Sexual violence global pandemic: British envoy

Sexual violence is a "global pandemic" and not just an Indian problem, British High Commissioner James Bevan said here Wednesday.

Citing US historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, he said: "Well-behaved women seldom make history. I salute all the women, well behaved and badly behaved, who have made history. I encourage all of you to keep on behaving badly."

He was speaking at the release of Oxford's publications 'Decoding the Law' and 'A Guide For Survivors of Sexual Violence'.

"The official statistics say that one in three women in the world suffer sexual abuse or violence at some time in their lives. The real figures are certainly much, much higher.

"We face the challenge of sexual violence against women in the UK too. So while we hope that our Indian friends can learn from our own experiences of tackling the problem, we in Britain can learn lessons from you here India too." he said.