Global And Regional Estimates Of Violence Against Women

"World Health Organization, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, South African Medical Research Council"--Title page.

This report is based on an analysis of available prevalence data from surveys and studies conducted between 2000 and 2018, obtained through a systematic and comprehensive review of all available data on the prevalence of these two forms of violence against women. In 2016, the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Member States endorsed the Global plan of action to strengthen the role of the health system within a national multisectoral response to address interpersonal violence, in particular against women and girls, and against children, which includes improving the collection and use of robust data as one of its four strategic directions. Accurate and reliable statistics on violence against women are crucial to improve our understanding of the prevalence, nature and impact of this violence and how these may differ across settings and age cohorts, and to monitor changes over time. The collection, analysis and reporting of these data also play an important role in informing targeted investments into the development of effective and sustainable intersectoral prevention and response policies and programmes for reducing violence against women. While progress has been made, challenges remain in the availability, quality and timely reporting of data on violence against women.

This report is based on an analysis of available prevalence data from surveys and studies conducted between 2000 and 2018, obtained through a systematic and comprehensive review of all available data on the prevalence of these two forms of violence against women. In 2016, the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Member States endorsed the Global plan of action to strengthen the role of the health system within a national multisectoral response to address interpersonal violence, in particular against women and girls, and against children, which includes improving the collection and use of robust data as one of its four strategic directions. Accurate and reliable statistics on violence against women are crucial to improve our understanding of the prevalence, nature and impact of this violence and how these may differ across settings and age cohorts, and to monitor changes over time. The collection, analysis and reporting of these data also play an important role in informing targeted investments into the development of effective and sustainable intersectoral prevention and response policies and programmes for reducing violence against women. While progress has been made, challenges remain in the availability, quality and timely reporting of data on violence against women.

Violence against women is a major human rights violation and a global public health problem. This report provides updated estimates for two of the most common forms of violence against women: intimate partner violence, non partner sexual violence. This report is based on an analysis of available prevalence data from surveys and studies conducted between 2000 and 2018, obtained through a systematic and comprehensive review of all available dataon the prevalence of these two forms of violence against women.

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns have led to a rise in gender-based violence. In this paper, we explore the economic consequences of violence against women in sub-Saharan Africa using large demographic and health survey data collected pre-pandemic. Relying on a two-stage least square method to address endogeneity, we find that an increase in the share of women subject to violence by 1 percentage point can reduce economic activities (as proxied by nightlights) by up to 8 percent. This economic cost results from a significant drop in female employment. Our results also show that violence against women is more detrimental to economic development in countries without protective laws against domestic violence, in natural resource rich countries, in countries where women are deprived of decision-making power and during economic downturns. Beyond the moral imperative, the findings highlight the importance of combating violence against women from an economic standpoint, particularly by reinforcing laws against domestic violence and strengthening women’s decision-making power.

A health-care provider is likely to be the first professional contact for survivors of intimate partner violence or sexual assault. Evidence suggests that women who have been subjected to violence seek health care more often than non-abused women, even if they do not disclose the associated violence. They also identify health-care providers as the professionals they would most trust with disclosure of abuse. These guidelines are an unprecedented effort to equip healthcare providers with evidence-based guidance as to how to respond to intimate partner violence and sexual violence against women. They also provide advice for policy makers, encouraging better coordination and funding of services, and greater attention to responding to sexual violence and partner violence within training programmes for health care providers. The guidelines are based on systematic reviews of the evidence, and cover: 1. identification and clinical care for intimate partner violence 2. clinical care for sexual assault 3. training relating to intimate partner violence and sexual assault against women 4. policy and programmatic approaches to delivering services 5. mandatory reporting of intimate partner violence. The guidelines aim to raise awareness of violence against women among health-care providers and policy-makers, so that they better understand the need for an appropriate health-sector response. They provide standards that can form the basis for national guidelines, and for integrating these issues into health-care provider education.

The Multi-Country Study, which began in 1997, aims to: Obtain reliable estimates of the prevalence of violence against women in different countries throughout the world, in a consistent, standardized manner which will allow for inter-country comparisons; Document the association between domestic violence against women and a range of health outcomes; Identify risk and protective factors for domestic violence against women, and compare them between settings; Explore and compare the coping strategies used by women experiencing domestic violence; Use the findings nationally and internationally to advocate for an increased response to domestic and sexual violence against women.

"Violence against women undermines women's core fundamental rights such as dignity, access to justice and gender equality. For example, one in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15; one in five women has experienced stalking; every second woman has been confronted with one or more forms of sexual harassment. What emerges is a picture of extensive abuse that affects many women's lives but is systematically underreported to the authorities. The scale of violence against women is therefore not reflected by official data. This FRA survey is the first of its kind on violence against women across the 28 Member States of the European Union (EU). It is based on interviews with 42,000 women across the EU, who were asked about their experiences of physical, sexual and psychological violence, including incidents of intimate partner violence ('domestic violence'). The survey also included questions on stalking, sexual harassment, and the role played by new technologies in women's experiences of abuse. In addition, it asked about their experiences of violence in childhood. Based on the detailed findings, FRA suggests courses of action in different areas that are touched by violence against women and go beyond the narrow confines of criminal law, ranging from employment and health to the medium of new technologies."--Editor.