Intimate partner violence against women is a public health issue across the world with many short-term and long-term effects on them and their children's physical and mental health, including injuries, depression, anxiety, sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies, among others, and can also lead to death. The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated control measures have further exacerbated the already heavy burden.
Now, according to a new Lancet study, over one in four women has experienced intimate partner violence within their lifetime.
The study, published on the Lancet website, compiled responses from two million women - spanning 161 countries and areas.
Using data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Database on the Prevalence of Violence Against Women, covering 90 per cent of women across the world, the new estimates indicate that before the COVID-19 pandemic, 27 per cent of ever-partnered women between 15-49 years had experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their life, with one in seven (13 per cent) experiencing recent violence from her partner.
Intimate partner violence of ever-partnered women refers to physical, psychological and sexual harmful behaviours in the context of marriage, cohabitation, or any other union.
"This violence starts early, affecting teenage girls and young women, with 24 per cent of women aged 15-19 years and 26 per cent of women between 19-24 of age having experienced this violence already at least once since the age of 15," the study stated.
Regional Variations
The study further found that "regional variations exist, with low-income countries reporting higher lifetime and, even more pronouncedly, higher past-year prevalence than high-income countries.
It revealed that the lifetime prevalence of intimate partner violence among women between age group of 15-49 was highest in Oceania (49%), and Central Sub-Saharan Africa (44%). Central Asia (18%), and Central Europe (16%) were the regions having lowest lifetime intimate partner violence.
Based on an analysis of data from population-based studies and surveys conducted between the year 2000 and 2018, the objective of the study is to provide baseline reliable and internationally comparable global, regional, and national prevalence estimates of a lifetime and past year physical or sexual, or both, intimate partner violence by males against ever-partnered women.
The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has called for an end to violence against women in its Sustainable Development Goals. The study aims to provide baseline estimates for this violence on global, national and regional levels to help governments monitor their progress towards this target and inform programming and policy to prevent and respond to violence.
In 2013, WHO published the first regional and global estimates on the prevalence of physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, and non-partner sexual violence with existing survey data up to 2010. It found out that one in three women experience physical and/or sexual violence from partners and non-partners. Around one in three, which accounts for 30 per cent of women, experienced physical and/or sexual violence from only partners.
This new study uses population-based surveys, improved quality of data, and updated ways to provide current prevalence estimates of intimate partner violence globally, up to and including 2018, reporting that one in four ever-partnered women are subjected to violence from intimate partners alone. The study only estimated physical and sexual violence and work is underway by WHO to strengthen measures of reporting harmful psychological behaviours by partners.
This present analysis reveals that the governments are not in line to meet targets for eliminating violence against women. "Whilst significant progress has been made in the last two decades, it is still insufficient to meet the SDG target for eradicating violence against women by 2030," Claudia García-Moreno, senior study author, WHO said.
"The high number of young women experiencing intimate partner violence is worrying, as teenage and early adulthood are essential life stages when the foundations for healthy relationships are built. The violence these women experience has long impact on their health. Intimate partner violence is preventable and steps need to be taken to develop and invest in effective community and school-based interventions promoting gender equality and lessen young women's risk of being subjected to partner violence," Lynnmarie Sardinha, lead author of the paper said.
The authors, however, acknowledge some limitations of the study. These include the reliance on the quality and availability of existing violence against women survey data. Some significant gaps remain in the data for some geographical areas and sub-populations like those living with disabilities, ethnic minority, or migrant women, trans women and those in same-sex relationships for which data is currently limited.