© Thinkstock
More than one-third of all women around the world are victims of physical or sexual violence. The World Health Organization (WHO) released a new report this week, in partnership with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), calling this problem a public health epidemic. Two companion papers were also published in The Lancet and Science.
The report, which is the first systemic study of global data on the prevalence of violence against women by both partners and non-partners, claims that 38 percent of all women murdered were killed by their partners.
As BBC News reports, the study also reveals that such violence is a major contributor to depression and other health problems in women, such as broken bones, bruises, pregnancy complications, and other forms of mental illness.
"This is an everyday reality for many, many women," Charlotte Watts, a health policy expert at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine told Reuters.
Recent high-profile rape cases in India and South African have highlighted the treatment of women worldwide, said Claudia Garcia-Moreno of the WHO. A 23-year-old woman was brutally gang raped on a bus in New Delhi last December. She later died of her injuries. The event sparked a global outcry and unprecedented protests in India demanding better policing of sex crimes.
"These kinds of cases raise awareness, which is important, and at the same time we must remember there are hundreds of women every day who are being raped on the streets and in their homes, but that doesn't make the headlines," Garcia-Moreno said.
Watts points to the incident earlier this week of celebrity chef Nigella Lawson being choked by her husband, Charles Saatchi. "We don't know the details of what is going there [sic], but it does illustrate this happens to all women - it's not just poor women, or women in a certain country. This really is a global issue," Watts said.
Key findings of the WHO report include such disheartening statistics as: 42 percent of women sexually or physically abused by partners sustained injuries; victims of such abuse are more likely to suffer depression and to have alcohol problems, abortions and acquire sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV, syphilis, Chlamydia or gonorrhea. Women victimized in this way are also more likely to give birth to underweight and premature babies, and to attempt suicide. The raised stress levels caused by such abuse are implicated in a variety of further health problems, including chronic pain, diabetes, heart disease and gastrointestinal disorders.
The authors call for new guidelines worldwide to prevent abuse and offer better protection to victims, stressing the importance of training health workers to recognize when women may be at risk of partner violence and how to respond. These guidelines include ensuring that consultation rooms can be totally private and confidential, that appropriate referral systems are in place, and that women at risk from partners should not be sent back home.
"The world's health systems can and must do more for women who experience violence," said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan.
Research Methods
The data used to compile the report was gathered by a concerted multi-year effort to develop and disseminate methods to measure gender-related violence, Nature reports.
"By saying 'we're going to measure it,' we've put it on the scientific agenda," said Rachel Jewkes, head of the South African Medical Research Council.
According to Jewkes, as recently as two decades ago, governments considered domestic violence as something private and inevitable - and therefore, something governments could do little to address.
Having global statistics puts violence against women on the radar for "global bodies that are looking for one number to show that violence is an issue."
Karen Devries, a social epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, worked with a team of colleagues to comb through peer-reviewed literature and so-called "grey literature" - statistics and reports compiled by government agencies. For example, to estimate the prevalence of violence against women across global regions and age ranges, dozens of researchers searched more than 25,000 abstracts.
The research team looked for studies that assessed the prevalence of violence across entire countries or large regions within them, as well as performing or requesting additional analysis of four large international studies. The final numbers were based on data from 141 studies in 81 countries. Eighty percent of the estimates included in the WHO report were based on what are considered gold-standard methods - private one-on-one interviews in which women are asked about specific acts of violence, including slaps, kicks, use of weapons and rape over their lifetime.
Variation Around The Globe
The team adjusted the studies for differences in design and methodological quality. They found that the highest rates of partner violence were found in central sub-Saharan Africa (between 54 and 78 percent). Even high income regions in Asia, North America and western Europe, however, had rates above 15 percent - a number that jumps even higher when sexual non-partner violence is factored in.
The researchers admit that the studies still have gaps. For instance, data from central sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia, and southern Latin America, and for women over 49 concerning partner violence is scarce. The studies also did not assess emotional violence, or partners' gender. In fact, most studies only gathered information on male partners. To add to the confusion, many homicide reports do not include information about the victim's relationship to the perpetrator.
Even with these limitations, the data compiled will enable researchers to conduct cross-country and regional comparisons, as well as help generate hypotheses about how social conditions and policies may influence prevalence, says Victoria Frye, a social epidemiologist at Columbia University in New York. "We really did not have that capacity previously."
According to Jewkes, establishing a baseline for violence puts governments and social researchers in a better place to develop and assess interventions. "I want to see us in a situation where we are tracking the global decline of women being hit by partners and experiencing rape."
About 3 years ago I was entrapped and smashed-up by my partner. It was also at a time I was having surgery for cancer. No one came to my aid, they pretty much sided with him. He had manipulated close circles for a time prior, not to my knowledge at the time. The police did nothing, telling me pretty much to get on with my life; there was no justice, and any pursuit of such to lawyers, police etc was interpreted as vindictiveness on my behalf which was not at all the case, and with this interpretation came more victimisation from them. Peoples' attitudes were like "how dare you try to stand up and have rights", it came even from other women, much to my utter despair. He had another girl lined up and wanted to get out, probably because I was ill which I had no issue with; somone wants to go they can go as far as I'm concerned, but he simply wanted the pleasure of beating someone up - why me I don't know.
After, I was serverely traumatised by the event, but I say mostly from other peoples' responses and callousness - it was like people turned against me and with hateful devil faces when they found out what was happening, they hated me for it, very strange at the time it was (still is I guess). It was all of these things that lead to a deep and debilitating sense of berwilderment, which then lead to not being able to manage, including paying the rent when he moved out. He had another girl lined up for months I discovered when he told me by my bedside after an operation on my lungs, ehich came after he beat the crap out of me. I became homeless for approximately 6 months, sleeping in my car. And of course was revictimised and abused at each stage of my demise (lawyers, homeless welfare agencies, etc).
I am now training in welfare, particularly mens violence and women advocacy. I will work eventually but I have to piece myself together first, which will take more time. I was a photographer. I have lost many years of my valuable life and in more ways than just time, I still wake up at 4 am in fright my mind going over the events, trying to resolve the unresolvable.
Since learning about this side of life and experiencing it, I am horrified that it goes on, but more so that it is not exposed, and that many men actively support abuse of women, some subtly some not so subtly, and of course also that women stand for nothing generally, but particularly and of all things this. I have learned to keep silent about it lest I be revictimised. Hence my writing of it here, anonymously.
Other information: the event occured on Christmas night after I had cooked a spectacular dinner for him and his "depressed" friend, and after we had openned presents. And also, the contrast of response from the law was incredible; several months later, my cat was run over by my neighbour, the police were irate and horrified by this.
My situation was mild compared to many. It was only one physical event, most of it over the years was emotional and mental abuse with threats of violence. I kept considering how debilitating it would be if I had children, or the actually violence occured more often like probably with some women. This is why I am driven to support and help other women in this situation - all people that are in trouble need help, it is my responsibility as a human to stand up for those that cannot help themselves due to being trapped. It is a fact that women are in trouble and that they need help. It doesn't make me a feminist necessarily, or a lesbian. The more I go along though and see how much and how many men support this violence against women, or refuse to speak up, is however turning me into a "man-hater".
Hope this information helps someone.