1 in 3 women globally experience physical or sexual violence: WHO report Â
Context: One in 3 women – about 736 million individuals – are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner in their lifetimes, a number that has remained largely unchanged over the past decade.
Details:
- This violence starts early – 1 in 4 young women (aged 15-24 years) who have been in a relationship will have already experienced violence by an intimate partner by the time they reach their mid-twenties.
- Violence disproportionately affects women living in low- and lower-middle-income countries. An estimated 37% of women living in the poorest countries have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence in their life, with some of these countries having a prevalence as high as 1 in 2.
- The regions of Oceania, Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa have the highest prevalence rates of intimate partner violence among women aged 15-49,ranging from 33% to 51%.The lowest rates are found in Europe (16%-23%), Central Asia (18%), Eastern Asia (20%) and South-Eastern Asia (21%).
- Younger women are at highest risk for recent violence. Among those who have been in a relationship, the highest rates (16%) of intimate partner violence in the past 12 months occurred among young women aged between 15 and 24.
About the report:
- The report, ‘Global, regional and national estimates for intimate partner violence against women and global and regional estimates for non-partner sexual violence against women’ was prepared by WHO and the UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP )for the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Violence Against Women Estimation and Data.
- The report presents data from the largest ever study of the prevalence of violence against women, conducted by WHO on behalf of a special working group of the United Nations. Based on data from 2000 to 2018, it updates previous estimates released in 2013.
- The estimates presented in the report are based on data from 161 countries and areas for intimate partner violence and 137 for non-partner sexual violence, obtained through a comprehensive review of all available prevalence data from studies conducted between 2000 and 2018.