WHO: One in three women subjected to physical or sexual violence in their lifetime

One in three women worldwide face physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner at some point in their lifetime, according to a new study from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The research found that the number of women who face physical and sexual violence, approximately 736 million worldwide, has remained “largely unchanged over the past decade,” according to a Tuesday statement from the WHO.

The WHO found that one in four girls and young women aged 15 to 24 who have been in a relationship will “have already experienced violence by an intimate partner by the time they reach their mid-twenties.”

“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,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the Tuesday statement. 

“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,” he continued.

Violence against women is more pervasive in low- and lower-middle-income countries, according to the study. Approximately 37 percent of women living in the poorest countries in the world have faced violence from an intimate partner during their lifetime, with some countries reporting up to one in two women facing violence.

The lowest rates of violence against women were reported in Europe and Central Asia in the study, which is based on data from 2000 to 2018. 

Violence from an intimate partner is “by far the most prevalent form of violence against women globally,” according to the WHO, harming at least 641 million women.

Six percent of women in the study reported being sexually assaulted by someone other than a partner or husband. 

The WHO noted that the figures are “likely to be significantly higher” given the worldwide under-reporting of sexual abuse, as well as ongoing stigma.

Experts have also found that the coronavirus pandemic has worsened rates of violence against women around the world through lockdowns and reduced access to services and resources for victims. 

“We know that the multiple impacts of COVID-19 have triggered a “shadow pandemic” of increased reported violence of all kinds against women and girls,” U.N. Women executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said in the Tuesday statement.