The report’s findings are based on data from the largest WHO study on the prevalence of violence against women.
“About 736 million are victims of physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence by a non-partner – a number that has remained largely unchanged in the past decade,” adds the WHO statement.
Intimate partner violence is the most common form of violence suffered by women, with approximately 641 million victims worldwide. The organization said that younger women remain particularly at risk from such violence, with one in four women aged 15 to 24 experiencing violence at the hands of an intimate partner when they reach their early twenties.
“It is deeply disturbing that this widespread violence by men against women not only remains unchanged, but is worse for young women aged 15 to 24 who may also be young mothers,” said UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
She added: “Every government must take strong and proactive steps to address this and involve women in it.”
Location and wealth are crucial factors, according to the report, which found that about 37% of women living in the poorest countries have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner in their lives. In some countries, the prevalence of this type of violence reaches one in two women.
The official WHO regions of Oceania, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest rates of intimate partner violence. Europe had the lowest rates, according to the WHO.
“Violence against women is endemic in all countries and cultures, causing damage to millions of women and their families, and has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, in a statement on Tuesday.
“Violence against women cannot be stopped with a vaccine,” he added. “We can only fight this with sustained and ingrained efforts – by governments, communities and individuals – to change harmful attitudes, improve access to opportunities and services for women and girls and promote healthy and respectful relationships.”
The new WHO report is based on data collected from 2000 to 2018 and therefore does not reflect the number of victims of the pandemic in women. The United Nations has previously said that domestic abuse during the Covid-19 blockades is a “hidden pandemic”.
On International Women’s Day, March 8, protests for equal rights were held around the world. Almost 20,000 women gathered in Mexico City in anti-femicide protests. Violence against women is a constant problem in the country, where at least 969 women were killed in 2020.
Monday’s protests later turned violent, with 62 police and 19 civilians injured in the riots, according to Mexico’s Secretary of Security and Civil Protection.
According to Reuters, thousands of women also attended International Women’s Day rallies across Spain, while hundreds of people in Australia protested outside government buildings as a national political scandal over the treatment of women in life intensifies.
CNN Health’s Naomi Thomas contributed to this report.