More than a quarter of women worldwide have experienced domestic violence in their lifetime, according to a new study commissioned by The Lancet medical journal, with 24 percent of those aged 15 to 19 having already experienced violence at least once.
Using global data from the World Health Organization, the study, released on Wednesday, examines the prevalence of violence on women and girls prior to the Coronavirus pandemic 2000-2018.
It found that 27 percent of women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 had fallen victim to sexual or physical violence from an intimate partner, while the highest reports of these occurrences were in the Oceania region, including Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific (49 percent).
Central sub-Saharan Africa followed with 44 percent while the regions with the lowest estimates were central Asia and central Europe, the study found.
Rebecca Hitchen, head of policy at the End Violence Against Women Coalition, told The Washington Post that “the data highlights what we’ve long known: that violence against women and girls is ubiquitous across the world.”
“Given the stigma and victim blaming that is an almost universal experience for survivors, we know the true prevalence and scale is likely to be even greater, as many cannot or do not feel able to disclose their experiences,” she added.
The authors of the study emphasised this further, noting limitations on self-reporting and other gaps among minority groups, such as those living with disabilities, Indigenous people, migrants and those in same-sex partnerships.
The study analysed more than 350 surveys and studies conducted from 2000 to 2018, spanning 161 countries and areas representing 90 percent of the global population of women and girls.
Claudia García-Moreno, a WHO public health researcher and the study’s senior author, said in a statement that “intimate partner violence affects the lives of millions of women, children, families and societies worldwide”.
“Although this study took place before the COVID-19 pandemic, the numbers are alarming and research has shown the pandemic exacerbated issues leading to intimate partner violence such as isolation, depression and anxiety, and alcohol use, as well as reducing access to support services,” she said, calling the need for solutions “vital and urgent.”