Fact sheet N°239
Updated October 2013
Key Facts:
- Violence against women - particularly intimate partner
violence and sexual violence against women - are major public health
problems and violations of women's human rights.
- Recent global prevalence figures indicate that 35% of
women worldwide have experienced either intimate partner violence or
non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.
- On average, 30% of women who have been in a
relationship report that they have experienced some form of physical or
sexual violence by their partner.
- Globally, as many as 38% of murders of women are
committed by an intimate partner.
- Violence can result in physical, mental, sexual,
reproductive health and other health problems, and may increase
vulnerability to HIV.
- Risk factors for being a perpetrator include low
education, exposure to child maltreatment or witnessing violence in the
family, harmful use of alcohol, attitudes accepting of violence and gender
inequality.
- Risk factors for being a victim of intimate partner and
sexual violence include low education, witnessing violence between
parents, exposure to abuse during childhood and attitudes accepting
violence and gender inequality.
- In high-income settings, school-based programmes to
prevent relationship violence among young people (or dating violence) are
supported by some evidence of effectiveness.
- In low-income settings, other primary prevention
strategies, such as microfinance combined with gender equality training
and community-based initiatives that address gender inequality and
communication and relationship skills, hold promise.
- Situations of conflict, post conflict and displacement
may exacerbate existing violence and present new forms of violence against
women.
Introduction
The United Nations defines violence against women as "any act of
gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical,
sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts,
coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in
private life."
Intimate partner violence refers to behaviour by an
intimate partner or ex-partner that causes physical, sexual or psychological
harm, including physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and
controlling behaviours.
Sexual violence is any sexual act, attempt to obtain a
sexual act, or other act directed against a person’s sexuality using coercion,
by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting.
It includes rape, defined as the physically forced or otherwise coerced
penetration of the vulva or anus with a penis, other body part or object.
Scope of the
Problem
Population-level surveys based on reports from victims provide the most accurate
estimates of the prevalence of intimate partner violence and sexual violence in
non-conflict settings. The first report of the "WHO Multi-country study on
women’s health and domestic violence against women" (2005) in 10 mainly
developing countries found that, among women aged 15-49:
- between 15% of women in Japan and 71% of women in
Ethiopia reported physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner
in their lifetime;
- between 0.3–11.5% of women reported experiencing sexual
violence by a non-partner since the age of 15 years;
- the first sexual experience for many women was reported
as forced – 17% in rural Tanzania, 24% in rural Peru, and 30% in rural
Bangladesh.
A more recent analysis of WHO with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine and the Medical Research Council, based on existing data from over 80
countries, found that globally 35% of women have experienced either physical
and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. Most of
this violence is intimate partner violence. Worldwide, almost one third (30%)
of all women who have been in a relationship have experienced physical and/or
sexual violence by their intimate partner, in some regions this is much higher.
Globally as many as 38% of all murders of women are committed by intimate
partners.
Intimate partner and sexual violence are mostly perpetrated by men against
women and child sexual abuse affects both boys and girls. International studies
reveal that approximately 20% of women and 5–10% of men report being victims of
sexual violence as children. Violence among young people, including dating
violence, is also a major problem.
Risk Factors
Factors found to be associated with intimate partner and sexual violence
occur within individuals, families and communities and wider society. Some
factors are associated with being a perpetrator of violence, some are
associated with experiencing violence and some are associated with both.
Risk factors for both intimate partner and sexual violence include:
- lower levels of education (perpetration of sexual
violence and experience of sexual violence);
- exposure to child maltreatment (perpetration and
experience);
- witnessing family violence (perpetration and
experience);
- antisocial personality disorder (perpetration);
- harmful use of alcohol (perpetration and experience);
- having multiple partners or suspected by their partners
of infidelity (perpetration); and
- attitudes that are accepting of violence and gender
inequality (perpetration and experience).
Factors specifically associated with intimate partner violence include:
- past history of violence;
- marital discord and dissatisfaction;
- difficulties in communicating between partners.
