Here’s what WHO has to say about every third woman experiencing violence globally!
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released a report regarding the prevalence of violence against women all over the world. The report titled Violence Against Women Prevalence Estimates, 2018 states that “across their lifetime, 1 in 3 women, around 736 million, are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner — a number that has remained largely unchanged over the past decade.” Over a quarter of women aged 15–49 years are subjected to physical and sexual violence at least once in their lifetime.
WHO conducted the study on behalf of the United Nations agencies, using data collected from 2000 to 2018. The study was based on a survey of 161 countries. They conducted the most recent such study in 2013. This however, does not include the data of the women who were exposed to violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Violence against women is endemic in every country and culture, causing harm to millions of women and their families, and has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “But unlike COVID-19, violence against women cannot be stopped with a vaccine. We can only fight it with deep-rooted and sustained efforts — by governments, communities, and individuals — to change harmful attitudes, improve access to opportunities and services for women and girls, and foster healthy and mutually respectful relationships.”
(Photo: Money Sharma/ Getty Images)
Since the lockdown forced people to stay at home, it placed many women and children at risk of abuse. As per the United Nations ‘ Facts and figures: Ending violence against women, calls to helplines increased five-folds in many countries owing to social isolation, restricted movement, and economic insecurity. The lack of critical support during this period aggravated the situation, and the extent of the problem would only be revealed once the survey resumes.
The report said that violence disproportionately affects women living in low to middle-income countries like in the regions of Oceania, Southern Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. It ranges from 33 to 51%. An estimate of 37% of women have experienced physical or sexual violence from their intimate partners. In many countries, every 1 out 2 women have been a victim of violence. The cases are relatively low in Europe, Central Asia, Eastern, and South-eastern Asia. Younger women (15–24 years old) are the most vulnerable to abuse. According to one survey, 16% women have experienced abuse from their intimate partners in the past 12 months.
It has a massive effect on women’s mental, physical, and sexual health. The psychological trauma persists long after the cycle of violence has ended. It causes anxiety, depression, injuries that can last a lifetime. Women often contract sexually transmitted diseases during sexual violence like HIV and may have to go through unplanned pregnancies as well. Violence is also a reason behind higher rates of infant and child mortality and morbidity in many cases. Not to mention, children who grow up watching violence at home may suffer a range of behavioral and emotional disturbances. These can also be associated with perpetrating or experiencing violence later in life.
According to WHO, such violence can be prevented if governments take the appropriate measures to counter the issue. They must address social and economic inequities, a lack of education, and gender discrimination issues that are widespread in many societies. Here are a few steps that the organization has suggested to tackle the issue of violence against women:
- Sound gender transformative policies, from policies around childcare to equal pay, and laws that support gender equality,
- A strengthened health system response that ensures access to survivor-centred care and referral to other services as needed,
- School and educational interventions to challenge discriminatory attitudes and beliefs, including comprehensive sexuality education,
- Targeted investment in sustainable and effective evidence-based prevention strategies at local, national, regional, and global levels, and
- Strengthening data collection and investing in high-quality surveys on violence against women and improving measurement of the different forms of violence experienced by women, including those who are most marginalized.
Women’s struggle against patriarchy, gender stereotypes, and violence seems to be never-ending. The findings of the WHO report paint a chilling image of one of the many crimes perpetrated against women today. So, unless we join hands and our respective governments take action to combat abuse, women will continue to suffer at the hands of men who see them as mere objects to vent their rage on. And as women, we need to come forward and speak out against this issue to end it.
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Originally published at https://www.fuzia.com.