'Global efforts inadequate to prevent violence against women'

Globally, one in three women has experienced either physical or sexual violence from their partners, says a series of papers, adding that seven percent of women in the world 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 three million girls are at risk of the practice every year in Africa alone," read one of the papers published in the prestigious journal Lancet.

Some 70 million girls worldwide have been married before their 18th birthday, many against their will, it added.

"We definitely need to strengthen services for women experiencing violence, but to make a real difference in the lives of women and girls, we must work towards achieving gender equality and preventing violence before it even starts," said series co-lead professor Charlotte Watts from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

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

The series urges policymakers, health practitioners and donors worldwide to accelerate efforts to address violence against women and girls.

"First, governments must allocate necessary resources to address violence against women as a priority, recognising it as a barrier to health and development," it said.

Then, change discriminatory structures like laws, policies and institutions that perpetuate inequality between women and men and foster violence, and invest in promoting equality," the authors suggested.

"They must strengthen the role of health, security, education, justice and other relevant sectors by creating and implementing policies for prevention and response across these sectors," the authors emphasised.

Finally, they must support research and programming to learn what interventions are effective and how to turn evidence into action, the series concluded.