On 9th March 2021, the World Health Organization(WHO) has launched a report titled “Violence Against Women Prevalence Estimates, 2018”. The report was based on the WHO’s largest study on the prevalence of violence against women. The study conducted by WHO on behalf of The United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Violence Against Women Estimation and Data (VAW-IAWGED) states that around 736 million to 852 million women across the globe i.e., 1 in 3 women have faced physical or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime.
- At least 1 in 4 women that were a victim of domestic or sexual violence were in their mid-twenties, and were subjected to torture mostly by an intimate partner.
About the report:
i.This is the first of its kind study by WHO since 2013 that focus on both violence by intimate partners and sexual violence by non-partners. The report compiles the data from 158 countries.
ii.The figures for the report track a period from 2010 to 2018 which does not include the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
iii.Various studies have shown that there is an increase in domestic violence against women since the government.
Violence Based on Regions:
i.37% of all women that were victims of violence were living in the poorest countries.
ii.Region of Oceania, Southern Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa have the highest prevalence of domestic violence, and women aged 15-49 constituted 33percent to 51 percent of total cases.
iii.The lowest rates are found in Europe (16–23 percent), Central Asia (18 percent), Eastern Asia (20 percent), and South-Eastern Asia (21 percent).
Gist of the report:
i.Around 31% of women aged between 15 to 49 and 30% of women aged 15 and older has been subjected to physical or/and sexual violence from their male intimate partners or sensual violence from a not intimate partner at least once since the age of 15.
ii.Around 641 million people are affected by the violence against women by intimate partners.
iii.The report states that around 6% of women across the globe have reported that they were sexually assaulted by non-partners and the actual number is expected to be much higher, since this form of violence has been stigmatized across the globe.
iv.The violence affects the women living in low and lower middle income countries.
v.Around 37% of the women in the poorest countries have experienced physical and sexual violence and in some countries has a prevalence of around 50%.
vi.Globally, over 641 million women were sexually assaulted within their households. Nearly 6 percent of women globally reported abuse and torture inflicted by someone other than the husband. This figure, based on data from 2000 to 2018 remains underreported due to the high levels of stigma surrounding sexual abuse.
Recent Related News:
On 2nd September 2020, The United Nations(UN) Women and United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) released new data which states that the COVID-19 pandemic will have negative impacts on the women and will increase the poverty rate of women and widen the gap between men and women in poverty.
The summarised data is published as a report titled “From Insights to Actions: Gender Equality in the wake of COVID-19” by the UN Women.
About WHO:
Director-General– Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Headquarter– Geneva, Switzerland
