness reflect growing recognition that abuse is a social crisis that directly compromises well-being, identity, and trust — areas the beauty sector is closely linked to.

“Intimate Partner Violence is a global issue that impacts the lives of millions of women. In fact, one in three women globally will experience violence from a partner in their lifetime,” Stephan Bezy, global brand president at YSL Beauty, tells Personal Care Insights. He cites data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The beauty industry’s focus on gender-based violence highlights its unique cultural position due to its close proximity to women. The sector’s innate link to creating and perpetuating societal norms allows it to influence trends beyond appearances and help shape broader values around identity and self-worth. 

This influence creates an opportunity for beauty brands to promote positive changes that challenge harmful norms around abuse and violence.

“The luxury industry has both a responsibility and an opportunity to advance women’s rights and to combat gender-based violence,” Céline Bonnaire, executive director of the Kering Foundation, tells us.

“Its global reach and cultural influence mean it can amplify women’s voices and help shift societal attitudes.”

YSL Beauty and luxury group Kering have each announced new initiatives under their respective aid programs this winter. 

According to Women’s Aid charity, the festive season is a particularly difficult time for domestic abuse victims due to longer times spent at home and the heightened level of external stress.

YSL Beauty says abuse often begins with early warning signs that are difficult to recognize.“This can be a very isolating time of year, with many of the services and places that women rely on for support or peace, closed... Abusers thrive on creating fear and exerting control. The fear of what might happen is always there,” says Sarah Benson, CEO of Women’s Aid.

Interventions for change

YSL Beauty’s Abuse Is Not Love initiative was originally launched in 2020. Its latest collaboration with psychotherapist Dr. Sara Kuburic centers on educating women to identify internal warning signs of abuse — such as confusion, minimization, emotional unease, and physical distress.

“Part of the goal of [the initiative] is to help individuals recognize these signs earlier and feel empowered to seek support, rather than just providing obvious exit strategies,” Dr. Sara Kuburic tells us.

The Kering Foundation is also investing in structured research to address knowledge gaps about violence across generations. It has launched a multi-year research program with McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI).

“Violence against women and violence against children are deeply connected, yet the evidence to guide integrated solutions is still limited. Most studies focus on single forms of violence, even though families and communities do not experience them in isolation,” Elizabeth Dartnall, executive director of the SVRI, shares with us.

Research on gender-based violence and violence against children in low-and middle-income countries is often conceived, funded, and driven by institutions in high-income countries. According to Bonnaire, this can distort priorities and limit impact.

To tackle the gap, the Kering Foundation, McGill University, and South Africa-based SVRI’s examination will focus on low- and middle-income countries. Their shared goal is to translate findings into practical prevention and policy programs.

Experts say children exposed to maltreatment rarely face these harms in a vacuum.“Children exposed to maltreatment rarely face these harms in a vacuum; they grow up in families navigating multiple stressors — economic hardship, parental trauma, community violence, or intimate partner conflict — that shape their daily realities,” Delphine Collin-Vézina, director of the Center for Research on Children and Families, tells us.

She explains that existing research has not sufficiently captured how these overlapping pressures compound children’s vulnerability. Collin-Vézina argues that interventions must address the child and their caregivers to be effective.

“[The program] prioritizes strategies that support families holistically, rather than treating children’s experiences as separate from the environments that shape them. In doing so, the program lays the groundwork for more integrated policies and practices that can truly protect and empower children.”

Translating influence to impact

The personal care industry has a predominantly female consumer base, a largely female workforce, and plays a shaping role in consumers’ identity, confidence, and self-worth.

According to Kuburic, the beauty industry has a “significant influence” on young women globally, and is aware of the responsibility that comes with this influence.

“Many young women view brands like YSL Beauty as aspirational, which is why purpose-driven initiatives, working to shape a society and culture where love never hurts, are so important,” she explains.

However, Kering’s Bonnaire tells us initiatives addressing serious societal issues, such as abuse, risk appearing like a seasonal campaign for marketing purposes. 

“Companies can play a meaningful role in the fight against gender-based violence only when they approach the issue with humility, long-term commitment, and a genuine partnership with specialist organizations whose expertise is essential,” Bonnaire says. 

Kering-backed research is exploring how violence against women and children is interconnected.“The most important step is to partner with organizations that are survivors-centered or survivors-led. These experts understand the complexities of violence. They can guide companies toward actions that are truly supportive rather than symbolic.”

According to YSL’s Bezy, the Abuse Is Not Love initiative has been built with the help of experts in the field to ensure that it is impact-centric, offers support, and helps people identify early warning signs of abuse. The company follows a rigorous process for beneficiary reporting, where its partner NGOs ensure that training and support services are offered, monitored, and reported on.

“Measuring the true impact of a program like Abuse Is Not Love requires clear, quantifiable objectives and transparent reporting,” Bezy says. 

“Our objective has been clear since the program’s launch: to train and support 2 million people on the signs of abuse and scale awareness about the topic. To date, we have reached more than 1.3 million people through both training and support services.”

A survivor-centric initiative offers flexible, sustained support rather than one-offs. “Survivors need stable, high-quality services, and the non-profits that provide them require multi-year funding or adaptable resources,” adds Kering’s Bonnaire.

For brands operating at the intersection of beauty, identity, and physical and emotional well-being, the challenge lies in using their influence to make a definite impact. Brands must ensure that programs designed to support women do not simplify, commercialize, or overshadow the lived realities of abuse.