Violence against women remains one of the world’s most persistent and under-addressed human rights crises, with very little progress in two decades, according to a report released today by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN partners.
Nearly 1 in 3 women – estimated 840 million globally – have experienced partner or sexual violence during their lifetime, a figure that has barely changed since 2000.
In the last 12 months alone, 316 million women – 11% of those aged 15 or older – were subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner.
Progress on reducing intimate partner violence has been painfully slow, with only a 0.2% annual decline over the past two decades.
"Violence against women is one of humanity’s oldest and most pervasive injustices, yet still one of the least acted upon," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. "
