In Celebration of Women

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)


Global Violence Against Women

Some Facts

Violence causes more death and disability worldwide amongst women aged 15-44 than war, cancer, malaria and traffic accidents (World Bank Study World Development Report: Investing in Health, New York, Oxford University Press, 1993.)

It is estimated that one in every five women faces some form of violence during her lifetime, in some cases leading to serious injury or death (WHO report, p. 2)

Violence against women and girls is a problem of pandemic proportions. At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime with the abuser usually someone known to her (General Assembly. In-Depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women: Report of the Secretary General, 2006. A/61/122/Add.1. 6 July 2006)

It is estimated that worldwide, one in five women will become a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime (Referred to by Mara Jos Alcal. State of World Population 2005. The Promise of Equality: Gender Equity, Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals. UNFPA. 2005. 65).

The victims in today’s armed conflicts are far more likely to be civilians than soldiers. Some 70% of the casualties in recent conflicts have been non-combatants most of them women and children. Women’s bodies have become part of the battleground for those who use terror as a tactic of war.

In Rwanda, up to half a million women were raped during the 1994 genocide. The numbers were as high as 60,000 in the war in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Equally, in Sierra Leone, the number of incidents of war-related sexual violence among internally displaced women from 1991 to 2001 was as high as 64,000 [Vlachova, Biason (editors). Women in an Insecure World. Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces. 2005]. Download short film and order free copies of books here.

Estimates of the number of trafficked persons range from 500,000 to two million per year, and a few organisations have estimated that up to four million persons are trafficked every year. Although women, men, girls and boys can become victims of trafficking, the majority of victims are female (Referred to by Mara Jos Alcal et al. State of World Population 2006. A Passage to Hope. Women and International Migration. UNFPA. 2006. Download the report here.

Trafficking is often connected to organised crime and has developed into a highly profitable business that generates an estimated US$7-12 billion per year (Referred to by Mara Jos Alcal et al. State of World Population 2006. A Passage to Hope. Women and International Migration. UNFPA. 2006]

Out of 10 countries surveyed in a 2005 study by the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 50% of women in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Peru and Tanzania reported having been subjected to physical or sexual violence by intimate partners, with figures reaching a staggering 71% in rural Ethiopia. Only in one country (Japan) did less than 20% of women report incidents of domestic violence [Garca-Moreno et al. 2005. WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women. Initial results on prevalence, health outcomes and women’s responses, Geneva: WHO]

Worldwide, 17.7 million women are HIV-positive, more than ever before. In sub-Saharan Africa, they make up 61% of all people living with HIV. (DFID, HIV and AIDS Factsheet, May 2009)

Over half of new HIV infections worldwide are occurring among young people between the ages of 15 and 24, and more than 60% of HIV-positive youth in this age bracket are female (UNIFEM Facts and Figures 2009 HIV/AIDS and Violence)

A study conducted in Tanzania in 2001 found that HIV-positive women were over 2.5 times more likely to have experienced violence at the hands of their current partner than other women; in addition, young women generally know significantly less about HIV and AIDS than their male counterparts (Maman, S., Mbwambo, J., Hogan M., Kilonzo, G., Sweat, M. and Weiss, E. (2001). HIV and Partner Violence: Implications for HIV Voluntary Counselling and Testing Programs in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. New York: The Population Council Inc. 30).

Young women are particularly vulnerable to coerced sex and are increasingly being infected with HIV and AIDS. Over half of new HIV infections worldwide are occurring among young people between the ages of 15 and 24, and more than 60% of HIV-positive youth in this age bracket are female (UNIFEM Facts and Figures HIV/AIDS and Violence).

Just one third of all births in the poorest countries involve skilled health personnel [United Nations Population Fund, 81 Maternal mortality figures show limited progress in making motherhood safer, October 2007. (accessed 30/01/08).)

99% of maternal deaths occur in developing countries, with women continuing to die of pregnancy-related causes at the rate of one a minute. [United Nations Population Fund, Maternal mortality figures show limited progress in making motherhood safer, October 2007. (accessed 30/01/08)]

Every year, 536,000 women and girls die as a result of complications during pregnancy, childbirth or the six weeks following delivery. Almost all of these deaths (99%) occur in developing countries (UN Millenium Goals, p. 26)

Every day, around 1,500 women die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth (UNICEF, 2009 ‘The State of the World’s Children: Maternal and Newborn Health)

In Pakistan and India, a girl has a 30-50% higher chance of dying than a boy between the age of one and five. (Fikree, F. ‘The role of gender in health disparity: the South Asian context’, British Medical Journal, 2004; 328:823-826 (3 April), (accessed 2/2/08).)

It is estimated that more than 130 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM, mainly in Africa and some Middle Eastern countries, and two million girls a year are at risk of mutilation (Referred to by General Assembly. In-Depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women: Report of the Secretary-General, 2006. A/61/122/Add.1. 6 July 2006. 39).

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that the annual worldwide number of ‘honour killing’ victims may be as high as 5000 women (UNFPA. 2000. The State of the World Population).

It is not only in Islamic countries or communities that ‘honour killings’ are prevalent. Brazil is cited as a case in point, where killing is justified to defend the honour of the husband in the case of a wife’s adultery (Radhika Coomaraswamy. Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective: Violence against Women. Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences. Cultural practices in the family that are violent towards women. E/CN.4/2002/93. 31 January 2002. 12).

It is estimated that African women and children spend 40 billion hours fetching water every year, equivalent to a year’s labour for the entire workforce of France. (Taskforce on Water and Sanitation, Health, Dignity and Development: What will it take?, UN Millennium Development Project, Earthscan, London: 2005)

Globally, 10 million more girls are out of school than boys (Calculated from data contained in the UN’s The Millennium Development Goals report 2007, New York: 2007, p11).

In 2007, girls accounted for 54% of the world’s out-of-school population [UN Millenium goals report, p.16]

41 million girls worldwide are still denied a primary education. (UNESCO, Education for all: Global monitoring report 2008, Oxford University Press, Oxford: 2007, p184.)

Two thirds of the 137 million illiterate young people in the world are women and, in the case of Afghanistan, there are just 36 literate young women for every 100 young men. (UNFPA, 36 State of the World Population 2005, Gender Equality Fact Sheet) (accessed on 26/11/09);