More than one in four women have experienced domestic violence in their lifetime. The worrying index is from a study published in the scientific journal The Lancet this Wednesday (16).
The new estimates, which consider data up to 2018, before the Covid-19 pandemic, indicate that 27% of women aged 15 to 49, who have been in a relationship, have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner during their lifetime. One in seven (13%) cases of partner violence occurred in the last 12 months of the survey.
The researchers used information from the World Health Organization (WHO) global database on the Prevalence of Violence Against Women, which covers 90% of women worldwide.
Researcher Claudia García-Moreno, from the WHO, lead author of the study, warns that the factors associated with violence against women have worsened during the pandemic. She highlights that intimate partner violence affects the lives of millions of women, children and families around the world.
“While this study took place before the Covid-19 pandemic, the numbers are alarming and research has shown that the pandemic has exacerbated issues that lead to intimate partner violence, such as isolation, depression and anxiety, and alcohol use, as well as reduced access. to support services. Preventing intimate partner violence from happening in the first place is vital and urgent,” Claudia said in a statement.
Global impact of violence against women
Intimate partner violence from women who have already been in a relationship (such as women who are or have been married, cohabiting, or have a long-term sexual partner) refers to physically, sexually and psychologically harmful behavior in the context of marriage, cohabitation, or any other form of union.
The study highlights that aggression can have major short- and long-term impacts on a victim’s physical and mental health, leading to substantial social and economic costs for governments, communities and individuals.
The United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for an end to violence against women in its Sustainable Development Goals.
In the analysis, the researchers provide baseline estimates for intimate partner violence against women at the global, regional and national levels. In addition to contributing to the formulation of public policies and prevention programmes, the study also aims to help governments monitor progress towards this UN goal.
Panorama
The first global and regional estimates on the prevalence of intimate partner physical or sexual violence and non-partner sexual violence were published by the WHO in 2013, considering existing survey data up to 2010.
At the time, it was found that one in three women suffered physical or sexual violence within or outside of relationships. Almost one in three (30%) of women has suffered this type of violence only from their partners.
In the study published in the Lancet, population-based surveys were used, with better data quality and updated methods to provide current estimates of the prevalence of this type of violence worldwide up to the year 2018, the pre-pandemic period.
The findings indicate that one in four women who have already been in a relationship have suffered violence exclusively from their partners. The study only estimated physical and sexual violence and the ongoing work by the WHO to strengthen measures for reporting harmful psychological behavior by partners.
The analysis indicates that governments are not aligned to meet the goals of eradicating violence against women. “While there has been progress over the last 20 years, it is still grossly insufficient to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals goal of eliminating violence against women by 2030,” says Claudia.
The data used in the survey, collected from the WHO Global Database, includes more than 300 surveys and studies conducted between 2000 and 2018. The dataset covers 161 countries and areas, representing 2 million women aged 15 and over and about 90% of the global population of women and girls.
Statistical analysis made it possible to estimate the prevalence of intimate partner violence in different age groups, regions and time ranges to be calculated. Globally, an estimated 27% or approximately one in four women aged 15 to 49 have experienced intimate partner violence at least once in their lifetime since the age of 15.
Estimates suggest that, in 2018, up to 492 million women aged 15 to 49 experienced intimate partner violence, considering the last 12 months of the study – which equates to 13% or one in seven women.
However, the researchers warn that the prevalence of violence may be even higher, due to the limitations of the study, carried out based on experiences reported by the women themselves. The sensitive nature and stigma of the issue can help to cover up a number of cases.
The study also draws attention to the high levels of partner violence experienced by adolescent girls and young women. In the group of younger women, aged 15 to 19 years), it is estimated that 24% or almost one in four have experienced intimate partner violence.
The prevalence of recent intimate partner violence was highest among adolescent girls and young women aged 15 to 19 and 20 to 24 years old, with 16% or one in six victims of intimate partner violence in 2018, also considering the last 12 months of the lifting.
“The high number of young women who experience intimate partner violence is alarming, as adolescence and early adulthood are important stages in life, when the foundations for healthy relationships are built. The violence these young women experience has lasting impacts on their health and well-being,” says researcher Lynnmarie Sardinha, from the WHO.
Lynnmarie advocates creating and investing in community and school interventions to reinforce violence prevention.
Regional distribution
In the study, regional variations indicated that the prevalence of intimate partner violence among women aged 15 to 49 was highest in Oceania (49%) and Central Sub-Saharan Africa (44%). The regions with the lowest estimates were Central Asia (18%) and Central Europe (16%).
“These findings confirm that violence against women by male intimate partners remains a global public health challenge. Governments are not on the right track to meet the goals of eradicating violence against women by 2030″, says Claudia.
The authors call for urgent investments in interventions in various sectors of society and a strengthened public health response to address the problem, especially in the context of the pandemic.
Source: CNN Brasil