Factors specifically associated with sexual violence perpetration include:
- beliefs in family honour and sexual purity;
- ideologies of male sexual entitlement; and
- weak legal sanctions for sexual violence.
The unequal position of women relative to men and the normative use of violence
to resolve conflict are strongly associated with both intimate partner violence
and non-partner sexual violence.
Health Consequences
Intimate partner and sexual violence have serious short- and long-term
physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health problems for survivors and for
their children, and lead to high social and economic costs.
- Violence against women can have fatal results like
homicide or suicide.
- It can lead to injuries, with 42% of women who
experience intimate partner reporting an injury as a consequences of this
violence.
- Intimate partner violence and sexual violence can lead
to unintended pregnancies, induced abortions, gynaecological problems, and
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. The 2013 analysis found
that women who had been physically or sexually abused were 1.5 times more
likely to have a sexually transmitted infection and, in some regions, HIV,
compared to women who have not experienced partner violence. They are also
twice as likely to have an abortion.
- Intimate partner violence in pregnancy also increases
the likelihood of miscarriage, stillbirth, pre-term delivery and low birth
weight babies.
- These forms of violence can lead to depression,
post-traumatic stress disorder, sleep difficulties, eating disorders,
emotional distress and suicide attempts. The same study found that women
who have experienced intimate partner violence were almost twice as likely
to experience depression and problem drinking. The rate was even higher
for women who had experienced non partner sexual violence.
- Health effects can also include headaches, back pain,
abdominal pain, fibromyalgia, gastrointestinal disorders, limited mobility
and poor overall health.
- Sexual violence, particularly during childhood, can
lead to increased smoking, drug and alcohol misuse, and risky sexual
behaviours in later life. It is also associated with perpetration of
violence (for males) and being a victim of violence (for females).
Impact on Children
- Children who grow up in families where there is violence
may suffer a range of behavioural and emotional disturbances. These can
also be associated with perpetrating or experiencing violence later in
life.
- Intimate partner violence has also been associated with
higher rates of infant and child mortality and morbidity (e.g. diarrhoeal
disease, malnutrition).
Social and economic
costs
The social and economic costs of intimate partner and sexual violence are
enormous and have ripple effects throughout society. Women may suffer
isolation, inability to work, loss of wages, lack of participation in regular
activities and limited ability to care for themselves and their children.
Prevention and
response
Currently, there are few interventions whose effectiveness has been proven
through well designed studies. More resources are needed to strengthen the
prevention of intimate partner and sexual violence, including primary
prevention, i.e. stopping it from happening in the first place.
Regarding primary prevention, there is some evidence from high-income
countries that school-based programmes to prevent violence within dating
relationships have shown effectiveness. However, these have yet to be assessed
for use in resource-poor settings. Several other primary prevention strategies:
those that combine microfinance with gender equality training; that promote
communication and relationship skills within couples and communities; that
reduce access to, and harmful use of alcohol; and that change cultural gender
norms, have shown some promise but need to be evaluated further.
To achieve lasting change, it is important to enact legislation and develop
policies that:
- address discrimination against women;
- promote gender equality;
- support women; and
- help to move towards more peaceful cultural norms.
An appropriate response from the health sector can play an important role in
the prevention of violence. Sensitization and education of health and other
service providers is therefore another important strategy. To address fully the
consequences of violence and the needs of victims/survivors requires a
multi-sectoral response.
WHO Actions
WHO, in collaboration with a number of partners, is:
- building the evidence base on the size and nature of
violence against women in different settings and supporting countries'
efforts to document and measure this violence and its consequences. This
is central to understanding the magnitude and nature of the problem at a
global level and to initiating action in countries;
- strengthening research and research capacity to assess
interventions to address partner violence
- developing technical guidance for evidence-based
intimate partner and sexual violence prevention and for strengthening the
health sector responses to such violence;
- disseminating information and supporting national
efforts to advance women's rights and the prevention of and response to
violence against women; and
- collaborating with international agencies and
organizations to reduce/eliminate violence globally.