abused woman
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A UN official says violence against women has increased across the world and more than one-third of the world's female population has suffered domestic abuse.

In a Tuesday press conference at the UN headquarters, vice-chairwoman of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Zou Xiaoqaio said that international campaigns have not been successful in decreasing domestic violence in the world.

"At least one of every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or abused in some other way, usually by an intimate partner or family member," Zou said, quoting a new report by the UN Population Fund.

According to Zou, not all the 186 countries which have signed the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women have effectively followed it to help women.

"Women continue to be raped and subject to other forms of sexual violence with impunity all over the world," she said, adding that in some countries, rape charges against an offender can be dropped if he marries the victim.

"Women and girls are still being sold for sex around the world. Two million girls between the ages of five and 15 are introduced into the commercial sex market each year."

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