World Savvy Monitor

Women all around the world are susceptible to many types of violence.  The Convention Eliminating Discrimination Against Women addresses three types of violence: violence occurring in the family, violence in the community, and violence perpetrated or condoned by the State.  The 1993 UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women placed violence in the context of human rights. 

Violence against women is most often committed by someone known, usually a husband or boyfriend, and it is this type of violence that will be explored in this section.  It is estimated that 1 in 3 women have been or will be the victim of violence by an intimate partner – beaten, raped, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused.  Domestic violence affects poor and rich countries, all cultures and ethnicities.  No region of the world is immune.  Today approximately 100 countries have specific laws and/or policies in place to criminalize domestic violence, yet efforts at prevention and prosecution have been uneven.  Empowering women with education and economic independence is critical, as is addressing the attitudes of men and boys and gender stereotyping in the media.

In this section:

• Why Are Women Vulnerable to Domestic Violence?
• A Universal Problem
• Physical Violence
  
• Mental Abuse 
  
• Sexual Violence
  
• Costs of Violence Against Women

See the Conflict section for a discussion of war-related violence toward women.  See the Girl Child section for sex trafficking.  See the Human Rights section for a discussion of human rights applications.