Call for worldwide action to confront gender-based violence

A new study has suggested that a worldwide action is needed to address the hidden crisis of violence against women and girls.

The study shows that current efforts to prevent violence against women and girls are inadequate, as levels of violence against women, including intimate partner violence, rape, female genital mutilation, trafficking, and forced marriages, remain unacceptably high, with serious consequences for victims' physical and mental health.

The study reveals that globally, 1 in 3 women has experienced either physical or sexual violence from their partner and 7 percent of women will experience sexual assault by a non-partner at some point in their lives.

Between 100 and 140 million girls and women worldwide have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), with more than 3 million girls at risk of the practice every year in Africa alone and some 70 million girls worldwide have been married before their eighteenth birthday, many against their will.

Co-lead author Charlotte Watts explains that people definitely need to strengthen services for women experiencing violence, but to make a real difference in the lives of women and girls, people must work towards achieving gender equality and preventing violence before it even starts.

Watts added that no magic wand will eliminate violence against women and girls, but evidence tells them that changes in attitudes and behaviours are possible, and can be achieved within less than a generation.

Importantly, reviewing the latest evidence, the authors show that not enough is being done to prevent violence against women and girls from occurring in the first place.

Although resources have grown to support women and girls in the aftermath of violence (e.g., access to justice and emergency care), research suggests that actions to tackle gender inequity and other root causes of violence are needed to prevent all forms of abuse, and thereby reduce violence overall.

The study is published in The Lancet.